This paper presents the development and evaluation of the Human Eye Remote Laboratory (EyeLab), created within the OnLabEdu project to enhance students’ understanding of the physical process of vision. The lab enables remote experiments on image formation, accommodation, and visual defects. Following a design-based research approach and the model of educational reconstruction, a learning arrangement for lower-secondary education was developed, integrating key optical concepts, learners’ conceptions, and gamification elements. The learning arrangement was tested in a real school setting with 6th-grade classes (N = 37) using a questionnaire. Additionally, probing acceptance interviews (n = 6) were conducted to identify factors that promote and hinder learning. Results indicate high acceptance and motivation, supported by the interactive and visual nature of the lab. However, difficulties were mainly related to scientific optical terminology. The findings demonstrate the potential of remote laboratories to foster conceptual understanding and engagement in school physics.

Practical experimentation is a central component of Control Engineering education; however, traditional on-site laboratory exercises are often constrained by time, accessibility, and equipment availability. To address these challenges and foster deeper conceptual understanding, this paper presents a pedagogical concept that integrates multiple modalities of practical learning within an introductory Control Engineering course in the bachelor’s program Systems Engineering. The study focuses on the identification (modeling) and characterization of linear systems and compares several instructional approaches: MATLAB/Simulink-based simulation, physical modeling with Simscape, demonstrations using real systems, on-site laboratory exercises, and newly introduced remote laboratory sessions.Two case studies, in detail electrical circuits, are presented, each aligned with specific learning objectives. While student feedback is incorporated in this paper, the evaluation data from the planned pre- and post-evaluation will be presented in future work once the full dataset becomes available.

This article presents an approach to teaching temperature-dependent resistance and characteristic curves using the Characteristic Curve Laboratory, a remote laboratory developed within the OnLabEdu project. The designed learning arrangement aims to deepen the understanding of temperaturedependent resistances of students at university level. In this article, the learning arrangement and an explorative first evaluation using a survey containing several selected aspects (e.g., autonomy, interest, flow, failure, perceived choice, perceived competence, handling), conducted with 18 students at early tertiary level, is presented. The results show positive ratings for handling and time management, but indicate issues with scale reliability, particularly for autonomy and perceived choice. The variability in fear of failure and flow suggest areas for improvement in the learning arrangement.

IntroductionThis paper is concerned with investigating the cognitive demands of solving force diagram tasks in different scenarios, specifically in the wind context.MethodsIn this study, students were trained using worked examples and then completed tasks in two different scenarios while their eye movements were monitored with eye-tracking technology. After completing the tasks, cognitive load was assessed to evaluate the impact of task complexity on cognitive processing. Eye-tracking metrics were analyzed in detail to identify gaze strategies, differences and similarities.ResultsIt was found that a three-force scenario (surface wind formation) induced a higher intrinsic cognitive load than a two-force scenario, which is not only theoretically justified by cognitive load theory, but also confirmed by eye-tracking metrics. Although correlation analyses show no significant relationship between the ability to mentally rotate and learning success, the role of mental rotation in problem solving is highlighted by eye-tracking data.DiscussionOur results contribute to a better understanding of the learning and problem-solving mechanisms involved in wind direction determination and offer possible implications for the design of more effective teaching and learning methods in this area.

This paper presents the development and implementation of a remote laboratory for thermal radiation, realized as part of the Online Laboratories for Science Education and Training (OnLabEdu) project in Austrian schools. The OnLabEdu initiative meets the demand for remote learning with innovative, accessible online labs for practical science education via internetoperated systems. The Leslie Cube, invented and introduced by John Leslie in 1804, serves as the central experiment in this project to deepen the understanding of thermal radiation processes. The project overcame various technical challenges to establish a low-maintenance, remote-capable foundation, detailed within this work. Furthermore, it defines specific learning goals and introduces new subject-oriented didactic concepts, contributing to the advancement of science education in both practical and pedagogical dimensions.

