Implementing Collaborative Online Lab Experiences to Facilitate Active Learning

Gleb Tcheslavski; Julia Yoo; Selahattin Sayil

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Advancing Online and Hybrid Learning in Engineering Education
Tagged Division: Electrical and Computer Engineering Division (ECE)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47580

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Paper Authors

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Gleb Tcheslavski Lamar University

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Dr. Tcheslavski received his engineer-developer degree in Electronic Engineering from Bauman Moscow State Technical University and his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. At VT, he was a member of the Digital Signal Processing Research Lab.
After graduation, he worked as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at University of Houston involved in Biomedical Image Acquisition and Processing. Currently, he serves as an Associate Professor in the Phillip M. Drayer Department of Electrical and Computer engineering at Lamar University.

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Julia Yoo

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Julia H. Yoo, Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Teacher Leadership Graduate Program Coordinator at Lamar University.

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Selahattin Sayil Lamar University

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Selahattin Sayil received the M.Sc. degree from the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, in 1996 and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Vanderbilt University, TN, in 2000. He is currently a Professor in Electrical Engineering a

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Abstract

Laboratory experience is among the key components in engineering education. It is highly instrumental and plays a significant role in students’ knowledge building, application, and distribution. Learning in laboratories is interactive and often collaborative. On the other hand, students, who learn engineering through online mechanisms, may face challenges with labs, which were frequently documented during the recent pandemic. To address such challenges, innovative online lab learning modules were developed, and learning strategies were implemented in five courses in electrical engineering, Circuits I, Electronics I, Electronics II, Signals and Systems, and Embedded System, through which students gain solid foundation before advancing to senior design projects. The two main incorporated strategies were Open-Ended lab design and Teamwork implementation. Open-Ended lab modules using a lab-in-a-box approach allow students solving lab problems with multiple approaches fostering problem solving both independently and collaboratively. This innovative lab design promotes problem solving at various cognitive levels. It is better suited for concept exploration and collaborative lab learning environments as opposed to the traditional lab works with a prescribed approach leading students to follow certain procedures that may lack the problem exploration stage. Additionally, course instructors formed online lab groups, so that students were sharing the problem-solving process – from ideas formation to solutions – with their peers. To evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented lab strategies, students in the participating courses were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Both assignment grades and students' feedback via surveys were used to evaluate students' learning. Participants in the control group were learning in labs through the materials that were aligned with core concepts by following predetermined procedures. Students in the experimental group learned through inquiry-based lab materials that required them to work in teams by integrating core concepts together to find a solution and while following one of potentially many approaches. To maximize the online lab learning effect and to replicate the contemporary industry, commerce, and research practices, instructor-structured cooperative learning strategies were applied along with pre-lab simulations and instructional videos. This paper showcases the outcomes of our 2nd year implementation of active learning laboratory strategies on the mixed population of online and face-to-face students. We observed that students in the experimental group generally outperformed their counterparts in labs and showed significantly higher results in the assignments addressing more advanced concept understanding and applications (grand average of 88.3% vs. 66.3%). Surveys also indicated that students saw the benefits of collaboration with Open-Ended lab modules not only for learning concepts, but also for improving their communication skills. Students were able to collaborate on lab problems through various communication tools, such as course Learning Management System (LMS) and mobile apps forming online learning communities. We believe that that the implementation of open-ended collaborative laboratory strategies can assist students in cultivating a deeper comprehension, fostering self-confidence, and refining their critical thinking abilities, all while strengthening their sense of inclusion within the field of engineering.

Citation
Format

Tcheslavski, G., & Yoo, J., & Sayil, S. (2024, June), Implementing Collaborative Online Lab Experiences to Facilitate Active Learning Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47580

TY - CPAPER
AB - Laboratory experience is among the key components in engineering education. It is highly instrumental and plays a significant role in students’ knowledge building, application, and distribution. Learning in laboratories is interactive and often collaborative. On the other hand, students, who learn engineering through online mechanisms, may face challenges with labs, which were frequently documented during the recent pandemic. To address such challenges, innovative online lab learning modules were developed, and learning strategies were implemented in five courses in electrical engineering, Circuits I, Electronics I, Electronics II, Signals and Systems, and Embedded System, through which students gain solid foundation before advancing to senior design projects.
The two main incorporated strategies were Open-Ended lab design and Teamwork implementation. Open-Ended lab modules using a lab-in-a-box approach allow students solving lab problems with multiple approaches fostering problem solving both independently and collaboratively. This innovative lab design promotes problem solving at various cognitive levels. It is better suited for concept exploration and collaborative lab learning environments as opposed to the traditional lab works with a prescribed approach leading students to follow certain procedures that may lack the problem exploration stage. Additionally, course instructors formed online lab groups, so that students were sharing the problem-solving process – from ideas formation to solutions – with their peers.
To evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented lab strategies, students in the participating courses were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Both assignment grades and students&#39; feedback via surveys were used to evaluate students&#39; learning. Participants in the control group were learning in labs through the materials that were aligned with core concepts by following predetermined procedures. Students in the experimental group learned through inquiry-based lab materials that required them to work in teams by integrating core concepts together to find a solution and while following one of potentially many approaches. To maximize the online lab learning effect and to replicate the contemporary industry, commerce, and research practices, instructor-structured cooperative learning strategies were applied along with pre-lab simulations and instructional videos.
This paper showcases the outcomes of our 2nd year implementation of active learning laboratory strategies on the mixed population of online and face-to-face students. We observed that students in the experimental group generally outperformed their counterparts in labs and showed significantly higher results in the assignments addressing more advanced concept understanding and applications (grand average of 88.3% vs. 66.3%). Surveys also indicated that students saw the benefits of collaboration with Open-Ended lab modules not only for learning concepts, but also for improving their communication skills. Students were able to collaborate on lab problems through various communication tools, such as course Learning Management System (LMS) and mobile apps forming online learning communities.
We believe that that the implementation of open-ended collaborative laboratory strategies can assist students in cultivating a deeper comprehension, fostering self-confidence, and refining their critical thinking abilities, all while strengthening their sense of inclusion within the field of engineering.
AU - Gleb Tcheslavski
AU - Julia Yoo
AU - Selahattin Sayil
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Implementing Collaborative Online Lab Experiences to Facilitate Active Learning
UR - https://peer.asee.org/47580
ER -