Virtual or blended laboratories for healthcare students education: a systematized review

In recent years, several studies have been conducted on the use of virtual laboratories for healthcare student education. Therefore, this study aimed to determine student assessment methods, identify content delivery methods, and determine the effectiveness of virtual or blended laboratories on healthcare student learning.

This study was conducted using a systematized review method. After collecting keywords related to the research, synonyms were extracted from MESH and included in the search strategies, and multiple databases were searched from January 1, 2000, to August 1, 2023. All steps were performed using the PRISMA flowchart.

Out of 1461 articles from different databases, 21 articles were eligible for inclusion in this review. In most studies, video formats (n = 18) were used to present content. The method of content presentation in most laboratory studies was purely virtual (n = 14). The greatest impact of laboratories was in the cognitive domain, and the least impact was in the psychomotor domain (practical skills).

This study showed that virtual laboratories are as effective as traditional methods and, in some cases, are more effective compared to traditional teaching methods. Therefore, virtual laboratories can be used as an effective alternative or complementary tool for teaching laboratory sciences.