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1. Transitioning Lab Courses to Online Platforms by Higher Education Institutions during COVID-19: Strategies, Learning Outcomes, Perceptions, and Challenges

   https://doi.org/10.1177/21695067231221720  

   Anoop, Gayatri; Kolangarakath, Arvind; Madathil, Kapil Chalil; Shakour, Katie; Short, Rebecca; Ransom, Tim (September 2023, Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting)

   The COVID-19 pandemic forced universities to shift their in-person lab courses to remote delivery, which presented several challenges for instructors and students. This article analyzed 33 peer-reviewed research articles to identify the various approaches taken by universities to migrate lab courses to remote platforms, as well as the difficulties encountered during the transition. The review revealed that technology and internet issues, workload constraints, academic integrity, and the overall educational experience were among the challenges faced. The authenticity and completeness of online labs were inferior to in-person labs, resulting in mixed opinions on the effectiveness of online labs. Students found labs that incorporated video recordings and simulations on a synchronous platform to be the most engaging. However, home labs provided limited hands-on experience, depending on the circumstances. Further research is required to investigate the cognitive, physical, and temporal demands posed by these technologies to develop a more compelling online lab experience. 

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2. Self-guided Inquiry Modules for the Remote Teaching of Undergraduate Physics Labs

   https://doi.org/10.58021/S57P44  

   Contreras, Daniel; Robles, Vicente; Choi, Philip I (January 2022, Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE))

   Seagroves, Scott; Barnes, Austin; Metevier, Anne; Porter, Jason; Hunter, Lisa (Ed.)

   We present highlights from a series of hands-on physics lab modules developed for remote teaching. The labs were composed of multiple self-guided inquiry modules. Though the labs were developed from scratch, some modules that were central to the design process were borrowed from previous PDP sessions and the guiding PDP principles of mirroring authentic Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) practices (e.g., allowing students to raise questions and take ownership of decision making). One notable aspect of this work is that by sourcing and assembling low-cost ($25 per student) lab kits that were sent to each student, the majority of the modules were hands-on despite being fully online. Combining online resources and simulation tools with individual hardware kits and small lab groups allowed for a mix of synchronous and asynchronous exploration. This mixed lab mode was successful in promoting both inquiry exploration and community building. One example of a lab design choice aimed at overcoming online barriers was that in lieu of weekly lab write-ups, groups submitted video checkouts in which students were encouraged to reflect on the lab, self-assess their learning outcomes, and highlight unique aspects of their lab experience. This lab was specifically developed in response to the unforeseen challenges of online teaching; however, multiple aspects of the course will seamlessly transfer to an in-person lab setting. 

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3. Board 208: Achieving Active Learning through Collaborative Online Lab Experiences

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--42620  

   Yoo, Julia; Sayil, Selahattin; Tcheslavski, Gleb (June 2023, ASEE Conferences)

   In engineering education, laboratory learning that is well aligned with core content knowledge is instrumental as it plays a significant role in students’ knowledge construction, application, and distribution. Learning in laboratories is interactive in nature, and therefore students who learn engineering through online platforms can face many challenges with labs, which were frequently documented during the recent pandemic. To address those reported challenges, innovative online lab learning modules were developed and learning strategies were implemented in five courses in electrical engineering, Circuits I, Electronics I, Electronics II, Signals and Systems, and Microcomputers I, through which students gain solid foundation before students take on senior design projects. Lab modules with open-ended design learning experience through using a lab-in-a-box approach were developed to allow students to solve lab problems with multiple approaches that allow problem solving independently and collaboratively. Because this innovative lab design allows problem solving at various cognitive levels, it is better suited for concept exploration and collaborative lab learning environments as opposed to the traditional lab works with a “cookbook” approach that tend to lead students to follow certain procedures for expected solutions with the absence of problem exploration stage. In addition to the open-ended lab modules, course instructors formed online lab groups through which students shared the entire problem-solving process from ideas formation to solutions through trial and error. To investigate the effectiveness of the open-ended online lab learning experiences, students in all courses were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Students in the control group learned in labs through learning materials that are aligned with core concepts by following a completed given procedures students in the experimental group learned through inquiry-based labs learning materials that required them to work in teams by integrating core concepts together to find solutions with multiple approaches. To maximize the online lab learning effect and to replicate the way industry, commerce and research practice, instructor structured cooperative learning strategies were applied along with pre-lab simulations and videos. The research results showed that generally students in the experimental group outperformed their counterparts in labs especially with more advanced concept understanding and applications, but showed mixed results for the overall class performance based on their course learning outcomes such as quizzes, lab reports, and tests. Further, survey results showed that 72% of students reported open-ended lab learning helped them learn better. According to interviews, the initial stage of working with team members was somewhat challenging from difficulties in finding time to work together for discussion and problem solving. Yet, through many communication tools, such as course LMS and mobile apps they were able to collaborate in lab problems, which also led them to build learning communities that went beyond the courses. 

