The Physics Classroom in an Online 3D Virtual World: A Thai High School Teacher Needs Analysis

Abstract

The study set out to examine the actual and desired needs of Thai high school physics teachers in the 2021 academic year from a sample of 44 teachers in Thailand’s northeastern Surin Province. Also, assessment was undertaken concerning each teacher’s ‘order of needs’ from the 41 items presented for evaluation to the teachers. Moreover, there were three main categories in the study’s assessments. These were the teachers’ opinions on the use of 3-dimension virtual learning (3DVL) teaching media in physics for, 1) a mechanics laboratory, 2) an electromagnetism laboratory, 3) and a wave, sound, and light laboratory. The questionnaire was examined by five experts with a confidence value of 0.97. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including the mean and standard deviation. Moreover, a modified version of the priority needs index (PNIModified) was used to assess the ‘order of needs’ of each teacher in teaching a 3DVL. The results of the study revealed that physics teachers believed that the overall readiness in teaching and learning management of the three groups of physics laboratories were at a moderate level. The teachers also felt that the need for computer-assisted teaching materials and 3DVL science and physics laboratories for high school students was at a high level in all three categories. Concerning each teacher’s ‘order of needs,’ it was determined that the top five teaching needs were for the spectral studies of hot gases (1), followed by teaching parallax (2), the need to teach light interference patterns (3), the polarization of light (4) and then light diffraction and diffraction grating (5).

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