Loading...
8 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
- A sustainable approach to let students do more real experiments with electrical and electronic circuitsPublication . Alves, Gustavo R.; Pester, Andreas; Kulesza, Wlodek; Silva, Juarez Bento; Pavani, Ana; Pozzo, María Isabel; Marchisio, Susana; Fernandez, Ruben; Oliveira, Vanderli; Schlichting, Luis C. M.; Felgueiras, Carlos; Viegas, Clara; Fidalgo, André; Marques, Maria Arcelina; Costa, Ricardo; Lima, Natércia; Castro, Manuel; García-Zubía, JavierThe present paper focus on the use of remote laboratories in higher education from a sustainability viewpoint. The particular case of engineering education, and, within it, the more specific subject of experiments with electrical and electronic circuits is presented first, to then discuss the benefits of using remote labs, while considering the three dimensions of sustainable development, i.e.: economic practice, environmental protection, and social integration. The paper debates how remote labs address each dimension.
- Práticas remotas abertas do VISIR com circuitos elétricos e eletrónicosPublication . Fidalgo, André; Alves, Gustavo; Marques, Maria Arcelina; Lima, Natércia; Castro, Manuel; Castro, Manuel; García-Loro, FelixThis document describes the access to a defined set of open remote VISIR practices developed during the PILAR project. These practices are available at EU level through a federation of remote labs openly available on Internet, via a Moodle accessible set of lessons and experiments, i.e. practices [1]. The federation policies were developed during the project and allow any EU interested institution (universities, schools, content providers) to provide and access its services [2]. Presently the available content is intended for learning basic (and complex) electrical and electronics circuits, for different subjects at school/high school and at grade and master university levels, but can be expanded in the future, as seen fit by the federation. As a remote lab, VISIR presents several advantages to students with educational difficulties and geographical obstacles: it allows such students to carry out experiments the number of times they need, without having to be in the lab. These are two of the main advantages presented by remote labs over hand-on labs. In addition, and because remote labs imply real experiments with real components, they also present an additional advantage over virtual labs (simulations). The only problem, addressed by the PILAR project, is supporting all the experiments that are done, in a single semester, in all the courses that involve electrical and electronics circuits (implementable in VISIR), in a single institution. Although quite powerful, one VISIR platform has limitations regarding the total number of different components it can have, while also allowing for all possible interconnections. The VISIR federation and the developed PILAR Moodle repository allows for a structured and combined service benefiting from the individual offer of each VISIR node, making all of them available through the federation of those same nodes.
- Didactical use of a remote: a qualitative reflection of a teacherPublication . Lima, Natércia; Viegas, Clara; Garcia-Peñalvo, FranciscoThis work describes the teacher reflection reflections about a didactical implementation usin g a remote laboratory and their impact on his practice. These reflections are analyzed from three different perspectives: how the literature review influenced the design of the didactical implementation (namely the first); how his reflection upon his practice influenced its modifications; how his research activ ity impacted and affected his teaching practices in the subsequent implementations and guided the modification modifications made . The remote lab was introduced in a Physics Course in an Engineering degree and was intended to be a learning space where students had the opportunity to practice before the lab class, supporting the development of experimental competences, fundamental in an engineer profile. After the first implementation in 2016/17 academic year it has undergone two subsequent editions with adjustments and modifications. Some features previously reported in literature such as: teacher’s experience with VISIR, the importance of an introductory activity and defining VISIR tasks objectives, were corroborated by the teacher during his practice and research. Others, such as the difficulty some students have in understanding the difference between simulation and remote labs appeared directly from his practice and were pursued in his research in order to deeply understand its implications.
- International Cooperation for Remote Laboratory UsePublication . Alves, Gustavo R.; Fidalgo, André; Marques, Maria Arcelina; Viegas, Clara; Felgueiras, Carlos; Costa, Ricardo J.; Lima, Natércia; Castro, Manuel; Díaz-Orueta, Gabriel; SanCristóbal-Ruiz, Elio; García-Loro, Felix; García-Zubía, Javier; Hernández-Jayo, Unai; Kulesza, Wlodek J.; Gustavsson, Ingvar; Nilsson, Kristian; Zackrisson, Johan; Pester, Andreas; Zutin, Danilo G.; Schlichting, Luis C.; Ferreira, Golberi; de Bona, Daniel D.; Pacheco, Fernando S.; da Silva, Juarez B.; Alves, João B.; Biléssimo, Simone; Pavani, Ana M.; Lima, Delberis A.; Temporão, Guilherme; Marchisio, Susana; Concari, Sonia B.; Lerro, Federico; de Arregui, Gaston S.; Merendino, Claudio; Plano, Miguel; Fernández, Rubén A.; Paz, Héctor R.; Soria, Mario F.; Gómez, Mario J.; de Almeida, Nival N.; de Oliveira, Vanderli F.; Pozzo, María I.; Dobboletta, Elsa; Bertramo, BrendaExperimenting is fundamental to the training process of all scientists and engineers. While experiments have been traditionally done inside laboratories, the emergence of Information and Communication Technologies added two alter-natives accessible anytime, anywhere. These two alternatives are known as virtual and remote labs, and are sometimes indistinguishably referred as online labs. Sim-ilarly to other instructional technologies, virtual and remote labs require some ef-fort from teachers in integrating them into curricula, taking into consideration sev-eral factors that affect their adoption (i.e. cost) and their educational effectiveness (i.e. benefit). This chapter analyses these two dimensions and sustains the case where only through international cooperation it is possible to serve the large num-ber of teachers and students involved in engineering education. It presents an ex-ample in the area of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, based on a remote lab named Virtual Instruments System in Reality, and it then describes how a number of European and Latin-American institutions have been cooperating under the scope of an Erasmus+ project2, for spreading its use in Brazil and Argentina.
