ABSTRACT
There is a great interest in online learning systems, especially due to COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are a lot of limitations and challenges of online laboratory learning systems. This paper presents an efficient technique that provides an intelligent virtual tutor for online laboratory environment, as in engineering and science sectors. Based on the analysis of the student's mouse activities, the AI virtual Assistant or virtual tutor will automatically estimate the difficulties that the student stuck during conducting the steps of lab's experiment. Hence, the virtual tutor can assist the student, accordingly. The technique is based on multi-threshold that are used to discriminate different levels of difficulties. The values of these thresholds are estimated and optimized via the genetic algorithm. The experimental results show that discrimination between different student behaviors can be achieved accurately and efficiently. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
E-Learning education, Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) and Small Private Online Courses (SPOCs) have been ex-panding in the last decade. However, it increased in giant strides during the COVID-19 pandemic when the schools and universities did not have another option than to use remote education. Having a general understanding of E-Learning technology is not enough to implement an engineering virtual classrooms and laboratories. E-Learning standards are needed in all areas of E-Learning Systems such as online educational web applications, Learning Management Systems, and online labs, among others to gain interoperability, scalability, sustainability, security, privacy, and safety. The main objective of this paper is to discuss in general the current standards and technologies applied to E-Learning systems and analyze the need for a specific standards for Online Laboratory Management Systems (OLMS). © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
The presence of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the educational systems all over the world to shift their activities to be hold remotely using online learning systems. Creating an efficient remote learning system that facilitate the transition to e-learning and distance education has become a must, especially in practical sectors such as Engineering, Science and Technology that require laboratory-demanded courses. Focusing only on the individual-based experiment where a single user can access and conduct the experiment, dismissing the structure of group-based laboratory experiment, can’t reflect comprehension construction as in the real on-site laboratories. In this paper, a group-based online learning system is proposed to provide a collaborative and cooperative virtual learning environment for laboratory experimentation taking into consideration different aspects that may impact the interactions between students. We divided the whole group-based laboratory experimentation platform process into four main parts: experiment creation using integrated authoring tool, experiment configuration and scheduling, monitored run-time process, and pre/post session configuration. We also proposed a runtime experiment student’s web-based graphical user interface that represents developed features that successfully achieve flexible, scalable and reusable system with the aim of maintaining satisfactory and effective user experience. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic forced educators and students to transition to online instruction. This change brought the importance of user interfaces into stark relief for engineering lab classes, compelling educators to consider how the design of online courses and virtual laboratory experiences either served or worked against student learning. In summer 2020, we began educational and user experience (UX) research with the online laboratory experiences in an electrical engineering lab classroom at the University of Georgia's College of Engineering. The NSF-funded project work draws on ready-to-use remote labs for electronics applied to several courses. It seeks to explore the faculty and student perspective on online experimentation in engineering curricula. However, the UX thrust of the project rounds out a holistic view of the online learning ecosystem and might specifically uncover barriers or factors of success related to the implementation of online labs. This project highlighted the importance of UX design in delivering science curriculum via virtual laboratory exercises with the specific conclusion that deficits in perspicuity in the UX create an obstacle to learning for engineering students. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.
ABSTRACT
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching has had to move from face-to-face to online models. In the context of the subject 'Home and Building Control' taught in the Electronic Engineering Bachelor Degree, an online Modbus device simulator has been developed to conduct online laboratory sessions. The simulator stablishes a Modbus TCP endpoint and a web interface for each student where they can send orders and visualize the behavior of the virtual devices under the configuration given by Modbus. The simulator was developed and used for the first time during the second half of the 2019/2020 academic year where quarantine restrictions were imposed. The simulator proved to work as expected, allowing to move all laboratory sessions to the online model. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic challenged the status quo of higher education practices. With the transition to remote learning, students and faculty faced several challenges while making great strides in equalizing education access. Although theoretical aspects can be easily taught online, practical experiences are difficult to convey without dedicated laboratories and equipment. This is especially true in biological studies, where practical laboratory training significantly impacts the Student’s professional development. Presented here is an overview of some of the available resources that faculty can implement in their remote teaching curricula, a discussion on a possible approach toward creating in silico practicums, and potential challenges that could be experienced in creating such virtual laboratories (VL). To prevent another interruption in academic training, higher education institutions (HEIs) should focus on designing, developing, and implementing practical educational material. We propose that these resources be free and open-source, allowing for a global effort to create a standardized practical curriculum for basic biological technical skills. Copyright © 2022 Myburgh.
