During the spring of 2020, teaching laboratories worldwide were closed, and teachers quickly prepared online substitute activities. This study investigates the students' experience of the substitution of laboratory teaching with theoretical activities in an instrumental analytical chemistry course in the students' second year of study. Twelve students were interviewed about their experience of the online teaching activities and their perspectives on what happens to their learning experience when the laboratory disappears and is replaced with theoretical online activities. Interviews were conducted 2-3 weeks after the lockdown of the teaching laboratories. Transcripts were analyzed with inductive interpretative thematic analysis with a focus on students' conceptions of the role of laboratory teaching in quality learning. The results show that the laboratory experience and the close connection to teachers in the laboratory setting plays an important role for the scaffolding of students' learning through dialogue and feedback. The analysis is informed by the description of the laboratory as a site for text production. It shows the role of the teaching laboratory in shaping embodied understanding of the scientific knowledge production process through series of transformations.