Benchmarking Virtual Physics Labs in Low-Resource Countries: A Multi-Method MCDA Evaluation of Curriculum Compliance and Pedagogical Efficacy in Congolese Schools

In this paper, we propose the use of virtual labs (VLs) as a solution to bridge the gap between theory and practice in physics education. Through an experiment conducted in two towns in the DRC, we demonstrate that our proposed lab (BRVL) is more effective than global alternatives in correcting misconceptions and ensuring compliance with the current curriculum in the DRC. We combine Conjoint Analysis (from SPSS) to weigh selected criteria – curriculum compliance, knowledge construction, misconception correction, and usability – alongside seven MCDA methods: AHP, TOPSIS, ELECTRE I, ELECTRE II, ELECTRE TRI, PROMETHEE I, and PROMETHEE II. Our findings show that, among six VLs, BRVL consistently outperforms global alternatives like Algodoo and Physion in terms of pedagogical alignment, curriculum compliance, and correction of misconceptions for Congolese schools. Methodologically, the respondents are consistent and in agreement, despite individual differences. The sensitivity analysis of the ELECTRE and PROMETHEE methods has shown that changes in parameter values do not alter the conclusion that BRVL is the best among the compared VLs.