Abstract

The reported research examined the written views of distance science education students regarding the teaching of laboratory work using the online mode. The research was conducted with three groups of students studying for Postgraduate Certificate in Education, Bachelor of Education, and honors Bachelor of Education respectively. In each of the study programs, the science education module is compulsory. Science education students from each study program were purposively selected to participate in this research. Qualitative data were collected through an online blog where students wrote their views. In order to analyze the data, the data were first printed and hard copies were used in the analysis. The data were read several times and key concepts and ideas highlighted. Themes and patterns were identified to describe the data. Coding as a process of organizing and sorting data were used. The findings of this research are very diverse; some students were in favor of online laboratory whereas other students argued that science can only be learnt through hands-on experimentation.