Abstract The influence of virtual tools as didactic means towards the study of electromagnetism phenomena takes greater relevance every day at the Universidad del Magdalena due to the inclusion of a visual and dynamic element beyond the reading of physical text books and even the development of laboratories real electromagnetism. This article shows a very positive perception on the part of the engineering students regarding the advanced virtual laboratories of electromagnetism, influencing the learning of physical concepts and the development of cognitive competences. Studentś understanding of the concepts of physics in the domain of electromagnetic physics was evaluated in a pre- and post-test design involving 60 participants assigned to four experimental groups and 30 participants assigned to the control group. There were two experimental conditions, namely, experimentation with manipulation of real material, experimentation with virtual manipulation, as well as a condition of control (ie, traditional instruction with no virtual experimentation). Conceptual tests were administered to assess student’s comprehension before, during and after the application of the virtual laboratories. The analyzes revealed that even though the two experimental conditions promote the conceptualization and correct interpretations of the student’s physical concepts in the domain of electromagnetism better than in the control group as expected; we see that, the use of the virtual tool obtains a greater acceptance as this study shows.