The contribution of a virtual biology laboratory to college students’ learning

Abstract

The virtual laboratories developed by a life sciences department at a public university in the US were designed for use by college students enrolled in an introductory biology course. The results analyses conducted to examine their effectiveness indicated that self‐selected users of the virtual laboratories outperformed non‐users on laboratory practical exams and on items relevant to the laboratories included on the final practical exam but not on the final exam or other tests. A second comparison of two groups of users and non‐users, matched by their results on the first hourly exam confirmed the findings. The finding that the users were more successful than the non‐users could not be supported by a conclusion that the students had initial differences in quality. The results were replicated in a second semester, virtual laboratories‐relevant final exam items, but not on the final exam or other tests. Users expressed positive attitudes toward the virtual laboratories.

Keywords:

• virtual laboratories
• science education
• higher education
• evaluation
• educational technology

Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, entitled Cost‐Effectiveness Study of Instructional Technology Initiatives, and from the vice‐president of academic affairs at Rutgers University. The authors would like to thank Anandi Nagarajan for her participation in this project.