ABSTRACT While thousands of teaching laboratory studies have been conducted across science and engineering disciplines over the last century, we have reached a stalemate in new knowledge when it comes to learning. When it comes to traditional (hands‐on) or non‐traditional (simulation, virtual or remote labs) teaching methods, there is strong evidence that they all aid cognitive learning gains and that non‐traditional formats are just as good as or better than traditional methods regarding cognitive learning objectives. Recent studies continue to confirm what is already known. Over this time, missing have been investigations to understand what psychomotor and affective learning gains can be achieved, beyond those measured by student perceptions of learning. To address this gap, this study attempts to be the first to holistically measure, via a triangulation of methods, the learning gains across cognitive, psychomotor and affective laboratory competencies guided by the Laboratory Learning Objectives Measurement instrument. This study confirms that the laboratory enables holistic learning gains across all three modes and domains by using rigorous real‐time observation, interview, and testing student understanding using 239 students from an Australian and a Serbian university. As the size of these effects varies between modes, this study guides educators to optimise their pedagogical design according to their learning objectives.
Nikolic et al. (Sun,) studied this question.