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It is clear that the current Science and Technology curriculum in Turkey is based on the constructivism. It is known that it is teachers who put Science and Technology curricula into practice in schools; therefore, it is essential that they should be aware of new approaches to and theories of learning and teaching. Furthermore, it is believed that Science and Technology classes can best be carried out in laboratories. In this respect, the purpose of this study is to evaluate certain laboratory experiments conducted in accordance with the 5E learning cycle model. First, 40 primary school teaching students' reports were chosen out of a total of 60 primary school teaching students' reports. Afterwards, the 40 primary school teaching students who had written these reports were provided with an interview form. An analysis of the experiment reports suggested that the students had some deficiencies. Finally, some recommendations were made to overcome these deficiencies. IntroductionThe laboratory method refers to a teaching method by which students acquire basic scientific information by conducting experiments on their own that will verify such information (Nakiboğlu and Sarıkaya, 1999;Özmen, 2004). In other words, the laboratory method is a way of experiential learning in which students learn Science and Technology subjects individually or in small groups in laboratories or special classrooms (Yaşar et al., 1998). Laboratory practices enable students to do research, to solve problems, to use their manipulative skills and to develop their communicative skills, thus making learned concepts and the relationship between the concepts more meaningful and permanent.Moreover, laboratory practices enable students to develop a positive attitude to science and play a role in their choosing a science-related profession (Hofstein and Lunetta, 2004). The use of laboratories and the extent to which the objectives are fulfilled are influenced by students' attitude towards laboratories, the number of students, teacher (instructors)-student interaction, laboratory textbooks, physical conditions of laboratories and approaches used throughout laboratory instruction (Freedman, 1997). In his "Constructivism: The Implications for Laboratory Work", Shiland (1999) explains what a laboratory environment should be like in order to enhance students' cognitive skills as follows: 1. International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 2015, 7 (1), [51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64] 52 determine relevant variables on their own, 2. They should design the procedures for research on their own, 3. They should plot tables on their own, 4. They should carry on their research in accordance with the standard research methodology, 5. Students should identify and eliminate the sources of their mistakes on their own, 6. Laboratory work should go back to the beginning and remind students about their misconceptions, 7. Students should provide predictions and explanations, 8. Laboratory solution should lead to another uncertain problem, ...

In recent years, experience of students in technology-equipped laboratories has been seen as an effective way to teach and learn physics. In this sense, experiments and demonstrations using computer based data collection systems and simulations that allow students to design their own virtual experiments in the physics laboratory come into prominence. In this study, the usage of computer based laboratory and virtual laboratory applications in the physics laboratory are discussed. In this context, the effects of computer based laboratory applications and virtual laboratory applications on students' graph drawing, understanding and interpretation skills, attitudes towards the physics laboratory and motivation for learning science were investigated. Sixty university students participated in the pre-test post-test semi-experimental design study. While the control group carried out experiments on the laws of motion with computer based laboratory, the experimental group performed the same experiments with virtual laboratory applications. The data of the study were collected through attitude scale, motivation scale and graph drawing, understanding and interpretation test. Independent sample t-tests were used in the analysis of the data. The findings show that computer based laboratory practices are more effective in the development of students' ability to draw, understand and interpret graphics than virtual laboratory applications. It has been determined that both computer based laboratory and virtual laboratory applications have a positive effect on students' attitudes and motivations. Also, computer based laboratory applications were found to be more effective in increasing students' motivation levels for communication, collaborative work, and participation than virtual laboratory applications. The findings of the study suggest that computer based laboratory applications in physics laboratories are more effective than virtual laboratory applications.

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