Education Commons^™

The Virtual Research Lab: Research Outcomes Expectations, Lee Stadtlander, Martha Giles, Amy Sickel

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

This paper examines the complexities of working with student researchers in a virtual lab setting, logistics, and methods to resolve issues. To demonstrate the feasibility of a virtual lab, a mixed method study consisting of quantitative surveys and qualitative data, examined changes in doctoral students’ confidence as measured by research outcome expectations and changes in a self-assessment of research knowledge and skills test in a three quarter virtual psychology research lab. In the lab, 10 doctoral students conducted a faculty-designed project, analyzed data, and co-wrote a literature review. Findings indicate lab students’ research knowledge and research outcome expectations improved significantly …