The Canadian Remote Sciences Laboratories (CRSL) website (www.remotelab.ca) was successfully employed in a study of the differences in the performance and perceptions of students' about their learning in the laboratory (in-person) versus learning at a remote location (remote access). The experiment was completed both in-person and via remote…

The development of computer-based experiment set has become necessary in teaching physics in schools so that students can learn from their real experiences. The purpose of this study is to create and to develop the computer-based experiment set on simple harmonic motion of mass on springs for teaching and learning physics. The average period of…

Background: This research investigates the impact of a junior secondary astronomy education programme undertaken in four Australian educational jurisdictions. Purpose: Junior secondary students' perceptions of the science they experience at School are examined both before, during and after their engagement with a science programme targeting…

This research study is an investigation of student-laboratory (i.e., lab) learning based on students' perceptions of experiences using questionnaire data and evidence of their science-laboratory performance based on paper-and-pencil assessments using Maryland-mandated criteria, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) criteria, and published…

A small group of high school students performed a virtual laboratory experiment in Second Life that mimicked a real experiment in both its appearance and procedure. Lab report grades were equivalent to report grades for hands-on experiments, and the quality of students' results was similar. Results of an attitudinal survey show that students…

In a relatively short space of time, classrooms have become full of computers, gadgets and electronic devices. Technology will only continue to become more sophisticated, more efficient and more abundant in schools. But how desirable is this technological revolution and to what extent should it develop? To measure the effectiveness and popularity…

Mutate is a program developed for teaching purposes to impart a virtual laboratory class for undergraduate students of Genetics in Biology. The program emulates the so-called fluctuation test whose aim is to distinguish between spontaneous and adaptive mutation hypotheses in bacteria. The plan is to train students in certain key multidisciplinary…

The purpose of this project was to investigate the effects of virtual versus physical manipulation using a simulation-based laboratory activity (SBL) and a microcomputer-based laboratory activity (MBL). Both the SBL and the MBL used computers to collect, graph, and analyze data. A major difference was that the MBL allowed the students to…

Microcomputer based laboratory activities have been suggested to have a number of benefits in science education. However, their implementation produces mixed results, and student perception data have in the past yielded responses that are negative regarding the technology. This work presents a case study of three first year undergraduate chemistry…

The objective of this study was to develop an online report writing activity that was a constructive and cooperative learning process for a course on traditional general physics experiments. Wiki, a CMC authoring tool, was used to construct the writing platform. Fifty-eight undergraduate students (33 men and 25 women), working in randomly assigned…

The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast laboratory simulations with traditional (equipment) explorations in physics to determine differences, if any, in student achievement and changes in attitude toward science. Based upon the investigations conducted in undergraduate physics classes with 96 students who were non-science majors, it…

This study investigates opportunities for conducting electrical engineering experiments via the Internet rather than in an actual laboratory. Eighty-four French students of electrical engineering (semester 1, 2004) at Bordeaux University 1 participated in practical courses. Half of the students performed experiments in a laboratory while the other…

This ERIC Digest presents a brief description of some applications and findings of the microcomputer in science classrooms. It is suggested that microcomputer simulations are at least as effective as hands-on experiences for some cognitive outcomes and may in fact enhance these outcomes when the simulations are sequenced to follow hands-on…