PHYSICS EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY (PhET) INTERACTIVE SIMULATIONS AS TEACHING AID IN ENHANCING STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN PHYSICS

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Physics Education Technology (PhET) interactive simulations in enhancing students' performance in Physics. It is a quantitative study involving pretest-posttest quasi-experimental research. The respondents for this study were 60 Grade 11 senior high school students, specifically from two sections in a public secondary school in the Division of Davao de Oro. They were categorized into two groups: the experimental group and the control group. The pretest and posttest questionnaire, derived from the Grade 11 Physical Science module, underwent pilot testing to ensure its validity and reliability and was utilized as the instrument. The mean, mean gain score, T-test for correlated mean, and T-test for uncorrelated mean were employed as the statistical treatments for this study. The results revealed that before the intervention, the student's performance in both groups was at the same level. However, during the post-test, the control and experimental groups improved their Physics performance, albeit at different levels. A significant difference was observed between the mean gain scores of the two groups. This suggests that the intervention, Physics Education Technology (PhET) interactive simulation, is more effective compared to the conventional method of teaching. The researcher recommends that students play an active role in the learning process. Teachers should incorporate PhET interactive simulations into their classes, and administrators should provide relevant training and workshops on the proper use of PhET interactive simulations. Future researchers are encouraged to conduct studies on other areas related to PhET interactive simulations.