The effectiveness of instrument simulator in online practice course as a virtual laboratory

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has shifted the format of the implementation of the teaching and learning process and has greatly impacted the fulfillment of competencies inherent in courses. This impact is very influential on practice courses, especially in the fulfillment of laboratory chemistry skills. Therefore, a simulator instrument was developed as a virtual laboratory in the implementation of online practice courses. The simulators developed are UV-Vis Spectrophotometer and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). In the blended practice course format where 85% of the meetings are held online and 15% of the meetings are held offline, the simulator is used in the online practice course. The purpose of using the simulator is to improve students’ skills in operating the instrument. The results of the survey of student perceptions of the use of the simulator stated that the majority of respondents strongly agreed or agreed with the ease of downloading the simulator, the ease of operating the simulator, the use of the simulator was very helpful in operating the instrument in the laboratory and the time spent completing the simulator was comparable to a traditional laboratory. The survey results also state that in the teaching and learning process, the majority of respondents also strongly agree or agree that experiments strengthen theory, experiments help in understanding concepts, the material provided helps in competency testing and online practice course help in understanding concepts such as traditional practice course.