Educational Objectives Of Different Laboratory Types: A Comparative Study

Yasser .H. Elawady Faculty of computers and Information systems Taif University, Taif, KSA. y.alawadi@tu.edu.sa

A.S. Tolba Faculty of Computer Studies Arab Open University, HQ, Kuwait. a.tolba@arabou.edu.kw

Abstract— Lab courses play a critical role in scientific education. Modern technology is changing the nature of the laboratories, and there is a great comparision between
hands-on, simulated and remote laboratories. The remote lab technology has brought a significant improvement in communication within the Academic community and has improved students’ learning experiences. There are different educational objectives as criteria for judging the laboratories: Hands-on labs increase the Ability to design and investigate (design skills), while remote labs focus on conceptual understanding. Remote laboratories offer all the advantages of the new technology, but are often a poor replacement for real laboratory work. Remote laboratories are similar to simulation techniques in that they require minimal space and time, because the experiments can be rapidly configured and run over the Internet [Web]. But unlike simulations, they provide real data. This paper presents a comparative analysis for the educational objectives of the three laboratory techniques; hands-on, simulated, and remote laboratories. In addition, it proposes enhancements for the remote lab activities leading to improving its performance. Keywords- Hands-on laboratory, Remote laboratory, Virtual laboratory, distance learning, E-learning. I. INTRODUCTION

Different educational objectives are used as criteria for judging the laboratories: Hands-on advocates emphasize design skills, while remote lab advocates focus on conceptual understanding. Nersessian [1991] goes so far as to claim that ―hands-on experience is at the heart of science learning‖ and Clough [2002] declares that laboratory experiences ―make science come alive.‖ Lab courses have a strong impact on students’learning outcomes, according to Magin et al. [1986].

This domain of study ranges across many disciplines, and is challenging to survey. In order to find the existing literature, we focused on three electronic databases: ACM, IEEE, and Science Direct. As a result, 60 articles were selected for a full-text review and coding ( 20 publications for each; hands- on labs, simulated labs, and remote labs). These articles are listed in the Appendix.

Most of the literature focuses on engineering laboratories as the engineering discipline contains the biggest portion of laboratory studies. Engineering professors may also see the labs as connected to future employment [Faucher 1985]. In other words, engineering is an applied science. Alternatively, the impetus for the creation of a remote laboratory may come from an engineer’s desire to build something. This paper presents a comparative analysis for the educational objectives of the three laboratory techniques; hands-on, simulated, and remote laboratories. In addition, it proposes enhancements for the remote lab activities leading to improving its performance.

The rest of this paper is organized as follows: Section II introduces Comparison of Different Laboratory Types.
Section III introduces analysis and discussion of the educational Objectives. Section IV presents our conclusion. Finally, section V

concludes our Recommendations for enhancing the performance of remote laboratories.

II. COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT LABORATORY TYPES

The three types of labs are sometimes compared to each other, while in other cases the labs are merged. The integrated teaching and learning (ITL) program at the University of Colorado at Boulder provided an example of how to combine hands-on practice with simulation experience and remote experimentation [Schwartz and Dunkin 2000]. A handful of articles evaluated remote laboratories in comparison to hands-on laboratories [Sicker et al. 2005] or simulated laboratories in comparison to hands-on laboratories [Engum et al. 2003]. Engum et al. [2003] showed that hands-on labs were more effective than simulated.
(IJCSIS) International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2009 89 http://sites.google.com/site/ijcsis/ ISSN 1947-5500

A summarized description of the three types of labs is described below.

 Hands-On Labs: Hands-on labs involve a physically real investigation process. Two characteristics distinguish hands-on from the other two labs: (1) All the equipment required to perform the laboratory is physically set up; and (2) the students who perform the laboratory are physically present in the lab.On the other hand, hands-on experiments are seen as too costly. Hands-on labs put a high demand on space, instructor time, and experimental infrastructure, all of which are subje

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