Awareness of Virtual Laboratory Integration for Basic Science Teaching among Pre-service Teachers in Federal University of Education, Kano

This study surveyed the awareness of pre-service science teachers on the nature and use of Virtual Lab; a technology that can be used to augment the practical teaching of science through the use of simulations for immersive learning. The objectives of the study centered on investigating pre-service science teachers’ level of familiarity with Virtual Lab, how often they use it and their opinions on its perceived benefits in teaching basic science. The study is inclined to the theory of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) which explains how technology users form attitudes and intentions to use a technology. The population of the study consists of B.Ed. science education students from the departments of Biology and Chemistry education in Federal University of Education, Kano. A sample of 108 level 400 students was balloted out of their total population of 220. A structured questionnaire Virtual Lab Knowledge Scale (VLKS) was used to collect data and frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation is used to analyze data. The results show students’ familiarity with the existence of Virtual Lab is significant with the mean of 3.40. The mean of 3.97 also shows that they significantly agree to its importance and accessibility. However, the mean of 1.39 shows a significant poor use of virtual lab in teaching and learning. Recommendations made include that Teacher training should give special consideration to the use of trending technology like Virtual Lab and others the teaching. And Pre-service science teachers should be sensitized on how to use accessible gadgets like smart phones to access Virtual Labs and other science teaching technology packages.