Virtual Labs Improve Student’s Performance in a Classroom

This study investigates the utilisation of virtual laboratories as a supplement to conventional laboratory settings for conducting formal science experiments. Although previous research acknowledges the growing integration of digital tools in science education, there remains limited empirical evidence comparing the effectiveness of virtual and traditional laboratory experiences in supporting conceptual understanding. Addressing this gap, the study aimed to examine whether virtual laboratory instruction enhances academic achievement in physical sciences to the same extent as traditional laboratory methods. A quasi-experimental design was employed using pre- and post-test achievement scores, and the treatment involved conducting an acid-base titration activity through a virtual laboratory. The participants consisted of two hundred and eleven grade eleven physical science learners selected through random sampling. Data were analysed using independent t-tests and analysis of variance. The findings indicate that the type of experimental environment influences learner performance, yet no meaningful difference was found between virtual and traditional laboratory groups. Both approaches contributed similarly to improved conceptual comprehension. The study implies that virtual laboratories can serve as viable alternatives where conventional facilities are limited, supporting flexible and accessible science instruction. Keywords: Conceptual comprehension; physical sciences; virtual laboratories; science education; traditional laboratories.

Laboratory experiments are considered to be a crucial component of engineering and science curricula by all stakeholders in the education process. In traditional laboratories, students develop practical skills and become effective professionals. However, the major drawbacks of traditional laboratories are their high demand on resources, significant maintenance costs and the inability to delivery the laboratory content in distance education. Virtual laboratory experiments represent a valuable option for educational laboratories, due to their advantages over traditional hands-on as well as remote experiments, including the ease of reconfiguring the experimental system, the high flexibility in the input specifications, the possibility of conducting experiments using devices otherwise infeasible and the option of re-running experiments multiple times.
 In response to the need for developing laboratory resources that provide a practical experience to online engineering students, this paper describes a simulation-based virtual laboratory, which is used at Stevens Institute of Technology (SIT) in a junior-level course on mechanisms and machine dynamics as a compliment to experimental work in the traditional hands-on laboratory. This virtual laboratory system alleviates the space, time and cost constraints associated with traditional laboratories and serves as an efficient teaching aid. It conveys to the students practical issues associated with actual experiments and provides learning outcomes that are comparable to those of traditional physical laboratories. The students have the opportunity to explore a wide range of experimental configurations and parameters. In addition, the system includes a realistic rendering of the experimental setup and its components, thus providing the students with a strong feeling of immersion, as if they were performing an experiment in a traditional laboratory.

Several researchers report that practical experimentation arouses a strong interest among students in Chemistry learning. Also, the classes held in didactic laboratories enhance the learning ability of the students, because they help the understanding of the subject matter. There are also reports stating that students feel more motivated to learn Chemistry when they make use of practical and dynamic classes. However, the availability of laboratories to carry out practical activities is difficult to found in different levels of education in several countries. This paper assumes that the expansion of resources to increase the experimental practice of Chemistry can be achieved by developing virtual laboratories in a way of helping them to get involved in active learning. In this work a virtual laboratory, called VirtuaLabQ, with predefined experiments about Chemical Transformations is introduced. Also, a case study that shows the use of VirtuaLabQ integrated to hands-on laboratory is presented. The case study was performed with Engineering undergraduate students that attend the Chemical Transformation course. The main target of this study was to investigate if practicing the experiments previously in VirtuaLabQ improves the students' performance in experiments accomplished in a hands-on chemistry laboratory. Two sets of laboratory experiments were conducted, in wich students first performed online activities in VirtuaLabQ and after in the hands-on laboratory, during regular class time. Also, students answered questionnaires evaluating the performance of each experiment in virtual and hands-on laboratory. Four questions were chosen to be analyzed in order to check the main target of this work. Results indicate that the integration of virtual and hands-on experiments in a Chemistry undergraduate course assists in the good performance of students in a hands-on laboratory and can contribute to the improvement of student learning. However, improvements in VirtuaLabQ and new case studies are necessary to confirm these findings, considering, for example, other kind of evaluations that effectively compare student performance besides self-evaluation.

