Reece, A. J., & Butler, M. B. (2017). 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. Research and Teaching. Journal of College Science Teaching, 46(3), 83–89.
The LearnSmart Labs by McGraw Hill Higher Education (New York, NY) used in this research project were comparable to the face-to-face labs in a large introductory Biology course. The authors are from the Biology Department at California State University and the School of Teaching, Learning, and Leadership at the University of Central Florida, USA. Undergraduate students (n=300) were randomly assigned into one experimental group (virtual labs) and one comparison group (face-to-face labs). They completed a laboratory content test and the Biology Motivation Questionnaire II at the beginning and end of the semester. Final course grades were also obtained. Analyses revealed no significant differences in learning gains between students in the face-to-face and virtual simulation labs on the content test and final course grades. Two thirds of the students experienced a decline in motivation to learn biology over the semester, but no significant difference was found between the two groups.