A primary duty for physics teachers is to provide students with opportunities to engage in subject-specific learning processes. Such processes are always accompanied by students’ (mis)conceptions. Consequently, diagnosing students’ conceptions is a daily, essential, and challenging task for physics teachers. Prospective physics teachers should, therefore, receive appropriate preparation regarding this task during their university-based teacher education. To meet this requirement, we developed a course for Austrian pre-service physics teachers that incorporates the usage of video vignettes and micro-teaching sessions as learning arrangements to enhance participants’ diagnostic skills. Within the present study, we followed a single case study design to explore if and to which extent the self-confidence in diagnosing students’ conceptions of pre-service physics teachers who participated in this course changed over time. Our data analysis revealed mixed findings, as our participants showed increases, decreases, and U-shaped change-patterns regarding their self-confidence in diagnosing students’ conceptions. These findings indicate that participating in our developed course may have highly diverging effects on different pre-service physics teachers.

This paper explores the development and implementation of a remote spectrometry laboratory as part of the "Online laboratories for science education and training" (OnLabEdu) project in Austrian schools. This initiative responds to the increasing demand for remote learning by creating innovative, user-friendly online labs that facilitate the practical teaching of science through internet-managed remote labs. The spectrometry lab, specifically, employs spectrograph and color filters to teach fundamental concepts of light and spectrum, enabling varied experiments remotely. Initial outcomes indicate a significant step towards enhancing science education's accessibility and engagement, emphasizing low-maintenance and flexible experimental setups. This approach underscores a broader move to integrate technology into practical science education, offering scalable and innovative solutions to traditional educational challenges.

The function of the human eye is firmly established in biology and health sciences curricula. Functional models are often used for visualization and education and are usually available in limited numbers for many students. We have developed and implemented a remote lab that allows any student to study and understand the essential functions of the human eye. The basis of the remote lab is an exercise setup for simulating the functioning of the human eye as used in schools. The parameters are adjustable over a web interface, and phenomena such as far-sightedness and near-sightedness, accommodation to objects at different distances, as well as refractive error correction using lenses of different powers can be studied. A basic exercise for the students is to adjust the commonly sighted eye so that the object, which is realized by an object on an OLED display in the remote lab, is sharply displayed on the simulated retina.

A human eye remote laboratory is developed as part of the OnLabEdu project to enhance the understanding of the visual process, making it more tangible and comprehensible. This paper will provide a brief overview of the human eye remote lab, followed by a focus on developing learning arrangements for the lab. The development of teaching materials follows a design-based research approach, emphasizing an iterative and evidence-based process. Specifically, the development of learning arrangements for the remote lab is grounded in the model of educational reconstruction. On the one hand, fundamental concepts related to eyesight mechanisms and imaging processes are explored and aligned to the target audience of lower secondary-level students. On the other hand, the model considers learners' ideas as essential for the educational reconstruction of a learning arrangement. Both the laboratory software and hardware are currently in the initial design phase, with plans for further revision and redesign cycles. Consequently, this paper presents educational concepts concerning scientific key ideas, learners conceptions, ideas on possible tasks, and associated learning objectives for students of lower secondary level. These concepts serve as the foundation for developing learning arrangements for the human eye remote lab. Additionally, the paper introduces further ideas for the current development of the lab and the learning arrangements.

Remote laboratories play a pivotal role in facilitating teaching and learning experiences, offering unique opportunities beyond traditional classroom settings. The project OnLabEdu (Online Laboratories for School Education) aims the development of remote laboratories for both, schools and university-level students, complete with the development of appropriate accompanying educational resources. This paper introduces a characteristic curve remote laboratory with a first-developed learning arrangement on RGB LEDs and the interplay of energy, forward voltage, and wavelength of light. Drawing from the model of educational reconstruction, the learning arrangement is based on a profound clarification of the scientific content and considering students’ perspectives. Against the background of a design-based research approach, the learning arrangement was already evaluated with high school students through probing acceptance interviews. Now we are interested if the learning arrangement also fits to tertiary level students. Therefore, we conducted six probing acceptance interviews with pre-service teacher students, hailing from physics (n=3) and non-physics (n=3) backgrounds. The primary objective of the evaluation was to identify potential barriers to learning and elements that promote a stimulating learning environment along with the operation of the remote laboratory for the tertiary level. The findings revealed similar challenges of tertiary-level students and high school students. We detected students’ challenges with technical terminology as well as explaining the term forward voltage and its connection to the concept of energy. These results give initial ideas for a re-design of the learning arrangement to address the identified issues and make the learning arrangement suitable for tertiary level students.

In this paper we present the project OnLabEdu (On-line Laboratories for School Education) funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). The main goal of the project is to develop new remote laboratories for the school setting which are then used by teachers and educators for educational research and the development of appropriate accompanying teaching and learning materials. The developed laboratories are tested in a controlled setting and improved in iterative cycles over the years.