The COVID-19 pandemic saw physical therapist (PT) education programs in 2020 add virtual options to prepare students for hands-on clinical skills. The purpose of this research was to investigate student confidence, preparation, and clinical performance based on their choice of virtual or in-person laboratory immersion. Secondary analysis compared 2020 cohort outcomes with the previous cohort in 2019 (prepandemic). Virtual skill acquisition has been studied with support for effectiveness in didactic and psychomotor skill acquisition. The impact on clinical education performance is unknown. Student records from an accelerated hybrid, PT education program in 2020 (n = 91) and 2019 (n = 86). In this mixed-method observational study, researchers analyzed a Qualtrics survey and the PT Clinical Performance Instrument (CPI) to compare student outcomes. Statistical analyses included chi-square, two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and Mann-Whitney U test. MAXQDA software was used to code student and clinical instructor narrative responses from the CPI related to strengths and areas for further development. All students in 2020 attended laboratory virtually for 9 full days, and 24% of students chose virtual laboratory for the remaining 8.5 days; 97% of students reported feeling confident going into their clinical experience (66% inpatient). No statistically significant differences were found based on instructional method (virtual or in-person) or clinical practice setting (inpatient or outpatient) for confidence, preparation, or CPI performance. Themes of wanting more time to prepare and more confidence in clinical decision making emerged from the qualitative analysis. Results indicate no statistically significant difference for virtual versus in-person laboratory and no difference compared with the 2019 cohort. Virtual instruction effectively prepared students for their clinical experiences across all settings. Although an in-person laboratory experience may be preferred, it is possible to deliver effective experiences in a virtual setting without compromising student performance. Further research is needed to confirm findings.

Laboratory experimentation in the context of school science is a widely advocated teaching strategy for the simplification of several abstract scientific concepts. Laboratory-based learning activities have proven to enhance learners’ conceptual and procedural understandings of micro chemical phenomena, thus boosting achievement in chemistry content tests. In the South African education landscape where there is inequitable distribution of resources for laboratory-based science learning, this study exploited how available virtual learning resources could also be used for learning chemistry concepts, and further compared student achievement in chemistry content test post intervention with both traditional and virtual laboratory learning resources. In this quasi- experimental study, we provided a group of third-year pre-service science teachers (n=50) with four chemistry concepts to learn using a hands-on traditional (control group) and a virtual laboratory (experimental group) intervention. The same pre and post chemistry content test was administered to control and experimental groups of pre-service teachers (herein also referred to as students), before and after learning interventions, with the aim of assessing students’ achievements post- learning in the two different laboratory environments. Tests scores were analysed and the results of a paired-sample t-test showed a statistically significant difference between pre- and post-test results for all groups of students. Using independent sample t-tests, we further compared post-test scores for the control and experimental groups which revealed the mean post-test score of the experimental group (M = 79.36, SD = 8.306), being significantly higher than that of the control group (M = 68.72, SD = 9.076) at t (48) = 4.32, p < .01. The findings from these tests indicated that, students obtained significantly higher achievement scores post- laboratory learning interventions and that virtual laboratory interventions yielded significantly higher achievement scores than traditional laboratory interventions. Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that, laboratory learning has a positive impact on achievement in chemistry and that virtual laboratories provide a worthy complement for traditional laboratories when learning abstract and difficult chemistry concepts. Implications of these findings and some recommendations for practice and research are also discussed herein.

The emergence of problems such as the COVID-19 pandemic that currently occurred interfere the implementation of teaching and learning activities in schools. Especially for science learning, it is not only about the content but also the processes to improve student’s skills, such as science process skills. Current technological advances make it possible to conduct distance learning using media such as virtual lab. This study aims to review the comparison of the effectiveness between virtual lab and traditional lab, the use of virtual lab on student’s science process skills, and the use of virtual lab as a medium of distance learning. This study uses a systematic literature review method with 22 selected articles. The results indicate that the use of virtual lab media has the same or even better effectiveness than traditional labs. The use of virtual lab enable to enhance student’s science process skills, especially in predicting and measuring. This is because the virtual lab media able to provide opportunities and flexibilities for students to conduct experiments by the level of ability and pace of learning each student, anytime and anywhere. Thus, the virtual lab media is feasible to be used as an alternative substitute method for distance learning.

