What Exactly is a Laboratory in Computer Science?

This work presents a large scale literature review on the question of what a laboratory in computer science is. This question arises since computer science has different traditions and is thus harder to grasp compared to more traditional fields of study. A total of 83 papers from the IEEE and ACM digital libraries were inductively categorised. All reviewed papers were published between the years 2017 and 2021. The results show that most laboratories are described in the context of teaching (course development and broader education / laboratory pedagogy research). One big problem in current laboratories seems to be that most are described without any didactical concepts, and the didactical concepts described by the included papers cover a wide range of principles. The disciplines of the reviewed laboratories are highly diverse and span across a wide spectrum with most papers either focussing on programming / software development or do not have a specific laboratory description.