Value added or misattributed? A multi-institution study on the educational benefit of labs for reinforcing physics content

• Published in: Physical review. Physics education research Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 010129 - 10140
• Main Authors: Holmes, N. G., Olsen, Jack, Thomas, James L., Wieman, Carl E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: College Park American Physical Society 30.05.2017
• Subjects: Achievement Gains; College Science; College Students; Comparative Testing; Control Groups; Course Content; Course Evaluation; Curriculum Enrichment; Education; Educational Benefits; Educational Objectives; Exit Examinations; Experimental Groups; Introductory Courses; Outcomes of Education; Program Effectiveness; Science Laboratories; Scores; Statistical Analysis; Student Records; Students; Teaching Methods; Value Added Models

Instructional labs are widely seen as a unique, albeit expensive, way to teach scientific content. We measured the effectiveness of introductory lab courses at achieving this educational goal across nine different lab courses at three very different institutions. These institutions and courses encom...