Thanks Judy (another loyal ETUG participant!) The NY Times article is 'right on' with respect to this discussion. I found the comments of the College Board to be very interesting. I tried to figure out exactly WHAT they felt was deficient in the lab simulation activities. The only reason offered was the one presented by Dr. Fleck at the end of the article. His criticism was that “You don’t get the look and the feel and the smell”. I agree that you don't get the feel & the smell, & that the 'look' you get with a virtual lab is bound to be different (although maybe better). I just don't know that such a lack is sufficient to truly label the science educational experience gained from virtual labs as 'markedly inferior'.