Laboratory immersion. Is this flexible and intensive hands-on lab a good alternative in engineering education?

Non-traditional engineering students have problems to attend all scheduled laboratory sessions which are organized on campus. This prevents these non-traditional students (for example working students) from enrolling. In this paper, we describe the results of a project which has run during two years. We developed a new teaching method that facilitates flexible study programs in engineering: ‘laboratory immersion’. We developed the methodology, implemented it in three pilots and measured the results using electronic surveys, focus group discussions and study time measurements. The results of this study reveal that students and lecturers feel positive about this new method. By consequence this teaching method will be applied on a large scale starting from next academic year.status: publishe

Innovation project versus Master’s thesis

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Students' perceptions of a physics laboratory immersion

In order to facilitate flexible learning in engineering and science laboratory education, we have developed a specific laboratory course design: laboratory immersion. This concept is a combination of three other lab styles: hands-on, virtual and remote labs. The physics laboratory immersion is implemented and evaluated by students and teaching staff. This new method has some strengths such as increased flexibility and student activity, but it also needs some improvements such as teamwork and informal practicing.status: publishe

An attempt to incorporate flexibility in physics laboratories: laboratory immersion

Non-traditional students in scientific and technological higher education have problems with participating in laboratory sessions. We present a possible solution for the physics practical classes in order to make scientific and technological higher education more flexible and accessible for all students: laboratory immersion.status: publishe

Computer Vision and Human Behaviour, Emotion and Cognition Detection: A Use Case on Student Engagement

Computer vision has shown great accomplishments in a wide variety of classification, segmentation and object recognition tasks, but tends to encounter more difficulties when tasks require more contextual assessment. Measuring the engagement of students is an example of such a complex task, as it requires a strong interpretative component. This research describes a methodology to measure students’ engagement, taking both an individual (student-level) and a collective (classroom) approach. Results show that students’ individual behaviour, such as note-taking or hand-raising, is challenging to recognise, and does not correlate with students’ self-reported engagement. Interestingly, students’ collective behaviour can be quantified in a more generic way using measures for students’ symmetry, reaction times and eye-gaze intersections. Nonetheless, the evidence for a connection between these collective measures and engagement is rather weak. Although this study does not succeed in providing a proxy of students’ self-reported engagement, our approach sheds light on the needs for future research. More concretely, we suggest that not only the behavioural, but also the emotional and cognitive component of engagement should be captured

Meer gelijke kansen in wetenschappelijke en technologische richtingen door labobaden?

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The non-traditional student in the lab: needs and stumbling blocks

In Flanders (Belgium), the number of non-traditional students in higher education is relatively low. The government stimulates a flexible learning environment in order to increase the number of students in higher education. Especially in the field of science and engineering there are few non-traditional students and probably the presence of mandatory laboratory work is one of the causes. A survey research project was done to collect data about the needs and stumbling blocks for non-traditional students when laboratory work in the field of science and engineering is included in their curriculum. This study reveals that 44% of these non-traditional students have problems in attending the mandatory laboratories. It can be concluded that a valuable, flexible alternative for laboratory work is essential. Therefore we propose laboratory immersion as an appropriate method. Laboratory immersion is a short, very intensive on-campus laboratory session preceded by and concluded with distance learning activities. In practice, the work is consciously divided into three phases: a pre-lab phase at home focusing on preparation, an on-site laboratory session for the hands-on activities and a remote post-lab for reflection and reporting. In this way the strict attendance at the campus is considerably reduced and the student has the opportunity to acquire substantial laboratory skills. The survey research is done to know the specific needs of these non-traditional students. We report in this article on the results of this survey research. This research revealed that students, before they participate in a laboratory immersion, have some objectives against this new working method. They indicated the following elements as essential components of an appropriate laboratory immersion: teamwork, frequent contacts with regular students, good coaching by the staff, a comparable study time, an increased flexibility and an emphasis on hands-on work. These elements were incorporated in three pilot projects: microbiology, instrumental chemical analysis and physics. These laboratory immersions were tested during the academic year 2009-2010 and the results will be validated and submitted for a future publication.status: publishe

Breaking barriers in laboratory education for non-traditional students

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