Physics lab courses permanently undergo transformations, in recent times especially to adapt to the emergence of new digital technologies and the COVID-19 pandemic in which digital technologies facilitated distance learning. Since these transformations often occur within individual institutions, it is useful to get an overview of these…

Digital practical work (DPW) has emerged as a highly effective and indispensable component of science education, enhancing and extending traditional laboratory experiences. DPW aims to complement physical laboratory experiments, particularly those that teachers may find challenging to conduct or lack the confidence to perform. In this study, a…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Instructional labs: Improving traditions and new directions.] Physics instructional labs have long been an area of pedagogical innovation and educational research. While current stakeholders in instructional labs are undoubtedly aware of the day's concerns, reform efforts, and empirical research…

The term "Virtual Reality" currently refers to a profound sensory immersion of the user in a synthetically generated virtual environment. It is foreseen that virtual reality will gain a substantial role in the instruction of science. In this literature review, the purpose was to investigate the research on the utilization of virtual…

This study was carried out to determine teacher views on the use of technology to improve physics education in high schools. The sample of the study is 238 volunteer physics teachers. The study was carried out with the survey model and a five point Likert Scale was used in the study. The scale has a reliability coefficient of 0.92. Descriptive and…

This book discusses the development of the next generation learning spaces with emerging technologies. These spaces result from the combined needs of classroom stakeholders, such as instructors and learners, with classroom elements, such as tools and technologies, pedagogy and content. The book presents discussions and studies on issues,…

Mobile devices have become a popular form of education technology, but little attention has been paid to the use of their sensors for data collection and analysis. This article describes some of the benefits of using mobile devices this way and presents five challenges to help students overcome common misconceptions about force and motion. The…

Integration of technology, social learning and scientific models offers pedagogical opportunities for science education. A particularly interesting area is thermal science, where students often struggle with abstract concepts, such as heat. In taking on this conceptual obstacle, we explore how hand-held infrared (IR) visualization technology can…

More and more physics instructors are making use of personal/classroom response systems or "clickers." The use of clickers to engage students with multiple-choice questions during lecture and available instructor resources for clickers have been well documented in this journal. Newer-generation clickers, which I refer to as classroom response…

Computer-based tools that enable students to collect, display and analyse data in real time have catalysed the design of a laboratory curriculum that allows students to master a coherent body of physics concepts while acquiring traditional laboratory skills. This paper describes "RealTime Physics", a sequenced introductory laboratory curriculum…

Computers are routinely used to control experiments in modern science laboratories. This should be reflected in laboratories in an educational setting. There is a mismatch between the power that can be delivered by a computer interfacing card or a TTL logic circuit and that required by many practical pieces of laboratory equipment. One common way…

This paper reports on the examination of physics teachers' beliefs and perceptions of laboratory and ICT supported physics instruction. The findings indicate that the teachers in the sample were generally positive about the affordances offered by the physics lab and ICT in physics instruction. However, school culture context, mainly the need to…

The purpose of this study was to investigate (a) what effect the use of interactive computer-based simulations (ICBSs), the use of laboratory inquiry-based experiments (LIBEs), and the use of combinations of an ICBS and a LIBE, in a conceptually oriented physics course, have on science teachers' beliefs about and attitudes toward the use of these…

Describes undergraduate projects at Harvey Mudd College (California) that use advanced laboratory equipment and procedures normally reserved for graduate students. Examples are given in experimental biology (e.g., digital imaging and DNA analysis), in physics (e.g., using satellites to study earthquake faults), and in mathematics (e.g., teaching…

The widespread deployment and use of Information Technologies (IT) has paved the way for change in many fields of our societies. The Internet, mobile computing, social networks and many other advances in human communications have become essential to promote and boost education, technology and industry. On the education side, the new challenges…