The viscous behavior of fluids can be observed in numerous everyday situations. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that people, since they are usually not specialists in fluids’ flow behavior, possess naïve conceptions about the viscous behavior of fluids. These conceptions more or less deviate from corresponding scientific explanations. Qualitative studies with preschool children and secondary school students from Germany have already identified various naïve conceptions about the viscous behavior of fluids (e.g. that the density or stickiness of a substance explains its viscous behavior). Within the present study, we explore the question of whether similar naïve conceptions can also be found among adults around the globe. To this end, based on previous research, an online questionnaire was developed to survey adults worldwide regarding their naïve conceptions about the viscous behavior of fluids. The survey was conducted anonymously, online, and voluntarily in spring 2023; participants were recruited via SurveySwap. A total of 406 adults from all regions of the world (primarily Europe and North America) participated in the survey. In this paper, we report and discuss the main findings of this online survey.

Remote laboratories can be an essential support for teaching and learning. They offer possibilities that otherwise cannot be implemented in the classroom. The project OnLabEdu (Online Laboratories for School Education) focuses on developing remote labs for school, including the development of appropriate accompanying teaching and learning materials. This paper presents the first design of a learning arrangement for a characteristic curve remote lab. The learning arrangement was designed based on the model of educational reconstruction and therefore, takes the clarification of the scientific content and students' perspectives into account. The topic is RGB LEDs and the connection of the terms energy, forward voltage, and wavelength of light. Following a design-based research approach, the learning arrangement was evaluated through two probing acceptance interviews with two high school students. The main goal was to identify first hints on learning obstacles, along with elements that support learning within the learning arrangement together with the handling of the remote lab itself. The results showed barriers to conceptual understanding of energy and forward voltage and that students had problems writing down their ideas in appropriate technical language. Furthermore, the students noted room for improvement concerning the interface of the remote lab. Based on these findings, ideas for re-designing the learning arrangement are discussed.

Der Begriff Schülervorstellungen ist ein zentrales Element in physikdidaktischer Forschung und Lehre. In der physikdidaktischen Literatur lässt sich dieser Begriff jedoch mit unterschiedlichen Nuancierungen in seiner Verwendung und Bedeutung finden. Beschreibungen oder Definitionsversuche greifen teilweise zu kurz oder sind zu wenig konkret. Dies bringt eine Reihe von Herausforderungen für den Bereich der Forschung und für die Vermittlung des Begriffs in der fachdidaktischen Lehre mit sich. Der Ausgangspunkt der vorliegenden Delphi-Studie ist das Desiderat (implizit) vorhandene Definitionen und Bedeutungszuschreibungen zu identifizieren sowie jene Merkmale und Aspekte des Begriffs Schülervorstellungen herauszuarbeiten, über die in der deutschsprachigen Physikdidaktik-Community (Post-Docs und Professor*innen) weitgehend Konsens herrscht. Die Delphi-Studie wurde in vier Phasen durchgeführt, wobei diese so aufgebaut waren, dass die jeweiligen Ergebnisse einer Phase als Grundlage für die Gestaltung der nächsten Phase dienten. Dabei wurde jeweils das Ziel verfolgt, sich einem gemeinsamen Begriffsverständnis innerhalb der Community anzunähern, konsensuale Merkmale und Aspekte zu fokussieren und divergente Vorstellungen explizit zu machen. Während an der ersten Befragung 27 Expert*innen teilnahmen, steigerte sich die Beteiligung im Laufe des Prozesses auf 91 Teilnehmende in der letzten Befragungsrunde. Die Ergebnisse der Delphi-Studie dokumentieren unterschiedliche Ausprägungen des Begriffsverständnisses der teilnehmenden Expert*innen. Die grundsätzlich befürwortende Haltung der Expert*innen gegenüber der von uns intendierten Begriffsklärung unterstreicht die Notwendigkeit der inhaltlichen Auseinandersetzung mit dem Begriff Schülervorstellungen. Im Laufe des Delphi-Prozesses wurde eine Reihe von Aspekten des Begriffs identifiziert, welche den Expert*innen bei einer Begriffsverwendung v. a. in der fachdidaktischen Lehre besonders wichtig erscheinen. Insgesamt wurden in der Delphi-Studie Statements herausgearbeitet, die den Begriff Schülervorstellungen beschreiben und über die großer inhaltlicher Konsens herrscht.

