Attitudes of Teachers and Students in Private Schools in UAE towards Using Virtual Labs in Scientific Courses

Abstract

This study explored the attitudes of teachers and students in private schools in UAE towards using virtual labs in scientific courses. The researcher adopted a descriptive analytical approach. In fact, he used two questionnaires to obtain data. One of the questionnaires is for teachers and the other one is for students.  The population involves all the teachers and students in private schools in UAE. The researcher used the purposive sampling method. He chose 80 teachers and 260 students were chosen from five schools in Sharjah, Ajman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Questionnaire forms were passed to them via WhatsApp.  58 forms were retrieved from teachers and 208 forms were retrieved from students.  It was found that the attitudes of teachers and students in private schools in UAE towards using virtual labs in scientific courses are positive. According to students, using virtual labs in scientific courses improves my critical thinking and problem solving and creative thinking skills. It improves students’ searching, observation and exploration skills. According to teachers, it promotes autonomy, a sense of innovation and a deep understanding for the material among students. It raises students’ retention of information, satisfaction with the teaching process and academic achievement. The researcher recommends adding virtual lab-related activities to the curricula of scientific courses in UAE.