[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Instructional labs: Improving traditions and new directions.] Research on nontraditional laboratory (lab) activities in physics shows that students often expect to verify predetermined results, as takes place in traditional lab activities. This understanding of what is taking place, or…

The Fowler Diet Cola Test (DCT) was originally developed to assess the scientific process skills of students in science classrooms. The use of the test is generally suggested for gifted students in science. There are considerable number of Scientific Process Skills (SPS) tests that the researchers developed for different student population. The…

Experimental courses for undergraduate students majoring in biochemistry or related subjects often do not provide students with systematic and research-based experiences. To help students develop abilities related to laboratory techniques, data analysis, and systematic thought in biology, we performed an exploratory program that employs…

In this study, the primary goal was to enhance the knowledge and awareness of 4th-grade primary school students regarding global pandemic diseases and methods of safeguarding against worldwide epidemic diseases which are socio-scientific issues. To achieve this goal, two activity modules tailored for 4th-grade students were created. These…

Undergraduate biology education has changed over the past decade, incorporating an iterative and evidence-based approach. Many educational assessments have confirmed the effectiveness of integrating authentic research and open-ended inquiry into introductory biology courses, demonstrating a significant positive impact on students' learning and…

Virtual labs provide space for students to iteratively test, observe, and revise their understanding so as to improve their scientific literacy. However, one of the challenges that students face is that they need to think and act like scientists so as to be sensitively alert to methodological flaws and various sources of error. This study thus…

The instructors of four biology-related courses at a Canadian university integrated Labster virtual labs in their courses as a pre-lab activity, lecture substitute, or to provide lab experience in courses with no on-site labs. The instructors used a backward design approach to align the labs with the learning objectives of their courses and to…

This research explored uppersecondary school students' approaches when they engage in planning and conducting science experiments. Approaches to science experiments are important because they provide insight into students' scientific reasoning and their enactment of scientific methods. An explanatory mixed-methods design was employed to determine…

Assessment literacy is a crucial aspect of teachers' professional knowledge and relevant to fostering students' learning. Concerning experimentation, teachers have to be able to assess student achievement when students form hypotheses, design experiments, and analyze data. Therefore, teachers need to be familiar with criteria for experimentation…

This article introduces a science game which can be used for innovative teaching and as an assessment tool. The Shadow Races Game is designed for first and second grade students to learn the phenomenon of shadow through inquiry-based activities and questions that require the children to apply inferences from those activities. In this amusing board…

The results of an earlier empirical research study on modifying 'step-by-step' instructions to practical activities requiring one or more steps of the experiments to be designed by students initiated a longitudinal study to investigate the effectiveness of the approach for younger students and over a period of time. The longitudinal study that…

Aim/Purpose: The objective of this study is to explore the effectiveness of using virtual experiments on students' level of achievement and on their practical skills as well as their views on applying the virtual experiments in a general physics lab. Background: There is a continuous debate in the literature on the effect of using virtual…

This research reports the assessment of pre-service teachers' reception and attitudes towards virtual laboratory experiments in Life Sciences with the aim of advancing adaptability to digital learning. Using sequential mixed-methods in a quasi-experimental design, 68 pre-service teachers in the 3rd year of a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) program…

The transition from A-level to degree-level practical classes then to a research project, hence from dependent learner to independent researcher, is a hurdle that all students face when studying for a chemistry degree. This can be daunting so any innovations that aid this transition are of great value. At the University of Reading, the first year…

Laboratory courses are often designed using step-by-step protocols which encourage students to conduct experiments without thinking about what they are doing or why they are doing it. Such course design limits the growth of our students as scientists and can make it more difficult for a student to transition to the expectations of a research…