TY - JOUR

T1 - Conventional teaching vs. e-learning

T2 - A case study of German undergraduate biology students

AU - Bauermeister, Tim

AU - Janßen, Nina

AU - Engler, John Oliver

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.

PY - 2024/12/24

Y1 - 2024/12/24

N2 - Digital learning environments such as virtual laboratories have been proposed to augment or even replace conventional forms of teaching in recent years. While there is some evidence on comparable learning outcomes between real and virtual labs, empirical evidence on the effectiveness of virtual labs as compared to conventional face-to-face teaching is largely lacking. Here, we used the virtual lab platform Labster in a first-year undergraduate course on general biology to evaluate its effectiveness against conventional teaching using a repeated measure randomized control trial (treatment group n = 131, control group n = 108). We find no evidence for a difference in terms of learning success between treatment and control groups, consistent with empirical studies on real vs. virtual labs. However, Labster exposure led to a more positive attitude towards e-learning, and a positive user experience was the strongest predictor of individual learning success, highlighting the importance of engagement in digital learning environments.

AB - Digital learning environments such as virtual laboratories have been proposed to augment or even replace conventional forms of teaching in recent years. While there is some evidence on comparable learning outcomes between real and virtual labs, empirical evidence on the effectiveness of virtual labs as compared to conventional face-to-face teaching is largely lacking. Here, we used the virtual lab platform Labster in a first-year undergraduate course on general biology to evaluate its effectiveness against conventional teaching using a repeated measure randomized control trial (treatment group n = 131, control group n = 108). We find no evidence for a difference in terms of learning success between treatment and control groups, consistent with empirical studies on real vs. virtual labs. However, Labster exposure led to a more positive attitude towards e-learning, and a positive user experience was the strongest predictor of individual learning success, highlighting the importance of engagement in digital learning environments.

KW - Attitudes towards e-learning

KW - Learning outcomes comparison

KW - Undergraduate biology education

KW - User experience in digital learning

KW - Virtual laboratories

KW - Didactics of sciences education

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85212970025&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10639-024-13261-2

DO - 10.1007/s10639-024-13261-2

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85212970025

JO - Education and Information Technologies

JF - Education and Information Technologies

SN - 1360-2357

ER -