Effectiveness of using the m-fizika.uz virtual platform in teaching molecular physics

Abstract This article investigated the sequential integration of the m-fizika.uz virtual platform with physical laboratory activities in molecular physics and the Fizpraktikum course. This exploratory, non-randomised comparative intervention study involved 80 first-year students aged 17–20 years from two intact classes at one higher education institution: 41 in the experimental class and 39 in the control class. Both groups received instruction on identical topics, physical laboratory tasks, and assessment criteria; only the experimental group completed a 15–20 min virtual pre-laboratory during the scheduled class before the physical experiment. The inferential analysis compared post-intervention categorical distributions between groups; baseline results were used to describe and compare the groups’ initial conditions but were not interpreted as evidence of equivalence. In the final results, for the motivational-cognitive criterion, χ 2 (2) = 12.783, p = 0.0017, Cramér’s V = 0.400; for the cognitive-practical criterion, χ 2 (2) = 9.999, p = 0.0067, V = 0.354; and for the activity-creative criterion, χ 2 (2) = 11.840, p = 0.0027, V = 0.385. The overall descriptive indicator based on conditional scores was 14.5% higher in the experimental group than in the control group. These post-intervention associations are exploratory; because the study compared only two non-randomised intact classes, with one class per condition, they should not be interpreted causally.