A framework for interpreting experimental errors in VISIR

Students usually do errors while performing experiments. In traditional, hands-on labs, instructors are able to help students surpass those errors. In non-traditional labs, like virtual labs or simulations, the support is usually provided by built-in mechanisms that prevent erroneous actions or that provide some sort of online assistance. In remote labs, like the Virtual Instruments Systems in Reality (VISIR) remote lab, the same principle applies. This paper describes the very initial stage of a framework for interpreting experimental errors done in VISIR. It considers the course syllabus of electrical circuits and situates the work done till the moment, in relation to that syllabus. Future work is also addressed.Partially supported by the European Commission, through grant 561735-EPP-1-2015-1-PT-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP, and by the Foundation for Science and Technology Project, FCT UID/EQU/04730/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Diferentes Abordagens Didáticas Usando um Laboratório Remoto: Identificação de Fatores de Impacto

[EN]Conducting laboratory experiments is of vital importance in science and engineering education, independently the level of education. Nowadays, teachers have different ways of allowing students to develop these competences other than hands-on labs, such as simulations and remote labs. This study is focused on the combined use of the three resources, carried out by 51 teachers, in 25 different courses. In total, 39 didactical implementations in the electric and electronics area were performed in several Higher Educational Institutions and Secondary Schools, in Argentina and Brazil. This occurred during 2016 and 2017 academic years, under the scope of the VISIR+ project and VISIR was the implemented remote lab and reached 1569 students. Teachers’ perception about student acceptance and performance with VISIR as well as teachers’ satisfaction with VISIR, were cross analysed with course characteristics as well as didactical implementation design factors and several interesting correlations stood out: Teachers extra care in designing VISIR tasks accordingly to the learning outcomes/ competences they want their students to develop revealed as a crucial factor; Teacher experience with VISIR plays an important role in students’ satisfaction with the tool; Teacher introduction and support to VISIR along the semester is also an important factor.[PO]A prática laboratorial é fundamental no ensino da ciência e engenharia, independentemente do nível de educação. Atualmente, os professores têm diferentes maneiras, para além dos laboratórios tradicionais (hands-on) de permitir que os estudantes desenvolvam competências experimentais, como simulações e laboratórios remotos. Este estudo incide sobre o uso simultâneo dos três recursos, levado a cabo por 51 professores, em 25 unidades curriculares diferentes. No total, foram realizadas 39 implementações didáticas na área da eletricidade e eletrónica em várias Instituições do Ensino Superior e Escolas Secundárias, na Argentina e no Brasil. Estas implementações aconteceram durante dois anos letivos (entre 2016 e 2017), no âmbito do projeto VISIR+, abrangendo 1569 estudantes. A perceção dos professores sobre a aceitação e desempenho dos estudantes com o laboratório remoto implementado (VISIR), bem como a satisfação dos professores com essa ferramenta, foram analisadas e cruzados com as características das unidades curriculares, bem como alguns dos fatores relativos ao desenho das implementação didáticas. Surgiram várias correlações interessantes que alertam para alguns aspetos importantes: O professor deve desenhar as tarefas com o VISIR bem alinhadas com os resultados de aprendizagem/competências que desejam que os seus estudantes desenvolvam; A experiência do professor com o VISIR tem um papel importante na satisfação dos estudantes com a ferramenta; A atividade de introdução ao VISIR assim como o suporte dado aos estudantes ao longo do semestre são também fatores decisivos

Didactical use of a remote lab: a qualitative reflection of a teacher

This work describes the teacher reflections about a didactical implementation using a remote laboratory and their impact on his practice. These reflections are analyzed from three different perspectives: how the literature review influenced the design of the didactical implementation (namely the first); how his reflection upon his practice influenced its modifications; how his research activity impacted and affected his teaching practices in the subsequent implementations and guided the modifications made. The remote lab was introduced in a Physics Course in an Engineering degree and was intended to be a learning space where students had the opportunity to practice before the lab class, supporting the development of experimental competences, fundamental in an engineer profile. After the first implementation in 2016/17 academic year it has undergone two subsequent editions with adjustments and modifications. Some features previously reported in literature such as: teacher’s experience with VISIR, the importance of an introductory activity and defining VISIR tasks objectives, were corroborated by the teacher during his practice and research. Others, such as the difficulty some students have in understanding the difference between simulation and remote labs appeared directly from his practice and were pursued in his research in order to deeply understand its implications

