While many studies have shown that hands-on experiments help students develop science skills, there is little research on which specific aspects of lab work, such as experimental design, data analysis, teamwork, and reflection, are most impactful. Existing studies mainly focus on the relationship between doing experiments and skill development, but do not examine factors like students' prior knowledge, experiment quality, instruction, or frequency and duration of labs that could influence this relationship. Filling these research gaps would provide a better understanding of how to optimize science education and hands-on learning to enhance skill acquisition for different student groups.