[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 aim of this research is to examine the effect of social network environment supported use of inquiry-based activities developed for the general chemistry laboratory course. Throughout the research, Attitude Towards General Chemistry Laboratory Scale and Science Process Skills Perception Scale were used as quantitative data gathering means and…

Physics teachers are often faced with the challenge of having to set up difficult experiments, or they have to consciously manipulate parameters in order to be able to demonstrate a phenomenon convincingly. Comprehensive laboratory courses are standard procedure in any study program for prospective physics teachers. However, many students, even…

The Many-Facet Rasch model is frequently used to analyse and minimize disparities in rater (judge) severity in performance evaluations, in which raters assign scores to test-takers' performances. In this research, the aim of the present study was to analyse science teacher candidates' laboratory activities by using the Many-facet Rasch model.…

This study reviewed the green and sustainable chemistry education (GSCE) research that provided training at the tertiary level from 2000 to 2024. The Web of Science and ERIC databases were screened using title and abstract review. In total, 49 studies were analysed. The analysis instrument has two main parts, namely, general characteristics of the…

Rapid developments in educational technology show its impacts on classes. One of the recent trends in science education is virtual laboratory environments. The goal of this study is to reveal the effects of inquiry-based hands-on and virtual laboratory environments on pre-service science teachers' inquiry skills. A quasi-experimental research…

Introductory physics lab courses serve as the starting point for students to learn and experience experimental physics at the undergraduate level. They often focus on measurement uncertainty, an essential topic for practicing physicists and a foundation for more advanced lab learning. As such, measurement uncertainty has been a focus when studying…

This research investigated the relationships between pre-service chemistry teachers' science process skills and critical thinking skills. The sample consisted of 146 pre-service chemistry teachers (47 males, 99 females) drawn from an Indonesian public university in the first semester of 2017/2018 academic year. Through a quantitative correlational…

Innovative instructional technologies, especially virtual reality devices, are becoming more prominent and feasible in science education. Concerning science laboratories, activities enriched with virtual reality technology have the potential to make unobservable phenomena accessible in any school. This virtual reality technology has the potential…

The 'Moss Safari' activity was developed to assist with knowing which organisms to look for when observing a drop of water squeezed from moss for the first time. In this case study, the activity was introduced online to 34 trainee science teachers. This was followed by a post-session questionnaire evaluating their experience of the Moss Safari.…

The ability to develop, use, and refine models of experimental systems is a nationally recognized learning outcome for undergraduate physics lab courses. However, no assessments of students' model-based reasoning exist for upper-division labs. This study is the first step toward development of modeling assessments for optics and electronics labs.…

Manipulative skills and abilities include skills in the handling and manipulation of materials and apparatus in the context of scientific investigation. Science teachers appeared to be struggling with the mode of assessment in making authentic evaluation of manipulative skills in laboratories. One of the contributing factors is due to the lack of…

Supporting the latest technology for inquiry is among one of the topics that is currently being discussed in the context of science education. The aim of this research is to examine the laboratory practices that use mobile learning to enhance the science process skills of the participants. The research is of qualitative design and has been planned…

In this case study, we explore students' communication during practical work in physics at an upper secondary school in Sweden from a sociocultural perspective. We investigate the relation between the interaction and content of students' communication and outcomes of their actions, with the purpose of finding new knowledge for informing teachers…

Science teachers regard practical work as important and many claim that it helps students to learn science. Besides theoretical knowledge, such as concepts and formulas, practical work is considered to be an integral and basic part of science education. As practical work is perceived and understood in different ways, comparing the results between…