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education witnessed a paradigm shift in the teaching-learning strategies everywhere from the original way where everything was largely conducted face-to-face. Teachers, educators, and students had to suddenly move to the virtual mode to continue their classes in schools, institutes, and universities. Recently, many published studies have revealed the utmost need to improve teaching strategies, particularly in an online lecture setting. However, the major impediment was observed in higher educational institutions (HEIs) where teachers had to conduct laboratory experiments in hard sciences, particularly in physics, chemistry and, biochemistry. Of these subjects taught in graduate classes, chemistry is a complex subject. A chemistry learner needs to acquire hands-on experience, especially when performing organic preparations and instrumental analyses. Chemistry teachers believed that nothing could ever replace a traditional laboratory setting, but now the situation has changed to a certain extent. It has always been argued that students do not learn by merely clicking on simulated glassware and instruments. In a typical organic chemistry laboratory, students prepare organic compounds, purify them, and determine various properties of the pure compounds. Students gain experience by trial-error while adding reagents in organic preparation, devising reaction mechanisms, observing the physical properties of purified compounds, and even separating complex mixtures. Virtual laboratories cannot replace all these with a mere simulator, but when one deals with corrosive chemicals and advanced instrumental methods, it seems a plausible solution to augment them with traditional laboratories. It was found that using advanced level of online screen experiments improved students understanding and also helped them score well in their laboratory assessments. Virtual simulations cannot replace traditional laboratories since many experiments require hands-on tool abilities, smelling, seeing colored complexes, and trial-error strategies. It was also observed that experiments that require costly instruments can be carried as a remote trigger, paving the way to augment virtual experiments in the future chemistry laboratory. The chapter discusses the pedagogical design for graduate students in a virtual chemistry laboratory and live demonstrations performed in the traditional laboratory. In this chapter chemistry experiments based on organic synthesis, stereochemistry and spectroscopy on a virtual screen have been studied. The different modalities of conducting virtual screen experiments, assessment strategies, and government initiatives are also highlighted. This chapter concludes with current and future trends of virtual chemistry laboratories with highlights on the barriers, opportunities, and key measures to resolve them.

Traditional classroom teaching practices often lacks the active engagement of students in the class. Performing experiment in the laboratory is one of the most effective methods for getting deep knowledge in chemistry. But sometimes listening theory lectures and performing related experiments in the laboratory does not helps the students to understand the concepts clearly, as this lacks repeatability and visualization of concepts. Induction of virtual laboratory in combination with theory lectures and physical laboratory could solve this problem. Virtual laboratory have multi-faceted advantages such as repetitive performance, easy to handle simulations and remote triggered experimentations. Such remote triggered laboratories found to enhance students' academic performance as it enables them to perform anytime-anywhere. In this paper, we report our observations regarding the use of virtual laboratory experiments in chemistry subject and their role in enhancing First Year B. Tech. engineering students' performance when induced as a blended classroom. UV-Visible spectrophotometry experiment was performed to verify the usefulness of virtual laboratory from student's knowledge perspective. The effect of a blended learning approach was carefully studied and evaluated in comparison with traditional classroom teaching and virtual laboratory. Our study reveals the enhancement of student's performance in a blended learning environment compared to just physical performance in the laboratory and performing individually with the virtual laboratory.

Science is a practical subject that requires experiments in labs to provide hands-onexperience. Virtual labs act as complementary to traditional Labs. In the 21st century, there is a high need for digital transformation. Virtual Labs act as an alternative method of innovative pedagogy. NEP 2020 recommends to use innovative pedagogy in the classroom and digital tools are promoted that will lead to sustainable use of resources and promote inclusive education. Traditional Labs are sometimes not well equipped, and virtual labs play an important role in fulfilling societal needs. Secondary school students are being taken as a sample of study to check out the effectiveness of virtual labs. It is found that the maximum number of students are unaware of the virtual labs and their effectiveness. The features of virtual labs and their implications in comparison to traditional labs are explored. Various platforms where learners can access the virtual labs are explored. Virtual laboratory are very helpful in the Science education which can increase self paced learning and it is something new for the learners so create a new , innovative and motivating factor as this is new and students participate actively in this as this is apart from their monotonous routine and provides experience of the theoretical concepts and lab equipments.

The interest on educational remote laboratories has increased, as have the technologies involved in their development and deployment. These laboratories enable students to use real equipment located in the university from the Internet. This way, students can extend their personal learning experience by testing with real equipment what they are studying at home, or performing hands-on-lab sessions at night, on weekends or whenever the traditional laboratories are physically closed. A unique feature of remote laboratories when compared to traditional laboratories is that the distance of the student is not an issue, so remote laboratories can be shared with other schools or universities. In this contribution, authors present and discuss a widely spread remote laboratory (VISIR, present in 6 european universities + 1 in India) shared among 3 institutions (2 universities + 1 high school). During the exhibition, demonstration of the laboratories being shared will be shown.

