Evaluation of the effectiveness of Virtual laboratory's for Electronics in the Open distance learning Context

In this paper the module practical electronics offered at the University of south Africa in the Open distance learning context is discussed. The module was taught, and experiments were performed using a virtual laboratory called NI Multisim circuit simulation software. The virtual laboratory together with other student teaching aids such as power point presentations and tutorial letters were hosted on a virtual learning environment (VLE) called Sakai. The effectiveness of utilizing the virtual laboratory and the virtual learning environment (VLE) in teaching the practical electronics module was analyzed. The effectiveness of using these tools to teach the module was evaluated at the end of the year by referring to the student pass rate in the module. The pass rate of the students in the module whilst using the virtual laboratory to conduct experiments was compared to pass rates in the module from previous years when experiments were conducted by using physical laboratories. The student pass rate in the module when using the virtual laboratory decreased slightly as compared to previous years when physical experiments were done. The slight reduction in pass rate is attributed to student confidence in using the virtual laboratory.