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Published in: Journal of Science Education and Technology 1/2021

09-10-2020

Virtual Laboratories in Undergraduate Science and Engineering Courses: a Systematic Review, 2009–2019

Authors: Shalaunda M. Reeves, Kent J. Crippen

Published in: Journal of Science Education and Technology | Issue 1/2021

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Abstract

Current technology has the capacity for affording a virtual experience that challenges the notion of a teaching laboratory for undergraduate science and engineering students. Though the potential of virtual laboratories (V-Labs) has been extolled and investigated in a number of areas, this research has not been synthesized for the context of undergraduate science and engineering education. This study involved a systematic review and synthesis of 25 peer-reviewed empirical research papers published between 2009 and 2019 that focused on V-Labs. The results reveal a dearth of varied theoretical and methodological approaches where studies have principally been evaluative and narrowly focused on individual changes in content knowledge. The majority of studies fell within the general domain of science and involved a single 2D experience using software that was acquired from a range of outside vendors. The perspective largely assumed V-Labs to be a teaching approach, providing instruction without any human-to-human interaction. Positive outcomes were attributed, based more on novelty than design, to improved student motivation. Studies exploring individual experiences, the role of personal characteristics or environments that afforded social learning, including interactions with faculty or teaching assistants were noticeably missing.

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Metadata
Title
Virtual Laboratories in Undergraduate Science and Engineering Courses: a Systematic Review, 2009–2019
Authors
Shalaunda M. Reeves
Kent J. Crippen
Publication date
09-10-2020
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Published in
Journal of Science Education and Technology / Issue 1/2021
Print ISSN: 1059-0145
Electronic ISSN: 1573-1839
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-020-09866-0

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