The virtual laboratory "Crocodile Chemistry" as a didactic strategy for learning chemistry

Among the digital tools designed for educational purposes, virtual laboratories stand out for their visual effects and experimentation functions that mimic the environment of a real laboratory. This paper analyzes the contributions to the learning of chemistry through the use of the virtual laboratory Crocodile Chemistry as a didactic strategy. The research approached a descriptive, non-experimental, transversal methodology, a survey structured by 8 questions measured on a Likert scale with a reliability value of Cronbach's alpha (α:0.965) was applied, the statistical analysis was carried out using the JASP program, the population was 25 students enrolled in the sixth semester of the Pedagogy of Experimental Sciences, Chemistry and Biology career, selected by non-probabilistic sampling induced by convenience. The results show that 40.5% totally agree and 29.5% agree that the virtual laboratory Crocodile Chemistry integrated as a didactic strategy contributes to the learning of Chemistry, concluding that its applicability and integration as a didactic strategy provides great educational advantages in the development of student learning, which favors constructivist, experimental, active learning and above all the strengthening of critical and scientific thinking. In addition, in order to link this theoretical-practical learning in the research, a methodology is proposed to integrate the virtual laboratory Crocodile Chemistry in the development of Chemistry learning. This proposal is based on four stages composed of virtual experience, concrete experience, simulated activity and evaluation.