ABSTRACT
The great transformation of e-learning during the Covid-19 pandemic has led to the emergence of new learning tools and virtual learning environments through Internet. Despite many advantages of e-Learning courseware systems such as availability, flexibility and accessibility, students of some sectors such as engineering, science and technology are facing several limitations in conducting their practical works remotely through online platform for laboratory experiments. The specific objective of this study was to come up with an updated success criteria and list of requirements that should be considered for developing a sustainable artificial intelligence-based online laboratory courseware system. Data for this study were collected using online questionnaire distributed to a group of e-Learning experts. NVivo software was used to analyze experts' comments on how to construct the online laboratory courseware systems. This research revealed 16 basic design and development criteria for the online laboratory courseware system, which are distributed into eight sub-branches and organized into four primary aspects. These findings suggest that in general 30 accurate indicators for the design of an effective laboratory learning system (LLS) for engineering, science and technology sectors dealing with content management, assessment, accessibility and usability as well as the adoption of artificial intelligence techniques. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Teaching biology laboratories remotely presents unique problems and challenges for instructors. Microscopic examination of specimens, as is common in parasitology labs, is especially difficult given the limited quantity of teaching specimens and the need for each student to have access to a microscope at their remote location. Observing images of parasites on the internet coupled with written exercises, while useful, is unrepresentative of real-world laboratory or field conditions. To provide a more realistic microscopy-centered synchronous experience for our parasitology class during the coronavirus pandemic, we used a smartphone mounted on a student microscope to livestream examination of parasite specimens to remote students via the Webex meeting app. This allowed two instructors, working from separate locations, to present and narrate the view of the specimens through the microscope in real time to the remotely located class. While less than ideal, livestreaming microscopic views of parasite specimens together with simultaneous instructor narration provided a reasonable remote substitute for a hands-on parasitology lab experience.
ABSTRACT
Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, most of the universities across United States limited the amount of in person instruction. This brought a challenging situation in animal sciences courses that required laboratory sessions and hands-on experiences. There is not a real solution to replace the in-person labs, however several approaches can be implemented to overcome some of the challenges for laboratory sessions. Some of the on-line approaches implemented in an introductory class of Animal Sciences during the semester of spring and fall 2020 were live (synchronous) laboratory sessions (live interactions with animals, pre-recorded sessions of the laboratory session, and 360-degree videos of tours to the farms). The main objective of the present report is to assess the usefulness and feedback of these approaches to teach laboratory sessions to an undergraduate introductory animal science course. The official (Blue) university student responses in the course were used to determine the perception and feedback to these approaches. A total of 123 responses were recorded (Spring: 42/96, Fall: 81/174). Overall, no significant differences were observed in terms of the student perception. Overall, the responses were positive toward the laboratory sessions even in an online environment. During the spring semester 40/42 (95%), whereas in 72/81 (88%) strongly agree/mildly agree that labs help them to learn respectively. In terms of the videos used in class and labs, during the spring semester 35/41 (85%) and 68/81 (83%) strongly agree/mildly agree that labs help them to learn. In summary, the new reality due to COVID pandemic is very challenging for Animal Science courses that have laboratory sessions that involves hands-on experiences. Despite this, in conclusion some approaches can be implemented to still provide meaningful experiences to undergraduate students to support their learning and engagement in the introductory animal science course.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic plunged academia into a virtual learning environment. Internet became essential in delivering lectures, tutorials, and labs. Implementing experiential learning activities in engineering education became a challenge. This paper presents an approach that allows students to develop experiential learning skills related to IoT in an online lab environment and describes an approach to teaching IoT communication technologies using two electronic boards. These boards allow students to learn IoT concepts such as sensors and interfacing, to develop application using IoT communication technologies, and to run applications on several platforms. The paper describes these boards and their use in labs focused on smart systems, and in advanced-level labs. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