To date, there is a lack of research on learning environments for pre-service physics teachers that allow them to learn and practise diagnosing students’ conceptions that are (currently) not covered in physics education textbooks (e.g. students’ conceptions about viscosity). In this study, we developed and piloted such a learning environment, which was implemented and piloted twice in a seminar for pre-service physics teachers. As coping with a diagnostic process is particularly demanding for pre-service physics teachers, our accompanying research aims to identify learning barriers within our developed learning environment. The results indicate that the participants experience the learning environment with varying degrees of difficulty. One main difficulty for pre-service physics teachers seems to be in interconnecting their content knowledge with their pedagogical content knowledge in the diagnostic process.

The concept of students’ conceptions is central in science education and research. However, a concise and accurate definition of the German term ‘Schülervorstellungen’ (engl. students’ conceptions) is still absent. Therefore, a Delphi study, inviting more than 200 professors and postdoctoral researchers in the field of German-speaking physics education research (PER), was conducted. Main purpose was to find opinions about the necessity for a general definition and if possible, definitions used implicitly in the scientific community of PER. First results indicate a need for a concise definition, especially for its use in physics teacher education. Based on our results, a broader discussion among other subject educational research communities dealing with this term is necessary.

The perception of our surroundings is determined by vision to a large extent. Human vision is not only able to generate a three-dimensional impression of three-dimensional objects, but also of two-dimensional objects. Nowadays, 3D-technologies even provide additional opportunities to trigger visual 3D-perception. 3D-vision provides a context for teaching and learning several topics in physics. In order to develop a learning environment for high school students, following the framework of educational reconstruction, students’ perspectives must be considered. As we could not find any documented students’ conceptions on 3D-vision, an exploratory study was conducted. Main aim of this study was to provide a broad overview on students’ perspectives on 3D-vision. Therefore, the questionnaire mainly consisted of open questions. The questionnaire was administered to Austrian secondary level students of two schools and was finally filled in completely by 215 students. Data was analysed by the means of qualitative content analysis and an inductive category system was developed. The results show that students mainly connect 3D-vision with 3D-technologies in cinemas. However, differences between junior and senior high school students were detected. While junior high school students mainly associate 3D-vision with cinemas, senior high school students additionally mention the physiological process of 3D-vision as well as 3D-technology.

Teachers' diagnostic competence is fundamental for supporting students' individual learning processes and must be fostered in teacher education. Following a design-based research approach, a learning environment is developed focusing on preservice physics teachers' diagnostic competence in diagnosing students' conceptions. A core element of the learning environment are video vignettes of high school students solving tasks on mechanics. The learning arrangement was implemented in a bachelor's level physics didactics course. We aimed to identify supportive and obstructive elements for the preservice teachers' learning processes when training with the video vignettes to inform the redesign of the learning environment. The working phases centred around the training video vignettes were videotaped and data of four groups of preservice teachers was analysed with thick description. We reconstructed preservice teachers' intentions of action to gather a deeper understanding of supportive and obstructive elements. Among other findings, results show that preservice teachers' gaps in content knowledge highly influence the training situation.

Vision and three-dimensional perception have always been an integral part of our everyday life. The commercial availability of 3D-technology makes it easy for everybody to perceive 2D-objects like photos and films three-dimensional. Consequently, 3D-vision is part of most students’ everyday life. As known from the PISA-study, Austrian students have a low value in motivation for science. The topic of 3D-vision is related to human body and therefore, as known from the ROSE study, it should be equally interesting for male and female students. Based on these assumptions, a first version of an out-of-school learning environment at the Open Labs Graz covering the topic of 3D-vision was designed and evaluated with two 11 year classes (n = 32). We found mediocre to rather high values of intrinsic motivation as well as differences between male and female students.

It is beyond doubt that teacher education plays a crucial role in the development of the educational system. Following the educational reconstruction for teacher education model [1], a clarification of teacher students’ beliefs seems mandatory in order to improve the education of future physics teachers. The main aim of this research project was to determine beliefs of physics teacher students about high quality physics instruction at school. Therefore, interviews with 23 physics teacher students and an additional case study with six teacher students were conducted. Several beliefs of teacher students’ such as experiments rise students’ interest and with the help of experiments physical contents can be memorized better were found.