Current technology has the capacity for affording a virtual experience that challenges the notion of a teaching laboratory for undergraduate science and engineering students. Though the potential of virtual laboratories (V-Labs) has been extolled and investigated in a number of areas, this research has not been synthesized for the context of undergraduate science and engineering education. This study involved a systematic review and synthesis of 25 peer-reviewed empirical research papers published between 2009 and 2019 that focused on V-Labs. The results reveal a dearth of varied theoretical and methodological approaches where studies have principally been evaluative and narrowly focused on individual changes in content knowledge. The majority of studies fell within the general domain of science and involved a single 2D experience using software that was acquired from a range of outside vendors. The perspective largely assumed V-Labs to be a teaching approach, providing instruction without any human-to-human interaction. Positive outcomes were attributed, based more on novelty than design, to improved student motivation. Studies exploring individual experiences, the role of personal characteristics or environments that afforded social learning, including interactions with faculty or teaching assistants were noticeably missing.

当前的技术具有提供虚拟体验的能力，该体验挑战了面向科学与工程专业本科生的教学实验室的观念。尽管虚拟实验室（V-Labs）的潜力已在许多领域得到了充分的重视和研究，但该研究尚未在本科科学与工程教育的背景下进行综合。这项研究涉及对2009年至2019年期间发表的针对V-Labs的25篇经同行评审的经验研究论文的系统综述和综合。结果表明，缺乏各种理论和方法论方法，在这些方法中，研究主要是评估性的，并且仅关注内容知识的个体变化。大多数研究属于科学的一般领域，涉及使用从一系列外部供应商处获得的软件进行的2D体验。这种观点在很大程度上将V-Labs视为一种教学方法，无需任何人与人之间的交互即可提供指导。取得积极成果的主要原因是新颖性而非设计性，这归因于学生动机的提高。探索个人经历，个人特征或提供社会学习环境的作用（包括与教职员工或助教互动）的研究明显缺失。提高学生的动力。探索个人经历，个人特征或提供社会学习环境的作用（包括与教职员工或助教互动）的研究明显缺失。提高学生的动力。探索个人经历，个人特征或提供社会学习环境的作用（包括与教职员工或助教互动）的研究明显缺失。