Covid-19 pandemic has introduced radical changes to engineering education in the sense that most of the teaching moved to the off-campus setting of the online classes. However, conducting laboratory classes, a fundamental part of engineering education has remained to be a challenge. To address this situation, an ambitious approach is taken to reestablish the laboratory experience entirely online with the help of digital twins of fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and turbomachinery laboratory experiments. Laboratory-based undergraduate courses are important parts of the curriculum at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences (HSLU) in Switzerland. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it was necessary to adapt to the new environment of remote learning and modify the laboratory experiments so that they can be carried out online. The approach was to develop digital twins of each laboratory experiment with web applications and to provide an environment together with supporting videos and interactive problems so that the laboratory experiments can be carried out remotely. A digital twin is a digital representation of a physical system, e.g., the test rig. This paper explains the development of the digital twins of the laboratory experiments and provides information about the selected experiments such as potential vortex, linear momentum equation, diffuser flow, radial compressor, fuel cell, and pump test rig. A remote or distance learning has many hurdles, a major one being how to teach hands-on laboratory courses outside of an actual laboratory. The experience at the HSLU showed that teaching online laboratories using the digital twins of the experiments can work and the students can take part in remote laboratories that meet the learning outcomes and objectives. © 2022 by ASME.
ABSTRACT
By early spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused mandatory campus closures of academic institutions nationwide, prompting the rapid transition to online instruction. While lectures and exams were more straightforwardly administered online using video-chatting software, many hands-on laboratory-based courses were forced to develop creative solutions. In response to online instructional requirements, instructors at the University of California Irvine developed an online electroencephalography (EEG) laboratory to simulate the laboratory experiment for students unable to perform the experiment on campus. The laboratory experiment was performed and video recorded by the instructional team under three different scenarios to provide students with multiple data sets acquired under various experimental conditions often enacted by students. Students were required to complete a pre-lab quiz, analyze the acquired EEG data offline, complete a post-lab quiz, and submit their laboratory report to communicate their findings prior to final exams. Student performances compared to prior student performances, and qualitative survey responses, were examined to assess the effectiveness of and response to the online laboratory format. Based on student feedback and lab report grades, the majority of students responded positively and demonstrated an understanding of the EEG experiment's learning outcomes. In summary, the online EEG laboratory enabled students to achieve the main learning objectives and become familiar with the laboratory experiment, indicating its success as an alternative laboratory experiment.
ABSTRACT
The transition from traditionally face-to-face “in-person” courses to hybrid/online laboratory courses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered how these labs are delivered in the mechanical engineering curriculum at Clemson University. This paper seeks to capture the graduates' and undergraduates' changing perceptions of the roles and responsibilities that graduate laboratory assistants (GLAs) have in the delivery of course material within the context of this transition. GLAs from the mechanical engineering laboratory courses were invited to participate in a survey to provide feedback on how they perceived their own roles and responsibilities as GLAs for in-person labs compared to their roles after the labs had transitioned to hybrid/fully-online formats after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Junior- and senior-level undergraduate mechanical engineering students currently enrolled in a hybrid/online lab were also invited to participate in a survey to provide similar feedback on how they perceived their GLAs pre- and post-transition to hybrid/online lab modality. The analysis of the survey responses then informed the selection of two experienced GLAs to participate in more in-depth individual interviews to share their experiences during this transition and discuss best practices for moving forward. An overarching theme of the results was that while undergraduate students consistently viewed their GLAs' roles as those of graders, knowledge resources, and facilitators, the GLAs began to identify strongly as facilitators only after the transition to hybrid/online labs. Interview participants expressed frustration with the lack of meaningful interaction with students in the hybrid/online course modality that warred with their desire to help students grow and think more deeply about course material. Both undergraduate students and GLAs alike agreed on a need for change in several key aspects of the hybrid/online lab delivery in order to improve its sustainability as a lab course modality. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021