The overall goal of this study was to evaluate student experiences in online laboratory courses in order to inform the design and improvement of lab activities in a distance education program. Students were surveyed about their satisfaction and perceptions of usability and learning in both hands-on (at home) and computer-based simulation (virtual) labs in a variety of natural science courses. We also attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of several online chemistry courses taught with either hands-on kits or virtual laboratory activities, and examined the performance of students concurrently enrolled in lecture and laboratory chemistry courses versus those enrolled in a lecture only courses. The majority of survey respondents felt their online laboratory experience was the same as or better than their prior experiences in the traditional setting. Survey data also show that students believe their laboratory experiences reinforced and improved their understanding of concepts presented in lectures and the textbook, and thus may have helped them perform better on course assessments. Our data on performance suggest that students enrolled in online science courses do as well or better than their peers enrolled in traditional courses. The data also suggest that students who take lecture and laboratory concurrently outperform their lecture-only peers, independent of course (i.e., general or organic chemistry) or delivery method (i.e., online or traditional).

中文翻译：

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在线实验室科学课程的功效

这项研究的总体目标是评估在线实验室课程中的学生体验，以便为远程教育计划中的实验室活动的设计和改进提供信息。在各种自然科学课程的动手（在家）和基于计算机的模拟（虚拟）实验室中，对学生的满意度和对可用性和学习的看法进行了调查。我们还尝试评估一些通过动手工具包或虚拟实验室活动教授的在线化学课程的有效性，并检查了同时参加讲座和实验室化学课程的学生与只参加讲座课程的学生的表现。大多数受访者认为他们的在线实验室体验与传统环境中的在线体验相同或更好。调查数据还显示，学生认为他们的实验室经验可以增强和提高他们对讲座和教科书中介绍的概念的理解，因此可能有助于他们在课程评估中表现更好。我们的绩效数据表明，参加在线科学课程的学生比参加传统课程的同学表现更好或更好。数据还表明，同时参加讲座和实验室的学生，无论课程（即普通或有机化学）或授课方式（即在线或传统）如何，都优于仅讲课的同龄人。我们的绩效数据表明，参加在线科学课程的学生比参加传统课程的同学表现更好或更好。数据还表明，同时参加讲座和实验室的学生，无论课程（即普通或有机化学）或授课方式（即在线或传统）如何，都优于仅讲课的同龄人。我们的绩效数据表明，参加在线科学课程的学生比参加传统课程的同学表现更好或更好。数据还表明，同时参加讲座和实验室的学生，无论课程（即普通或有机化学）或授课方式（即在线或传统）如何，都优于仅讲课的同龄人。