Reviewing inquiry-based learning approaches in virtual laboratory environment for science education

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In science education, students’ active involvement in experimental procedures contributes to higher performance achievements compared to traditional lecturing, as laboratories play a key role and help learners develop the necessary skills of inquiry. Inquiry-based learning, a learning method based on students’ personal involvement in the cognitive process through searching, querying and posing questions, is an educational approach where in the case of research, the learner formulates hypotheses which tests them via experimentation and observation of the experimental results. The educational value of the inquiry learning method has been verified in several studies, where the application of the inquiry learning approach resulted in more effective learning, compared to traditional teacher-centered methods. The evolution of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) contributed towards the popularity of the inquiry-based learning, since it supports the development of educational approaches and environments which facilitate the inquiry learning process. Virtual reality laboratories give the user the opportunity to conduct the same scientific inquiry provided by hands-on experiments but with the advantages of the virtual environment. The present study focuses on the identification of the inquiry-based learning applications and methods used based on virtual laboratories in the field of science. The peer-reviewed literature was the main source of information and data. The findings of the reviewed studies indicated that virtual labs, when used in combination with hands-on labs in inquiry learning, support learners and help them gain deeper conceptual understanding of science.