The use of Virtual Reality (VR) in education is getting more and more common, especially when hands-on learning experiences have to be delivered. With VR it becomes possible, e.g., to simulate dangerous or costly procedures that could hardly be implemented in real settings. However, engaging large classes in immersive laboratory activities may be…

Improving the interest of high-school students towards chemistry (and science in general) is one of the goals of the Italian Ministry of Education. To this aim, we designed a context-based activity that actively involved students in six different laboratory experiences interconnected by a case study of the murder of Miss Scarlet, from the famous…

There is growing interest in implementing reform-based lab courses in undergraduate physics that are student driven rather than instructor driven. In these courses, students develop and carry out experiments while simultaneously reasoning about their hypotheses, data collection procedures, collected evidence, and the relevant physics content.…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the development of pre-service chemistry teachers' (PCTs') argumentation skills in a laboratory course throughout a semester. A case study design was utilised. A total of six PCTs participated in the study. To investigate the development of PCTs' argumentation skills, the laboratory reports that were in…

Science popularisation festivals attract more and more people every year, showing that there is a need to satisfy public curiosity. Such events are good occasions to disseminate knowledge to a large audience. The results of scientific research bring advances for mankind. Since research mostly depends on public funds, it is important to gain…

This study investigated whether or not lab type, traditional lab or virtual lab, influenced students' engagement. To measure student engagement six students were videoed over the course of an 18-week semester while conducting 10 lab experiments. To analyze student engagement, a systematic visual comparison in the tradition of single case research…

Background: Constructing knowledge through collaborative practical work is a complex process and involves the use of multiple modalities by group members. In practical work sessions, students often manipulate visual objects or textual materials but do not develop their scientific ideas. Purpose: This study illustrates (a) the challenges that…

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and principal component analysis (PCA) are frequently used for analytical purposes in research and industry, but they seldom are part of the chemistry curriculum or laboratory exercises. This case study paper describes the combined application of LIBS and PCA during a research internship for an…

The case study approach provides students with a better appreciation of how scientists solve problems and conduct themselves in the "real world". When applied to the undergraduate chemistry laboratory, this approach also challenges critical thinking skills and creativity in ways "cook book" experiments very often do not. This…

The purpose of this research was to study the system of resources, the objectives of their use and the factors that affect the selection and integration of the different resources by Lebanese secondary physics teachers in their teaching in general and for teaching Electricity in particular. For this aim, a qualitative approach was used and the…

In this research, the laboratory perceptions of pre-service science teachers with different goal orientations in analytical chemistry courses in which an inquiry-based laboratory approach had been adopted were examined in a case study. From the pre-interviews conducted with 37 pre-service science teachers, 3 preservice science teachers with…

In light of the current shifts in medical education from traditional lectures to more active teaching modalities, a peer-teaching program was introduced to a compulsory, second-year neuroanatomy course. A cross-sectional survey of 527 medical students in the six-year medical program of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens was…

Crowdsourcing is an important tool for collecting spatio-temporal data, which has various applications in education. The objectives of this study were to develop and test a laboratory exercise on soil erosion by water and field data crowdsourcing in an online introductory soil science course (FNR 2040: Soil Information Systems) at Clemson…

This article analyzes masculinity and experimental practices within three different physics communities. This work is premised on the understanding that the discipline of physics is not only dominated by men, but also is laden with masculine connotations on a symbolical level, and that this limited and limiting construction of physics has made it…

This study explores one teacher's instructional method for teaching life sciences using argumentation and argumentative writing rather than simple templates for writing claims and evidence. The microethnographic discourse analytic case study reported here included the teacher and 26 "advanced" eighth-grade students in a suburban middle…