Virtually the Same: A Comparison of Stem Students’ Content Knowledge, Course Performance, and Motivation to Learn in Virtual and Face-to-Face Introductory Biology Laboratories

Reece, Amber; Butler, Malcolm B.

doi:10.2505/4/jcst17_046_03_83

Cited by 27 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Specifically, the students who were assigned the virtual biology laboratory simulation to independently complete at home in an informal environment performed equally well on the learning outcome test as the students who used the simulation in a formal classroom environment with teacher supervision. This result is consistent with the results found in earlier studies [12,13], and add to the evidence that there is equivalence between students who use virtual simulations at home or in a classroom context.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…However, little is known about the effect of the context in which simulations are used; in particular, unsupervised home contexts versus supervised classroom contexts. A recent study compared a face-to-face laboratory to a low fidelity virtual laboratory biology simulation in a sample of three hundred undergraduate STEM students over the course of a semester [12]. The results indicated that there were no significant differences on final grades or motivation between the groups.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Equivalence of using a desktop virtual reality science simulation at home and in class

Makransky

Mayer

Veitch³

et al. 2019

PLoS ONE

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The use of virtual laboratories is growing as companies and educational institutions try to expand their reach, cut costs, increase student understanding, and provide more accessible hands on training for future scientists. Many new higher education initiatives outsource lab activities so students now perform them online in a virtual environment rather than in a classroom setting, thereby saving time and money while increasing accessibility. In this paper we explored whether the learning and motivational outcomes of interacting with a desktop virtual reality (VR) science lab simulation on the internet at home are equivalent to interacting with the same simulation in class with teacher supervision. A sample of 112 (76 female) university biology students participated in a between-subjects experimental design, in which participants learned at home or in class from the same virtual laboratory simulation on the topic of microbiology. The home and classroom groups did not differ significantly on post-test learning outcome scores, or on self-report measures of intrinsic motivation or self-efficacy. Furthermore, these conclusions remained after accounting for prior knowledge or goal orientation. In conclusion, the results indicate that virtual simulations are learning activities that students can engage in just as effectively outside of the classroom environment.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Equivalence of using a desktop virtual reality science simulation at home and in class

Makransky

Mayer

Veitch³

et al. 2019

PLoS ONE

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show abstract

“…VL in conjunction with physical lab, significantly improved the self-efficacy of students for microbiology experiments (Makransky et al 2016b). Improvements in students' learning gains, student engagement, self-efficacy, motivation, and achievement were observed after performing experiments in virtual labs (Goudsouzian et al 2018;Reece and Butler 2017;Su and Cheng 2019;Dyrberg et al 2017). VL also helped teachers to improve their understanding and confidence related to teaching science (Bautista and Boone 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Virtual experimental platforms in chemistry laboratory education and its impact on experimental self-efficacy

Kolil

Muthupalani

Achuthan

2020

Int J Educ Technol High Educ

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Self-efficacy is an important determinant in successfully attempting a task. In the area of education, self-efficacy plays a crucial role in causing behavioral changes, resulting in enhanced performance over the course of learning. In chemistry education, students often develop anxiety towards performing experiments due to the perceived negative outcomes resulting from lack of understanding and improper experimentation. This anxiety negatively impacts the self-efficacy of students in performing laboratory experiments. We define student-held beliefs about their experimental skills as 'experimental self-efficacy' (ESE), and examine the four prominent factors that impact ESE in chemical laboratories. Through the development of an instrument, this work characterizes ESE and the impact of pre-laboratory interventions such as exposure to virtual laboratories (VL) on ESE and conceptual knowledge of students. Furthermore, analysis using statistical techniques such as t-tests and dissimilarity matrices reveal the positive impact of VL in enhancing students' ESE.

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“…Therefore, there is an advantage in including activities relating to experimental design and argumentation of data that are known to improve student outcomes in laboratory work(65) in an online context, as they are beneficial activities that do not actually require physical laboratory work. This approach can be augmented by simulations(66), virtual labs(67,68), or videos(69,70) that develop students' understanding of technical processes relating to laboratory techniques so that the combination of laboratory technique and laboratory process provides an effective overall experience. Many of the strategies for teaching practical skills are also relevant in online environments, such as creating a 'stress-free' safe learning environment, and breaking the skill down into manageable, observable steps(71).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

10 simple rules for supporting a temporary online pivot in higher education

Nordmann¹,

Horlin²,

Hutchison³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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As continued COVID-19 disruption looks likely across the world, perhaps until 2021, contingency plans are evolving in case of further disruption in the 2020-2021 academic year. This includes delivering face-to-face programmes fully-online for at least part of the upcoming academic year for new and continuing cohorts This temporary pivot will necessitate distance teaching and learning across almost every conceivable pedagogy, from fundamental degrees to professionally accredited ones. Each institution, programme, and course will have its own myriad of individualised needs , however, there is a common question that unites us all: how do we provide teaching and assessment to students in a manner that is accessible, fair, equitable, and provides the best learning whilst acknowledging the temporary nature of the Pivot? No ‘one size fits all’ solution exists and many of the choices that need to be made will be far from simple, however, this paper provides a starting point and basic principles to facilitate discussions taking place around the globe by balancing what we know from the pedagogy of online learning with the practicalities imposed by this crisis.

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Virtually the Same: A Comparison of Stem Students’ Content Knowledge, Course Performance, and Motivation to Learn in Virtual and Face-to-Face Introductory Biology Laboratories

Cited by 27 publications

References 15 publications

Equivalence of using a desktop virtual reality science simulation at home and in class

Equivalence of using a desktop virtual reality science simulation at home and in class

Virtual experimental platforms in chemistry laboratory education and its impact on experimental self-efficacy

10 simple rules for supporting a temporary online pivot in higher education

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