A systematic review of Outcomes, Benefits, and Limitations of using distance and virtual laboratories in engineering education

Today virtual laboratories play a special role in learning and training. Studies related to this field have been studied over a period of 14 years. The purpose of this study is to identify the outcome of using virtual and distance laboratories in engineering education. Thus, in a systematic review based on PRISMA guidelines, articles indexed in the Scopus, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect databases for the period 2009 to 2022, using a combination of the keywords “virtual laboratory” or “virtual lab” or “ mixed-reality learning environments” or “virtual reality laboratories”) and (“outcome”) and(“engineering education” or “engineering”)) and (“benefits, and limitations” or “virtual reality laboratories”) were examined. The findings led to the identification of 12 achievements, seven advantages and six limitations of using virtual laboratories in engineering education. Virtual laboratories have great potential in the scientific teaching of science and technology and technical training of qualified staff, which is reflected in the trend as educational resources in the twenty-first century. In the near future, virtual laboratories will be widely used in almost all fields of education. The results show the lack of a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches in which studies are fundamentally evaluated and focus exclusively on individual changes in content knowledge. Optimal use of the benefits and outcomes introduced in this study, can help to improve the existing space while gaining readiness and aligning with future and forward-looking requirements.