Effectiveness of Virtual Simulations in Improving Secondary Students’ Achievement in Physics: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Physics instruction necessitates innovative strategies that can support students' achievement. Virtual simulations are digital tools that can offer students with meaningful learning experiences, albeit in an online distance learning setup. This meta-analysis examined the effectiveness of virtual simulations in improving students' Physics achievement at the secondary level. A meta-analysis guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol was used. Fifteen (15) studies that met the inclusion criteria were included and analyzed. Effect size (Hedges g) was mainly used to determine the magnitude of the effectiveness of virtual simulations. The overall weighted effect size of g = 0.941 suggests that virtual simulations have a significantly large and positive effect on students' achievement in Physics. Moderator analyses revealed that the effectiveness of virtual simulations did not significantly differ based on the region, students' grade level, and duration of the implementation. However, a significant difference was found among the effect sizes of the individual studies when grouped according to the specific field of Physics. The majority of the virtual simulation tools used were PhET simulations and Crocodile Physics, which were found to be integrated with constructivist instructional strategies that facilitated substantial improvements in students' achievement. Hence, professional development programs are recommended to further strengthen Physics teachers' technological and pedagogical knowledge on the effective utilization of virtual simulations to enhance students' Physics learning.

Effect of Computer Animation Instructional Package on Students’ Achievement in Hybridization in Chemistry

“…Simanjuntak et al (2023) suggested that the use of blended learning with Edmodo support has a major impact. Additionally, virtual simulations may have a sizable and beneficial impact on students' physics performance, according to Antonio &Castro (2023), andNsima et al (2023) provide evidence of the significant influence computer animation techniques have on students' academic achievement in foundational science and technology courses.…”

Revolutionizing Physics Education: Enhancing High School Students' Understanding of Standing Wave Concepts through Mictester-Based Smartphone Experiments

“…The development of information and communication technology (ICT) has provided various conveniences in physics learning, allowing access anytime and anywhere (Amalia et al, 2020;Goncharenko et al, 2020;Purwaningsih et al, 2020). ICT is used as a simulation media or virtual laboratory which is proven to improve understanding of physics concepts (Saputra et al, 2022), student learning motivation (Ana et al, 2022), student skills, and higher-order thinking skills (Purwasi, 2020), academic achievement (Antonio et al, 2023), and students learning outcomes (Jaiswal, 2020). Innovations in smartphones have also been used as a medium for learning mathematics and physics.…”

“…In the field of physics, many experiments have been developed by utilizing sensors on smartphones. For example, the use of acceleration sensors in free fall and damped oscillation experiments (Antonio et al, 2023), acceleration sensors in pendulum motion, radial accelerations analysis with accelerations sensors (Kuhn et al, 2022), magnetics fields measurement using magnetometer sensors (Arribas et al, 2015), and measurement of sound propagation speed in doppler effect experiment (Gómez-Tejedor et al, 2014). The utilization of sensors on smartphones in various physics experiments has proven to be economical and accessible.…”