Process and Learning Outcomes from Remotely Operated, Simulated, and Hands-On Student Laboratories
Corter, J. E., Esche, S. K., Chassapis, C., Ma, J. & Nickerson, J. V.
Computers and Education, Vol. 57, No. 3, pp. 2054-2067, 2011.
Abstract
A large-scale, multi-year, randomized study compared learning activities and outcomes for hands-on, remotely-operated, and simulation-based educational laboratories in an undergraduate engineering course.
Students (N=458) worked in small-group lab teams to perform two experiments involving stress on a cantilever beam.
Each team conducted the experiments in one of three lab formats (hands-on, remotely-operated, or simulation-based), collecting data either individually or as a team.
Lab format and data-collection mode showed an interaction, such that for the hands-on lab format learning outcomes were higher when the lab team collected data working as a group, while for remotely-operated labs the reverse was true.
The pattern of time spent on various lab-related activities suggests that working with real instead of simulated data may induce higher levels of motivation.
The results also suggest that learning with computer-mediated technologies can be improved by careful design and coordination of group and individual activities.