أثر المعامل الإفتراضية على توجهات طالبات الصف السابع في مادة العلوم نحو stem في دولة قطر
The research aims to investigate the impact of integrating virtual laboratories into teaching science classes on students' attitudes toward STEM. It measures the effect of the virtual lab on several attributes: the students' scientific identity, the twenty-first learning skills of the students, and the student's future attitudes to their jobs and academic achievement. The study population is middle school students, and a government school for girls was selected as a sample in the city of Al-Wakra in the State of Qatar by purposeful sampling. The study followed the quasi-experimental approach to the study members, where two groups of seventh-grade students were randomly chosen to be the experimental and control samples. The sample was (68) female students, who were divided equally into two groups, the first: the experimental group (34) students, which used the virtual laboratory for teaching, and the second: the control group (34) students, which used educational videos for scientific experiments in teaching. To achieve the study's objectives, the researcher prepared a scale that measures changes in students' confidence and effectiveness in "STEM" (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects)—learning skills in the twenty-first century and interest in them, using the scale of Professor WEIBE (2015—in addition, preparing the achievement test for the unit density and pressure to measure the extent of their improvement after integrating the virtual lab in teaching the unit. The researcher guarantees the validity and stability of the tools after their establishment by presenting them to arbitrators in the educational field. The tools were changed based on the arbitrator's feedback, followed by an experiment on an exploratory sample of (16) students to verify the tools. The study showed how integrating virtual labs into science classes affected seventh-grade students' attitudes toward STEM. The students' scientific identity, inclinations to science, and development of twenty-first century skills were moderated. At the same time, the impact of the development of the interest of seventh-grade students in the State of Qatar towards STEM-related jobs is slightly undersized. The study proves that integrating virtual laboratories into science teaching positively affects students' attitudes toward (STEM), their scientific identity, and twenty first-century skills. However, they need a better understanding and awareness of STEM and proper training in virtual labs. The study recommended the necessity of paying attention to the (STEM) curriculum by decision-makers in the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in the State of Qatar public schools, in addition to improving class time to match the content and activities of the STEM curriculum. It is also necessary to hold training workshops for the professional development of teachers to increase their efficiency in applying the (STEM) curriculum and integrating virtual laboratories during teaching. The study also recommended the establishment of virtual laboratories based on the science curriculum standards. Hence, it is easier for the teacher to use virtual laboratories that help the student and enrich the study material. (Author's abstract)