EXPERIMENTAL ACTIVITIES USING VIRTUAL SIMULATORS TO LEARN CHEMISTRY DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Resumen

Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, the education system moved to virtual mode, causing teachers to change methodologies, strategies, and teaching resources in order to be used for teaching-learning processes. The impediment of entering to Chemistry laboratories motivated the use of simulators and virtual laboratories as resources linked to learning. Present study determines the efficacy of these resources, the research is quantitative with a correlational level and a quasiexperimental design with post-test. The applied method was the heuristic and assumes Ausubel's theory of significant learning. The study population comprises 188 students enrolled during the period November 2020- April 2021 in the career of Pedagogy of Experimental Sciences, Chemistry and Biology. The sampling technique was intentional non-probabilistic and corresponds to the second, third and fifth semester students of the subjects of General Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry and Chemical Physics respectively. At the end of the investigation, it was determined that the PhET simulator and the virtual laboratories: Crocodile Chemistry605 and Yenka allowed feedback and motivation in each guided virtual experimental activity; not existing a significant difference in the academic performance of the students, who in their majority reached the learning results.