Virtual Laboratory: Awareness and Attitude among Prospective Physics Teachers

Abstract

Theory and Practical are both parts of the learning process and complement each other. The 
absence of either of these two may hamper the learning process. The pandemic situation makes it further 
complicated. Efforts are being made to provide online classes for theory papers. But few arrangements 
were made for practical learning and laboratory activities, especially for school students. Many schools 
have no laboratory arrangement, and if the laboratory is available, the instruments and infrastructure 
are dilapidated or scarce. In view of this, an innovative educational programme launched by Amrita 
CREATE (The Center for Research in Advanced Technologies for Education) at Amrita Vishwa 
Vidyapeetham in collaboration with CDAC, Mumbai; funded by the Ministry of Electronics and 
Information Technology has already been initiated in December 2015 and established a virtual science 
lab for school-going students named OLabs, by the Government of India, which is free to access upon 
registration. The vision behind OLabs is to provide high-quality educational technology to students in all 
schools, especially those with minimal resources. Rural India does not have access to a physical 
laboratory and equipment related to the experiment because it is scarce or expensive. OLabs is premised 
on the idea that lab experiments may be taught more efficiently and cost-effectively using the internet and 
is hosted at www.OLabs.edu.in. 
Although most teachers, prospective teachers, and students are still unaware of virtual laboratories, the 
study investigated the awareness and attitude among prospective physics teachers towards integrating 
virtual laboratories into the teaching-learning process. A quantitative descriptive survey study was 
adopted, and a multi-stage sampling technique was used to access the sample. One hundred prospective 
physics teachers were selected as a sample enrolled in B.Sc. B.Ed. and B.Ed. A self-made questionnaire 
was used to gather the data, and the data were analyzed by simple frequency counts and percentages. The 
study revealed that the level of awareness is low among prospective physics teachers, and attitudes are 
positive among prospective physics teachers towards integrating Virtual laboratories in the teaching
learning process. The need to utilize virtual laboratories is even more felt in online teaching than ever 
before. Therefore, the study suggested that the teacher education institution should be prepared to 
incorporate the basic idea and utilization of virtual laboratories into the practical part of the curriculum. 
Prospective physics teachers should also be motivated and trained during their micro-teaching by their 
supervisors' or mentors’ usage of virtual laboratories for experiments in physics for their teaching 
practice. Aside from this, teacher education institutions should organize workshops and training 
programs on virtual laboratories for their teachers and prospective teachers.