Virtual Experiments in University Education

Abstract

A university curriculum in natural and engineering sciences should provide students enough time and adequate facilities to design and carry out experiments and to analyze and interpret experimental results. However, laboratory facilities require considerable investments, and the experiments themselves can also be very expensive. Furthermore, in many universities, scheduling laboratory practice can be quite constrained. It is often difficult to realize learning scenarios in which experimentation is an integral component. Finally, alignment of actual laboratory classes and assessment is seldom satisfactory. This chapter discusses potential benefits of and limitations to virtual experiment environments or virtual laboratories in university education. In addition, we aim to identify feasible objectives for faculty-based projects on design, realization and use of virtual experiments in university education.

Application of a Virtual Laboratory Containing Ethnoscience to Enhance Students' Critical Thinking Skills

“…Virtual laboratories can be used as an alternative to support experiential learning. This virtual laboratory environment allows students to design and conduct virtual experiments, process data, and analyze and interpret experimental results (Hartog et al, 2009;Verstege et al, 2019). Virtual laboratories are technology designed to simulate laboratory activities as closely as possible to physical/real laboratory activities to provide equivalent knowledge and skills for students (Diwakar et al, 2023;Pearson & Kudzai, 2015;Widyaningrum, 2018).…”