The laboratory plays a crucial role in science education. However, teacher education for pre-service teachers' design performance in the laboratory is still challenging. This study paved the way for redesigning traditional laboratory teaching into a student-centered approach: inquiry-based design thinking (IBDT). To investigate the impact of the…

Background: Physics textbooks are a learning resource for students to acquire knowledge and information. The findings of previous studies on physics textbooks analysis have mostly focused on representations of gender, the nature of science, and scientific literacy. This study, therefore, extends the critical content analysis of physics textbooks…

[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…

Along with the COVID-19 pandemic, universities in Turkey as well as all over the world have started to carry out their education activities with the distance education method. In this case, many difficulties were encountered in the application of the Biology course, which is one of the applied courses carried out in the laboratory. Virtual…

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…

There is a large variety of goals instructors have for laboratory courses, with different courses focusing on different subsets of goals. An often implicit, but crucial, goal is to develop students' attitudes, views, and expectations about experimental physics to align with practicing experimental physicists. The assessment of laboratory courses…

This work describes the design and testing of a low-cost light-emitting diode (LED)-based nephelometer for turbidity analysis. It also describes the use of this nephelometer for context-based learning (CBL) experiments designed for teaching laboratories. The LED nephelometer is simple, low-cost, and robust, providing similar results as a…

The present investigation aims to analyze the knowledge levels and chemical representation levels of pre-service primary school teachers (PPSTs) on the experiment of distillation. For this purpose, the cross-sectional survey technique, one of the quantitative research designs was employed. The study was carried out at a Faculty of Education in the…

We report the findings of an empirical study that investigated whether the source of data--firsthand or secondhand data gained from lab work experiments--has an influence on students' learning outcomes. Results indicate that students' choice of a correct or incorrect hypothesis for a pendulum lab experiment on the influence of the mass of the bob…

The Chain Experiment competition has been held successfully for 6 years in Poland and is attracting growing interest. The competition provides participants with a task that involves designing and constructing a contraption that is an element in a chain of events that are based on various physical phenomena. The contraptions are then linked…

A two to three period analytical chemistry experiment has been developed which allows second year students to explore chemical color tests used to detect adulterated pharmaceuticals. Students prepare several paper analytical devices (PADs) to generate positive and negative controls antibiotics, along with cutting agents such as starch and chalk.…

This case study examines students' perception, motivation, and learning gain of a teaching unit featuring wireless sensors as tools to collect scientific data in the classroom. Students analyze data using the corresponding cellphone app, communicate findings to the class, and learn about a changing environment. Wireless sensors are produced for…

An experiment to match five white solids with ascorbic acid, citric acid, potassium hydroxide, sodium chloride, and urea is reported here. This 4 h experiment is an integrated practice of two experimental techniques, calorimetry and titration. Students conduct an extensive literature search on the properties of the five compounds and plan the…

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…

One of the goals of secondary science education is to help students develop skills related to scientific inquiry. However, the results of previous studies have shown that students have difficulties in identifying problems, formulating hypotheses, drawing conclusions, and designing experiments. The main objective of this contribution is to indicate…