Science and engineering laboratory courses: their role, computer technology and effective learning

Computers and the Internet have greatly impacted many aspects of society including Science and Engineering education. So-called virtual (simulated) laboratories and remote (Internet-accessed) laboratories have been developed, sometimes as a replacement for traditional laboratories. Thus a need exists for studying the role of science and engineering laboratories in order to better evaluate the effect of these 'new' laboratories on student learning. The progress of such a study is presented in this note.