It is unclear if the transition from traditional, in-person physiology laboratories to virtual alternatives has educational impacts on students. This study used a systematic review to critically evaluate research papers that investigated the effectiveness of virtual physiology laboratories for student learning. Eleven studies, retrieved from the…

Background: Virtual reality (VR) is considered a promising approach to support learning. An instructional design is essential to optimize cognitive processes. Studies show that VR has unique instructional and pedagogical requirements. Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness and applicability of the modality principle, which was previously…

The arrival of the metaverse, as a new generation of information technology, will bring great changes to people's production, life, and learning. The educational metaverse is regarded as a new form of educational development, which will bring a transformative impact on educational teaching activities. In this context, this study has developed a…

Educators are recognizing the potential power of immersive virtual reality (IVR) to allow learners to experience previously intangible firsthand phenomena, such as atoms and molecules. In this study, an IVR simulation of a complex gene regulation system was co-designed with an undergraduate microbiology course instructor. The course, with 234…

The integrated mechanisms of heart contraction are some of the most complex processes for undergraduate biomedical students to understand. Visual models have the potential to enhance learning environments by providing visual representations of complex mechanisms. Despite their benefits, the use of visual models in undergraduate classrooms is still…

Over the years, much criticism against animal use for physiology teaching has been made. Hence, replacement by suitable alternatives has increased in several pedagogical approaches. This study examined students' perceptions of animal versus virtual (video/computer) laboratory classes in physiological sciences associated with the effectiveness of…

Due to increasing demands in the amount of content to be learned within a medical and health sciences curriculum, there are benefits towards exploring options for new and effective delivery modes. Augmented reality technology has the potential to enhance learning in physiology and anatomy, where students require a three-dimensional knowledge of…

Learning the basics of human anatomy is challenging for schoolchildren due to its three-dimensional nature and complexity as a system. This study created educational materials for learning about and teaching the human circulatory system based on augmented reality (AR) technology and a structure-behavior-function (SBF) model, including 2D/3D…

Evidence shows that biomedical knowledge is more effectively taught within the medical curriculum by teaching in context, to facilitate learning transfer. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of combining high-technology simulation and physiology teaching on medical student learning and experience. First-year medical…

Creating executable computer models is a potentially powerful approach to science learning. Learning by modelling is also challenging because students can easily get overwhelmed by the inherent complexities of the task. This study investigated whether offering partially worked-out models can facilitate students' modelling practices and promote…

Theory lectures are boring and sleep inducing for students, and it is difficult to get their full attention during 1 h of lecture. The ability of students to concentrate diminishes 20-25 min after the start of the lecture. There is also a lack of active participation of students during theory lectures. In an effort to break the monotony of the…

This paper presents a study to analyze the use of augmented reality (AR) for delivering multimedia content to support the teaching and learning process of the digestive and circulatory systems at the primary school level, and its impact on knowledge retention. Our AR application combines oral explanations and 3D models and animations of anatomical…

Objective: Since simulations are often accepted uncritically, with excessive emphasis being placed on technological sophistication at the expense of underlying psychological and educational theories, we evaluated the learning performance of simulation software, in order to gain insight into the proper use of simulations for application in medical…

Growing science apathy at the K-12 education level represents an alarming development with potentially devastating consequences at individual, societal and economic levels. Technology has been incorporated in science education without fundamentally improving test scores or student attitudes. We claim the core of the problem is how technology is…