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Laboratory experience is among the key components in engineering education. It is highly instrumental and plays a significant role in students’ knowledge building, application, and distribution. Learning in laboratories is interactive and often collaborative. On the other hand, students, who learn engineering through online mechanisms, may face challenges with labs, which were frequently documented during the recent pandemic. To address such 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 Embedded System, through which students gain solid foundation before advancing to senior design projects. The two main incorporated strategies were Open-Ended lab design and Teamwork implementation. Open-Ended lab modules using a lab-in-a-box approach allow students solving lab problems with multiple approaches fostering problem solving both independently and collaboratively. This innovative lab design promotes 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 prescribed approach leading students to follow certain procedures that may lack the problem exploration stage. Additionally, course instructors formed online lab groups, so that students were sharing the problem-solving process – from ideas formation to solutions – with their peers. To evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented lab strategies, students in the participating courses were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Both assignment grades and students' feedback via surveys were used to evaluate students' learning. Participants in the control group were learning in labs through the materials that were aligned with core concepts by following predetermined procedures. Students in the experimental group learned through inquiry-based lab materials that required them to work in teams by integrating core concepts together to find a solution and while following one of potentially many approaches. To maximize the online lab learning effect and to replicate the contemporary industry, commerce, and research practices, instructor-structured cooperative learning strategies were applied along with pre-lab simulations and instructional videos. This paper showcases the outcomes of our 2nd year implementation of active learning laboratory strategies on the mixed population of online and face-to-face students. We observed that students in the experimental group generally outperformed their counterparts in labs and showed significantly higher results in the assignments addressing more advanced concept understanding and applications (grand average of 88.3% vs. 66.3%). Surveys also indicated that students saw the benefits of collaboration with Open-Ended lab modules not only for learning concepts, but also for improving their communication skills. Students were able to collaborate on lab problems through various communication tools, such as course Learning Management System (LMS) and mobile apps forming online learning communities. We believe that that the implementation of open-ended collaborative laboratory strategies can assist students in cultivating a deeper comprehension, fostering self-confidence, and refining their critical thinking abilities, all while strengthening their sense of inclusion within the field of engineering. 

This innovative practice paper describes our implementation of open-ended (O-E) collaborative lab assignments as a work in progress. It provides details on the O-E collaborative lab assignments, shares some examples of O-E labs used, and reports the results of the first year of implementation. We believe that open-ended collaborative labs will help students develop a deeper understanding, build self-confidence and improve critical thinking skills while increasing the sense of belonging in the field of engineering. 

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. 

This innovative practice paper describes how we implement active learning through collaborative online laboratory experiences as a work in progress. The goal of our project is to develop and implement various instructional tools and learning strategies in order to improve the quality of electrical engineering online labs. The applied strategies include integration of open-ended design experiences into lab work, accomplishing virtual teamwork, creating an online learning community and overcoming the isolation, incorporation of pre-lab simulations and videos. We believe that active learning labs will help students develop a deeper understanding, build self-confidence and improve critical thinking skills while increasing the sense of belonging in the field of engineering.