[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Instructional labs: Improving traditions and new directions.] In this paper, we describe the results of a research project whose goals were to (1) develop and implement video-based experimental investigations using the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach and (2) study how students who engage with video experiments develop scientific abilities and learn physics ideas in comparison to students who do the same investigations using physical apparatus. We developed six parallel ISLE-based investigations for the students to engage in, either with apparatus or with video arrays created in the Pivot platform. We found that substituting 30% of the apparatus-based activities with video-based activities did not affect student development of conceptual physics knowledge. On the other hand, the development of certain scientific abilities was significantly affected by whether students experimented with physical apparatus or used video experiments.

• Received 28 April 2023
• Accepted 18 September 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.19.020158

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

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