Effectiveness of a Virtual Laboratory to Develop the Skills of Identifying Fiber Type Using Chemical Methods

Abstract

Virtual reality is an information technology innovation that creates a 3D simulated environment to assist individuals to easily deal with and visually perceive information. It has been utilized in multiple domains; however, it is noticed that it has rarely been used in the field of clothing and textiles, despite universities’ dire need to provide alternatives to traditional laboratories. This study aims to design a proposed virtual laboratory that provides students with the skill of identifying types of fibers using chemical methods, and eventually measure its effectiveness to keep pace with the swift technological development to employ it in the educational process. The study adopts an experimental-design quantitative approach and uses the achievement test, observation card, and trend scale to verify the study's hypotheses after applying them to a representative sample of textile chemistry students in the department of Fashion and Textiles, King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. According to the result of the achievement (T) test of the interconnected samples, the results indicated that there are statistically significant differences between the mean scores of students for the (pre- and post) achievement test in favor of the post-test. Research sample tends to be positively oriented towards learning via the proposed virtual laboratory. The researchers recommend using virtual laboratories to support traditional laboratories in teaching the skill of identifying types of fibers using chemical methods.