The rapid transition to remote teaching in the spring of 2020 posed particular challenges for laboratory courses, which often involve students working hands-on with equipment in collaborative environments. Replicating in-person experiments was especially challenging for advanced lab courses that utilize specialized apparatus, which could not be accessed by students at home. However, physics lab instructors employed a variety of creative strategies to overcome these barriers and provide students access to lab-like learning in a remote setting. We report on one advanced lab course that used the transition to remote teaching to completely redefine the course goals and transition from traditional prescriptive labs to more open-ended projects. We conduct a case study analysis, triangulating among several data sources-survey responses and interviews from both instructor and students-to construct an in-depth understanding of the remote course and how students experienced it. Although we cannot necessarily generalize the results of this analysis to the entire student experience in the course due to the student response rate, the feedback that the course did receive from both students and the instructor was overwhelmingly positive, and the instructors are planning to retain the open-ended projects when the course returns to an in-person format. We find that the new open-ended projects afforded students opportunities to make decisions and think deeply about their experiments, which students report as contributing to their enjoyment and satisfaction with the course. Students had mixed group work experiences, with some describing positive and meaningful interactions and others describing group work as a source of frustration and stress. Additionally, some students missed being able to work hands-on with equipment, and some reported a high workload that made the course stressful. We discuss these student experiences and provide implications for both in-person and remote lab courses.

With recent advances in information technologies, a new mode of laboratory known as the “virtual laboratory” has begun to revolutionise engineering education. This development has generated discussion about the fundamental learning outcomes of laboratory training courses and, ultimately, an interest in the consequent changes to the student’s learning experiences.This exploratory case study describes the initial phase of a research agenda that is focused on investigating the effectiveness of virtual laboratories in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) in a research-intensive university. The long-term goals of the agenda are to add to the literature of how effective virtual EEE laboratories are (in terms of delivering specific learning outcomes, and also engaging and motivating students and teachers), and to discover whether they can ultimately become a substitute for traditional laboratory training by providing an equivalent and comparable learning experience for students.

The virtual simulation laboratory is a process of transforming the one-dimensional text on the original textbook, to the two-dimensional picture projected by PPT, into a lifelike three-dimensional image. Through the multimedia platform, the knowledge and models learned by the students are displayed in front of the students, so that the experiencers can feel a near-real experience on this virtual simulation platform, which can greatly deepen our imagination and understanding of things, let the experience learning is fun. According to the existing situation of experimental teaching in local colleges and universities, this study proposes the establishment of an automobile engine simulation laboratory. On the basis of analyzing the technical implementation status of automobile engine virtual laboratory at home and abroad, comparing the system composition of the traditional laboratory system, synthesizing the current needs, researching and exploring relevant solutions, and finally deciding to conduct a simulation laboratory exploration of the engine, explaining the composition of the virtual laboratory, and understand the utilization and management of laboratories. The basic operations of the virtual laboratory are studied based on real objects and actual operations, and the application of the virtual laboratory is discussed with the engine crankshaft as the research object.

In practice, virtual laboratory has the advantages of high simulation, open sharing, scalability, reusability and high security, which can be used as a supplement and extension of classroom teaching to develop the experimental teaching of distance education and mixed learning. However, the more common virtual laboratories are mostly web-based "non-immersive" virtual laboratories, that is, desktop simulation virtual laboratories, mainly through the simulation operation of equipment and experimental process software. Therefore, the shortcomings of this "non-immersive" virtual laboratory are also very obvious, such as relying only on mouse and keyboard operation, and the immersion of practical experience and experimental effects is not strong. Immersive virtual experiment is the use of virtual reality technology to create immersive experimental interactive scenes. Learners can use certain equipment to enter the same space scene as the real lab for interactive operation and experience, and can train and practice repeatedly to obtain ideal data for analysis and processing. Students conduct systematic training from the perspective of professional English in a virtual simulation environment, and strengthen the comprehensive application ability of professional English in online virtual practice. For the experiments requiring hands-on participation of learners, immersive virtual laboratory is a developing trend, as well as an innovative and transformative teaching application.

Virtual labs have emerged as transformative tools in modern education, offering immersive, interactive, and cost-effective learning experiences. By integrating virtual labs into teaching and learning, educators can bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. These digital platforms simulate real-world experiments, enabling students to conduct complex procedures in a risk-free, controlled environment. Virtual lab integration enhances accessibility by overcoming geographical and resource-related constraints, ensuring equitable learning opportunities for diverse student populations. It also fosters personalized learning, allowing learners to progress at their own pace and revisit concepts as needed. Educators benefit from data analytics provided by virtual lab platforms, enabling them to tailor instructional strategies based on student performance. The integration of virtual labs into curricula promotes critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and technological literacy, aligning with the demands of the 21st-century workforce. Despite challenges such as initial setup costs and the need for digital infrastructure, the long-term benefits—ranging from increased student engagement to the ability to simulate real-world scenarios—underscore their significance in modern pedagogy. This abstract explores the potential of virtual labs to revolutionize education, paving the way for a more inclusive, engaging, and innovative learning environment.