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4. Rapid transition of traditionally hands-on labs to online instruction in engineering courses

   https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2022.2046707  

   May, Dominik; Morkos, Beshoy; Jackson, Andrew; Hunsu, Nathaniel J.; Ingalls, Amy; Beyette, Fred (September 2023, European Journal of Engineering Education)

   The COVID-19 pandemic forced universities to suspend face-to-face instruction, prompting a rapid transition to online education. As many lab courses transitioned online, this provided a rare window of opportunity to learn about the challenges and affordances that the online lab experiences created for students and instructors. We present results from exploratory educational research that investigated student motivation and self-regulated learning in the online lab environment. We consider two student factors: motivation and self-regulation. The instrument is administered to students (n = 121) at the beginning of the semester and statistically analysed for comparisons between different demographic groups. The results indicated students' major was the only distinguishing factor for their motivation and self-regulation. Students' unfamiliarity with online labs or uncertainty about what to expect in the course contributed to the lower levels of self-regulation. The lack of significant differences between various subgroups was not surprising, as we posit many students entered the virtual lab environment with the same level of online lab experience. We conducted interviews among these respondents to explore the factors in greater detail. Using latent Dirichlet allocation, three main topics that emerged: (1) Learning Compatibility, (2) Questions and Inquiry, and (3) Planning and Coordination. 

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5. Advanced Microfabrication Manufacturing Course Comparison of Online and In-person Teaching with Hands-on Lab Component for Interdisciplinary Graduate Education

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--57570  

   Jackson, Nathan (June 2025, ASEE Conferences)

   Semiconductor/Microsystems education is in growing demand due to the demand to bring semiconducting manufacturing back to the USA. At the University of New Mexico (UNM), we have six courses that teach different aspects of semiconductor/microsystems manufacturing from theory to hands-on experience. The Advanced Microfabrication course is a multidisciplinary graduate course that is taken by students with various background and primarily from two different programs i) Nanoscience and Microsystems Engineering (NSME) Program (an interdisciplinary program across various schools and departments) and ii) students from the Mechanical Engineering Department. The course typically consists of a series of lectures along with hands-on microfabrication labs in a cleanroom which were designed to complement the lectures. The course material is multidisciplinary with topics ranging from chemistry, physics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, statistics, material science and biomedical. This comparison study investigates several factors such as lab components, synchronous online versus in-person lectures, and students discipline to determine impact on the final exam (performance) in the course. Based on n=99 students over seven years it was determined that students from the interdisciplinary programs performed better with an average score of 64.04 ±13.26% compared to ME students 55.02 ±16.81%. It was also determined that both in-person lectures and students participating in labs had a significant impact on their final exam grades. Students who attended in-person lectures scored an average of 64.35 ± 15.11% whereas online students scored 51.81 ±14.77%, that is an increase of 12.54%. Students attending hands-on labs also had a significant impact resulting in a 10.17% increase in scores. The results demonstrate that the multidisciplinary material of advanced semiconductor manufacturing is potentially best learned through a combination of in-person lectures and hands-on lab experience and that students who have a more interdisciplinary background are likely to perform better due to the multidisciplinary course contents. 

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