Building a smart laboratory environment at a university via a cyber-physical system

Contemporary activities in laboratories have become versatile and complicated, and can be significantly affected by the environment of the laboratory. Thus, a smart laboratory environment is needed to interpret and manipulate (implicit) environmental quantities, for improving and retaining the performance of laboratory activities. This paper presents a deployment of a cyber-physical system (CPS) gathering and acting on relevant information about physical quantities in laboratories. In particular, the proposed CPS can measure, analyze and regulate the thermal comfort. Improvements have been proposed to enhance the functionality of the system. Evaluations of an on-site deployment indicate the functionality of the proposed CPS. © 2013 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

A Literature Review on Indicators for the Measurement of Technology Mediated Learning Productivity: 2000 to 2011

Measuring Technology Mediated Learning (TML) success has been and is of great interest to both researchers and practitioners. This article examines multidimensional approaches to measuring learning success, considering IT- and non-IT-supported learning scenarios, examined by researchers from various research disciplines. We explore the current state of research on TML success through a literature review by classifying empirically-oriented articles that were published between 2000 and 2011. Based on a total of 91 articles published in academic journal publications, this paper identifies the relevant research carried out, categorizes and consolidates the research results, and discusses them. The results show that those approaches are most dominant which empirically analyze the impact of a certain type of educational service on a student / participant by means of surveys and structural equation modeling to capture users’ responses. No main theoretical basis of the reviewed studies could be identified. Furthermore, opportunities for additional development are identified and future research directions suggested

Collaboration in remote access laboratories

Collaboration in Remote Access Laboratories (RALs) is becoming increasingly important in both engineering and science education institutions, and with RALs service providers as an enabler to improving accessibility, reducing costs, and improving time-efficiency and student support. Yet research on the use of collaboration in RALs, in general, is limited. There is a lack of exploratory and empirical studies that provide an in-depth and holistic investigation of the design process and factors that influence the adoption of collaboration in RALs. Therefore, this study makes a significant and original contribution to current theoretical and practice knowledge with regards to pedagogical change in engineering education through the use of technology and remote access laboratories, where social constructivist practices are applied, in particular, engineering students undertaking LAB work in a different mode or approach to the traditional learning environment. This research employed a case study qualitative method with triangulation of data. Data were collected through observation of students working collaboratively in the trial of collaborative learning in RALs using the Voltage Divider Experiment task, and follow-up, in-depth interviews, with inductive analysis and activity recoding. The research explored Kagan’s PIES that relate to outcomes of the collaborative approach, Dillenbourg’s four elements of collaborative learning and Doolittle’s eleven principles of learning experience design as the theoretical bases of the collaborative pedagogical design of the RALs learning experience. While confirming their continued relevance to this context for learning three new principles were shown to be essential to facilitate and enhance contemporary learning in RALs. These included the need to build in the leadership of the collaborative learning experience, ensure task authenticity and participants acquisition of the soft skills, including interpersonal skills and teamwork, and their relevance to the workplace (employability). Additionally, this research highlighted how learning in RALs facilitates formative assessment that feeds forward to better support students’ learning where they need to communicate with each other during the LAB work collaborative learning experiences, thus drawing attention to the need for careful academic planning. The study also addressed the limitations of collaboration in RALs. It investigated the extent to which engineering students accepted collaborative learning in RALs as a workable alternative to traditional in-LAB work. It identified the key factors that are likely to influence the adoption of such pedagogical change, including factors to be considered when planning to adopt collaboration in RALs. This resulted in the development of an instructional framework for collaboration in RALs. It was concluded that collaboration in RALs has the potential to improve LAB learning through the availability of remote access, the facilitation of a sense of reality (comparable to traditional hands-on experience) and the opportunity for group work, and the need for skills that more closely related to those needed in students’ future workplaces