Promoting Engaged and Active Learning in Electrical Engineering through Collaborative Online Lab Experiences

该项目将通过改善学生在本科工程课程中的学习来服务于国家利益。具体来说，它将实施主动学习策略，以提高在线电气工程实验室的质量。为了应对疫情，在线学习成为新的常态。然而，仍然存在许多挑战，必须加以解决，以确保学生在线参与并拥有实践学习体验。解决这些挑战在工程学中尤为明显，因为实验室中的体验式学习在工程学教育中具有关键作用。该项目将在一所60%的学生是第一代大学生的机构中，对电气工程专业的协作在线实验室体验的有效性进行调查。因此，通过提高该机构在线学习的有效性，该项目有可能帮助缓解新冠肺炎对来自贫困程度较高社区的学生的不成比例的影响。该项目旨在通过整合开放式设计经验，促进团队合作，创建在线学习社区来克服孤立感，并结合实验前模拟和视频演示来改善学生在在线实验室中的学习。该项目的目标是：1)开发和实施有助于改进在线STEM教育的高影响力在线实验室教学实践；2)在虚拟实验室中克服学生的孤立感；3)通过虚拟实验室灌输自力更生、学生参与和信心；以及4)利用从项目中获得的知识和专业知识开发一个在线实验库，并通过网站、研讨会和出版物向公众开放。实验室的模块化形式及其可移植性和低硬件成本将有助于增强的在线实验室和相关策略很容易在其他机构和其他学科中进行调整。除了为高等教育机构设计的实验室外，该项目还将为初中生和高中生开发一个单独的实验室，几名K-12 STEM教师参与实验室的开发。通过这种方式，该项目旨在设计在线实验室，不仅为电气工程专业的学生，也为K-12的学生和教师提供丰富的学习体验。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will serve the national interest by improving student learning in undergraduate engineering courses. Specifically, it will implement active learning strategies to increase the quality of online electrical engineering laboratories. In response to the pandemic, online learning became the new norm. However, many challenges remain that must be solved to ensure that students are engaged online and have hands-on learning experiences. Solving these challenges is especially pronounced in engineering because of the critical role that experiential learning in laboratories holds in engineering education. This project will investigate the effectiveness of collaborative online lab experiences for electrical engineering majors in an institution in which 60% of the student population are first generation college students. Thus, by increasing the effectiveness of online learning at the institution, the project has the potential to help mitigate the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on students from communities with higher levels of poverty. The project aims to improve student learning in online labs by integrating open-ended design experiences, facilitating teamwork, creating online learning communities to overcome feelings of isolation, and incorporating pre-lab simulations and video demonstrations.The goals of this project are: 1) to develop and implement high-impact online lab teaching practices that contribute to improving online STEM education; 2) to overcome students’ feelings of isolation in virtual labs; 3) to instill self-reliance, student engagement, and confidence through virtual labs; and 4) to use the knowledge and expertise gained from the project to develop an online experiment bank and make it available to the public through websites, workshops and publications. The modular format of the labs along with their portability and low hardware cost will help make the enhanced online labs and associated strategies easily adaptable at other institutions and in other disciplines. In addition to the lab designed for higher education institutions, the project will also develop a separate lab for middle and high school students, with several K-12 STEM teachers involved in the lab’s development. In this way, the project aims to design online labs that provide rich learning experiences, not only for electrical engineering students, but also for K-12 students and teachers. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.