ABSTRACT
As a response to the challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, many educational institutions worldwide resorted to the online or blended mode of teaching. Teachers were forced to incorporate virtual delivery mechanisms while still maintaining student learning outcomes. In subjects like biology, physics, and chemistry, learning outcomes focus on developing content knowledge as well as practical skills (experimental application). As students were not receiving access to laboratory facilities, science teachers were challenged by the situation of looking for different approaches for students to obtain laboratory content information. Many substituted physical laboratory practices with virtual ones such as McGraw Hill Connect Virtual Labs, Praxilabs, Phet, or others. This chapter used a mixed-method approach including quasi-experiment design, surveys, and semi-structured interview to investigate the impact of the integration of virtual labs into science classes on students’ achievement, attitudes, and engagement. The results proved that virtual lab does not impact students’ achievement while it enhances their attitudes towards using it in science classes and triggers motivation and engagement.
