Offline PhET Interactive Simulation-Based Enrichment Activities (OPISEA): Its Effect on the Academic Performance of Grade 8 Students in Science

This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of Offline PhET Interactive Simulation-based Enrichment Activities (OPISEA) teaching method towards the students’ academic performance in science 8. It used quasi-experimental design and purposive sampling method. Also, the pre-test and post-test were administered to gather the data results. The data showed significant improvement in students' performance in both conventional and OPISEA teaching methods. In the conventional teaching method, most students started in the "Poor" category, but after the first trial, many shifted to the "Satisfactory" level, with the mean score rising from 6.19 to 14.19. The second trial showed similar progress, with the mean score increasing from 1.88 to 13.61. In the OPISEA method, students also showed significant improvement. Initially, most students scored "Poor," with a mean of 5.33 in the first trial and 5.80 in the second. After both trials, their mean scores increased to 26.47 and 26.85, respectively, reaching the "Excellent" level, with no students remaining in the "Poor" or "Fair" categories. Both methods led to significant increase in academic performance, with p-values of 0.00 (below the 5% significance level). However, the OPISEA method had a more profound impact, advancing students from "Poor" to "Excellent" performance. Thus, it implies that OPISEA method offered a more effective approach for improving students’ academic performance in science.