The VISIR+ Project – Helping Contextualize Math in an Engineering Course

The long-term goal of engineering education is to prepare students to work as engineers. Being a practical profession, laboratories play a crucial role in illustrating concepts and principles as well as improving technical skills. In the last decades the use of online resources (simulators and remote labs) has been growing, either as a complementary and/or as an alternative way of developing experimental competences. In the scope of the VISIR+ Project, this work presents the first results of a didactical implementation using simultaneously the remote laboratory VISIR (Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality), simulation and calculus in a Math Course at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). The preliminary results indicate that the use of several resources increases students’ performance, boosting their learning and competence development.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Using a 3-tier Training Model for Effective Exchange of Good Practices in as ERASMUS+ Project

VISIR+ is an Erasmus+ project that aims to develop educational modules for electric and electronic circuits theory and practice following an enquiry-based teaching and learning methodology. The project has installed five new VISIR remote labs in Higher Education Institutions located in Argentina and Brazil, to allow students doing more experiments and hence acquire better experimental skills, through a combination of traditional (hands-on), remote and virtual laboratories. A key aspect for the success of this project was to motivate and train teachers in the underpinning educational methodology. As such, VISIR+ adopted a 3-tier training process to effectively support the use of VISIR in the Institutions that received it. This process is based on the “train the trainer” approach, which required the participating partner institutions to identify and engage a number of associated partners, interested in using their newly installed remote lab. To measure the quality of the training process, the same satisfaction questionnaire was used in all training actions. This paper presents a detailed description of the training actions along with the analysis of the satisfaction questionnaire results. Major conclusions are that the quality level of the training process remained practically the same across all training actions and that trainees sometimes considered the practical use of the VISIR remote lab as difficult, irrespectively of where and when the training action took place.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

Modelo de Evolução dos Laboratórios Remotos e Virtuais

Nesta dissertação propõe-se um modelo que descreve e prevê a evolução dos sistemas e redes de laboratórios remotos e virtuais. Este modelo tem como base a Teoria Geral de Sistemas proposta por Ludwig Von Bertalanffy e o conceito de acoplamento estrutural proposto por João Bosco de Mota Alves no seu livro Teoria Geral de Sistemas. O autor introduz neste modelo o novo conceito de acoplamento energético, baseado na vontade e dinâmica de quem constrói e mantém os sistemas de laboratórios remotos e virtuais. Pretende-se mostrar assim através do modelo proposto que atendendo aos conceitos de acoplamento energético e acoplamento estrutural, os sistemas e redes de laboratórios remotos e virtuais seguem as premissas e postulados definidos por Charles Darwin na sua obra The Origin of Species. Para conseguir este fim colocaram-se as seguintes questões centrais de pesquisa, sendo a primeira a principal e as duas seguintes complementares: “É possível explicar e predizer a evolução de um sistema de laboratórios remotos e virtuais analisando a sua história de desenvolvimento e as razões (acoplamentos estruturais e energéticos) que estão por detrás da sua adaptação ao ambiente envolvente?” “Será que a evolução dos laboratórios remotos e virtuais também segue as leis da natureza?” “Os laboratórios remotos e virtuais conseguem eles próprios adaptar-se ao ambiente envolvente?” Para responder a estas questões, construir e desenvolver, validar e verificar o modelo apresentado, realizaram-se as seguintes etapas de trabalho: estudo da teoria da evolução das espécies de Darwin, assim como todos os seus fundamentos e conceitos; estudo da General Systems Theory de Ludwig van Bertalanffi e do livro Teoria Geral de Sistemas de João Bosco; definição do conceito de “Acoplamento Energético” como uma extensão dos conceitos do livro General Systems Theory baseado no conceito de “acoplamento estrutural” desenvolvido por João Bosco no livro Teoria Geral de Sistemas; consolidação do conceito de “laboratório remoto” ou “laboratório virtual”, como um sistema com “acoplamento estrutural” e “acoplamento energético”; análise das origens dos laboratórios remotos; produção de uma linha temporal que retracta a história dos laboratórios remotos e virtuais desde o seu início até aos nossos dias; análise das diferentes linhas de desenvolvimento dos laboratórios remotos e virtuais e consequente apresentação do estado-de-arte; proposta do modelo e sua validação e verificação, considerando o “passado remoto” e o “passado recente”, para fazer uma projecção sobre a evolução futura em cada uma das linhas de desenvolvimento que estão “vivas” hoje; e, finalmente, apresentação das conclusões do estudo e previsão da evolução de linhas de desenvolvimento. Do estudo desenvolvido, e da validação e verificação do modelo proposto, concluiu-se que é possível explicar e predizer a evolução de um sistema de laboratórios remotos e virtuais analisando a sua história de desenvolvimento, os seus acoplamentos estruturais e energéticos, e a sua interação com o meio ambiente. Estas dimensões traduzem sempre uma adaptação do sistema ao meio envolvente, que aumenta as suas possibilidades de sobrevivência, confirmando-se assim a hipótese de que que os sistemas de laboratórios remotos e virtuais seguem as leis da evolução Darwianiana, decorrente do desenvolvimento dum acoplamento energético real e funcional com as pessoas que os criaram e os mantém em funcionamento

Labore in der Hochschullehre: Didaktik, Digitalisierung, Organisation

In der Hochschullehre ist das Labor als Raum des praktischen Lehrens und Lernens in den technischen Fächern ein zentraler Bestandteil der Curricula. Damit der "Lernort Labor" einen positiven Beitrag zum Kompetenzerwerb der Lernenden leisten kann, müssen didaktische, organisatorische und sowie technische Gestaltungsfaktoren neu betrachtet werden. Was brauchen Labore, um zu einem effektiven, zukunftsfähigen Lernort zu werden? Wie kann sich Laborlehre mit den aktuellen Möglichkeiten der Digitalisierung weiterentwickeln? Die Autorinnen und Autoren geben Antworten auf diese Fragen. Der erste Teil des Sammelbandes beleuchtet das Thema Labordidaktik unter den veränderten Kompetenzerwartungen. Die Beiträge des zweiten Teils befassen sich mit der aktuellen und zukünftigen Entwicklung von Cross-Reality-Laboren als Einzelangebote sowie als Plattformen und Netzwerke. Bedingungen für das Gelingen - und für das Misslingen - von Cross-Reality-Laboren sind das zentrale Thema des dritten Teils, der besonders auf die infrastrukturelle und organisationale Ebene blickt und untersucht, wie diese Laborform technisch verlässlich und ökonomisch nachhaltig in die Lehre integriert werden kann. Der Sammelband richtet sich an Lehrende in ingenieur- und naturwissenschaftlichen Studiengängen, die sich mit der Gestaltung, Weiterentwicklung und Durchführung der Laborlehre befassen sowie an Hochschuldidaktiker:innen, an Leitungen und Mitarbeitende in der Hochschulverwaltung sowie in technischen Verbänden