Computer labs are commonly used in computing education to help students reinforce the knowledge obtained in classrooms and to gain hands-on experience on specific learning subjects. While traditional computer labs are based on physical computer centers on campus, more and more virtual computer lab systems (see, e.g., [1, 2, 3, 4]) have been developed that allow
students to carry out labs on virtualized resources remotely through the internet. Virtual computer labs make it possible for students to use their own computers at home, instead of relying on computer centers on campus to work on lab assignments. However, they also make it difficult for students to collaborate, due to the fact that students work remotely and there is a lack
of support of sharing and collaboration. This is in contrast to traditional computer labs where students naturally feel the presence of their peers in a physical lab room and can easily work together and help each other if needed.
Funded by NSF’s Division of Undergraduate Education, this project develops a collaborative virtual computer lab (CVCL) environment to support collaborative learning in virtual computer labs. The CVCL environment leverages existing open source collaboration tools and desktop sharing technologies and adds new functions unique to virtual computer labs to make it easy for students to collaborate while working on computer labs remotely. It also implements several collaborative lab models to support different forms of collaboration in both formal and informal settings. We have developed the main functions of the CVCL environment and begun to use it in classes in the Computer Science (CS) department at Georgia State University. While the original project focuses on computer labs in its traditional sense, the issue of lack of collaboration applies to much broader learning settings where students work on tasks or
assignments on computers, with or without being associated with a lab environment. Due to the high mobility of students in modern campuses and the fact that many learning activities are carried out over the Internet, computer-based learning increasingly happen in students’ personal spaces (e.g., homes, apartments), as opposed to public learning spaces (e.g., laboratories, libraries). In these personal spaces, it is difficult for students to get help from classmates or teaching assistants (TAs) when encountering problems. As a result, collaborative learning is difficult and rare. This is especially true for urban universities such as Georgia State University where a significant portion of students are part-time students and/or commute. To address this issue, we intend to broaden the concept of “virtual computer lab” to include general computer based learning happening in “virtual space,” which is any location where people can meet using networked digital devices [5]. Virtual space is recognized as an increasingly important part of “learning spaces” and asks for support from both the technology aspect and learning theory aspect [5]. Collaborative learning environments that support remote collaboration in virtual
computer labs would fill an important need in this broader trend.
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Two New Open Source Devices for Project-Based Learning in Controls
Digital controls is a topic often learned through a highly theoretical, almost purely mathematical approach which students struggle to master. Project-based learning is one potentially effective way to address this issue, and hands-on learning as a component of projects can make it even more effective. However, access to equipment for hands-on learning can present significant challenges. To address this issue, we have designed and developed two novel prototypes of hands-on equipment for learning controls that are open-source, inexpensive to produce, and portable. They are suitable for use in undergraduate and graduate-level digital embedded control systems courses. These newly developed devices are a pendulum driven by a dc motor, and a straight-line mechanism consisting of a board, two links, and a dc motor. Control of the devices was used as the primary basis for a class project given to students.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2002350
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10418115
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- IEEE SoutheastCon 2023
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 341 to 347
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1109/SoutheastCon51012.2023.10115159
