Virtual and Physical Laboratories for Active Learning of Electronic Materials

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Engineering - Electrical (55)This project is developing a Web-based active learning toolkit with course modules for undergraduate electronic materials coursework. Current applications of the Web to engineering and science classes are fairly limited extensions of traditional textbook approaches to learning. In contrast, this project builds a framework for developing virtual laboratory experiments that address the different learning styles of students, and presents information at various levels of abstraction. These virtual experiments are integrated with traditional hands-on laboratory experiments in a course in electronic materials. The educational challenge is to help undergraduates develop intuitions about how electrons move inside a crystal, how they interact with each other, and how they are affected by applied voltage, light and heat. In contrast to many educational applets, which are merely animations of the pages of the textbook, we use simulations based on the linear response theory and Boltzmann transport equation. This allows students to explore the microscopic origin of many electron transport phenomena without understanding the sophisticated mathematics typically covered in an advanced graduate course. This technology demonstrates how the Web can be used to bridge the gap between lectures and laboratories, reach students with different learning styles, and facilitate active learning in a classroom context.