- Improving Students Experimental Competences Using Simultaneous Methods in Class and in AssessmentsPublication . Viegas, Clara; Lima, Natércia; Alves, Gustavo R.; Gustavsson, IngvarThis work studies a didactical implementation addressing the development of students’ competences on DC circuits. The teacher major concern was to approach this subject using several resources and methods in order to improve students’ abilities of adapting and dealing with available tools to solve real practical problems. This research studies the impact of these different resources and methods in terms of students’ perception, usage and learning results. This design represents a long-term vision, and although the majority of students do not immediately understand it, with some adjustments, some identified in this work, this course may become more effective in improving students’ learning in the future.
- Different didactical approaches using a remote lab: Identification of impact factorsPublication . Lima, Natércia; Viegas, Clara; García-Peñalvo, Francisco JoséConducting laboratory experiments is of vital importance in science and engineering education, independently the level of education. Nowadays, teachers have different ways of allowing students to develop these competences other than hands-on labs, such as simulations and remote labs. This study is focused on the combined use of the three resources, carried out by 51 teachers, in 25 different courses. In total, 39 didactical implementations in the electric and electronics area were performed in several Higher Educational Institutions and Secondary Schools, in Argentina and Brazil. This occurred during 2016 and 2017 academic years, under the scope of the VISIR+ project and VISIR was the implemented remote lab and reached 1569 students. Teachers' perception about student acceptance and performance with VISIR as well as teachers' satisfaction with VISIR, were cross analysed with course characteristics as well as didactical implementation design factors and several interesting correlations stood out: Teachers extra care in designing VISIR tasks accordingly to the learning outcomes/ competences they want their students to develop revealed as a crucial factor; Teacher experience with VISIR plays an important role in students' satisfaction with the tool; Teacher introduction and support to VISIR along the semester is also an important factor.
- Impact of a remote lab on teaching practices and student learningPublication . Viegas, Clara; Pavani, Ana; Lima, Natércia; Marques, Maria Arcelina; Pozzo, Isabel; Dobboletta, Elsa; Atencia, Vanessa; Barreto, Daniel; Calliari, Felipe; Fidalgo, André; Lima, Delberis; Temporão, Guilherme; Alves, Gustavo R.Remote Laboratories have become part of current teaching and learning, particularly in engineering. Their potential to aid students beyond their hands-on lab classes has been a matter of discussion in literature. Teachers and researchers are aware that the thorough analysis of both strengths and shortcomings of remote labs in didactical implementations may not only lead to the improvement of these resources but also of the pedagogical implications in engineering classes. The present study was carried out in a Higher Education Institution in Brazil in two different courses during three consecutive semesters where a remote lab (VISIR) addressing electric and electronic topics was implemented, yielding 471 students' academic results and opinions. These students' results (while using VISIR) cross-analysed with the course characteristics, reveal some factors teachers may tackle to foster student learning and motivation. The conclusions point to the need for VISIR interface modernization and showed it is more useful in basic courses than in more advanced ones, when dealing with classic lab experiments. Results also show that teachers' involvement plus their ability to brief students on VISIR's usefulness have a significant influence not only on students' performance but also on their perception of learning and satisfaction with the tool. In the analysed cases, the students with more learning needs seemed to be the ones who could benefit more from VISIR.
- Macro Analysis on how to Potentiate Experimental Competences Using VISIRPublication . Lima, Natércia; Viegas, Clara; Marques, Maria Arcelina; Alves, Gustavo R.; García-Peñalvo, Francisco JoséExperimentation is crucial in science and engineering education, regardless the educational level. Nowadays experiments can be performed not only in traditional hands-on labs, but also using online resources, such as simulations and remote labs. This study was carried out, in several Higher Educational Institutions and at a minor extent some Secondary Schools, in Argentina and Brazil, in 25 different courses, where VISIR, a remote lab in the electric and electronics area, was introduced along with other resources. These 39 didactical implementations took place during 2016 and 2017 academic years, yielding 51 teachers and 1563 students. Teachers' perception about student performance in VISIR as well as VISIR usage in course, were cross-analyzed with courses' characteristics. Some important factors arouse teachers should pay extra care designing VISIR tasks accordingly to the learning outcomes/ competences they want their students to develop, taking into consideration if they represent group or individual activities. In fact, students tend to prefer group activities and there seems to be a strong association between this factor and teacher perception about students' satisfaction with the tool. Teacher introduction and support to VISIR along the semester is also an important factor.