Macro Analysis on how to Potentiate Experimental Competences Using VISIR

Experimentation is crucial in science and engineering education, regardless the educational level. Nowadays experiments can be performed not only in traditional hands-on labs, but also using online resources, such as simulations and remote labs. This study was carried out, in several Higher Educational Institutions and at a minor extent some Secondary Schools, in Argentina and Brazil, in 25 different courses, where VISIR, a remote lab in the electric and electronics area, was introduced along with other resources. These 39 didactical implementations took place during 2016 and 2017 academic years, yielding 51 teachers and 1563 students. Teachers' perception about student performance in VISIR as well as VISIR usage in course, were cross-analyzed with courses' characteristics. Some important factors arouse teachers should pay extra care designing VISIR tasks accordingly to the learning outcomes/ competences they want their students to develop, taking into consideration if they represent group or individual activities. In fact, students tend to prefer group activities and there seems to be a strong association between this factor and teacher perception about students' satisfaction with the tool. Teacher introduction and support to VISIR along the semester is also an important factor.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fomento de las competencias experimentales utilizando recursos complementarios

[EN]The use of ICT in the academic context is a reality, in the world we live in. The young generation of students is digital native, being immersed in a virtual world during a considerable part of their day. This has an impact in their life, including on their education. In undergraduate engineering education laboratory classes are an integral part of its curriculum. These days, many laboratory classes combine traditional hands-on labs with online labs (remote and virtual labs) and several experimental resources. A “blended” or “hybrid” approach to experimental learning seems the most effective to (students’) experimental learning and the development of competences. Still this technologically mediated resource affects the way students learn and in the literature there is still a lack of works, considering the characterization of didactical implementations using a “blended” or “hybrid” approach and its impact in students’ learning and the way they construct their knowledge. In the Electric and Electronic Engineering topic and using the remote laboratory VISIR there are really very few works, reported in literature, describing some small scaled didactical experiments. The problematic which motivated this work was the need to understand the impact of different didactical approaches using this methodology (simultaneous use of several experimental resources) has on students’ academic results. Ultimately this work intends to contribute to fill a gap identified in the literature: identify factors (including some eventual students’ characteristics) which affect students’ learning and engagement in the electric and electronic circuits topic using the remote lab VISIR along with other complementary resources. To accomplish this end, four research questions where posed, each of them taking into account a set of factors in a specific field of inquiry and its influence on students’ results. The first research question approached the way the several experimental resources could be combined and its effect on students. The second dealt with the influence of the proposed VISIR tasks characteristics on students’ results. The third tackled important teacher mediation traces that could be linked to better students’ performance. And finally, the last research question investigates if there were students’ characteristics that were more associated with good learning outcomes and engagement. Considering the former objectives, it was chosen a multi-case study research methodology, using a mixed method approach, resourcing mainly to questionnaire, interview, documental analysis and observation as data gathering methods, and statistical analysis (descriptive and inferential) and content analysis, as data analysis techniques. A large-scale study analysis was conducted, including 26 courses (in a total of 43 didactical implementations using VISIR, as some of the courses have undergone more than one course implementation edition), comprising 1794 students and involving 52 different teachers. This study took place in several Higher Education Institutions (and at a minor extent, in some Technological and High Schools) in Argentina, Brazil and Portugal. In the southern hemisphere these didactical implementations happened in the 2016 and 2017 academic years while in the northern hemisphere it was possible to collect data from three semesters between 2016/17 and 2018/19 academic years. The study focused on analysing each didactical implementation (their characteristics, teachers’ usage and perception) and the matching students’ results (usage, academic results and perception). Ethical questions to guarantee both students’ and teachers’ privacy was taken care of, when using the data of the participants. The former data was only used for the purposes of this study and the state of the participation was reflected anonymously, which can be observed both in the information collected for the analysis as well as in the transcripts along the text. The study included the analysis of the collected data from various sources, the interpretation of its results using several analysis techniques, and the convergence in a process of triangulation. These results, after discussed with literature, allowed to answer in the most possible complete way the four research questions. Based on them, conclusions were drawn to identify factors that may foster students’ learning and engagement. The study also contributed to the advancement of knowledge in this research area. It allowed to conclude that VISIR and this methodology can be as useful for introductory courses as for more advanced ones (dealing with this thematic) as long as teachers plan the didactical implementation according to the type of course and students’ background. Plus, this methodology based upon VISIR can be applied with high success to courses that do not have an experimental component, nor its contents are directly related to the Electricity and Electronics topic. In these courses VISIR can be used with the purpose of contextualization, providing more interesting and appealing learning environments (e.g. theoretical mathematical courses). Finally, both teachers’ perception and students’ results suggest VISIR target public seems to be the students that require more support in their learning, that is, the students still struggling with difficulties than the more proficient students