scholarly journals Virtual Laboratory: A Boon to the Mechanical Engineering Education During Covid-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
pp. 234763112097075
Author(s):  
N. Kapilan ◽  
P. Vidhya ◽  
Xiao-Zhi Gao
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Training Programme ◽  
Virtual Laboratory ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Laboratory Facilities ◽  
Virtual Laboratories ◽  
Laboratory Training ◽  
Academic Year

The engineering students understand the engineering concepts effectively when they conduct the experiments in the laboratory. Hence, laboratory is as important as theory; however, the ill-equipped laboratory facilities affect the students’ learnability. The virtual laboratories may help the students overcome the problems faced by them in the conventional laboratory. In India, educational activities during the middle of the semester were affected due to lockdown related to COVID-19. However, the theory classes were conducted online, and educational institutions are finding it difficult to complete the laboratory experiments due to closure of colleges for the students due to COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, we have conducted a faculty development programme for the engineering college faculty members on mechanical engineering virtual laboratories. Similarly, we have trained the mechanical engineering students on fluid mechanics virtual laboratory. We have taken feedback from the participants of these virtual laboratory training programme and analysed it. From the analysis we have observed that more than 90 per cent of the participants were happy about the virtual laboratory and they expressed that their learning process improved with virtual laboratory experiments. Also, they felt that the virtual laboratories can be used till the COVID-19 pandemic issues are solved. Since the vaccine for COVID-19 is not available yet, the virtual laboratories will help the mechanical engineering students to conduct the laboratory experiments for the academic year 2020–2021.

Opportunities in Virtual Laboratory Experiments in the Teaching and Learning Process

2021 ◽  
pp. 227-245
Author(s):  
Kapilan N. ◽  
Rana Pratap Reddy ◽  
Vidhya P.
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Virtual Laboratory ◽  
Laboratory Facilities ◽  
Virtual Laboratories ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Government

The teaching and learning process in the laboratory is different from theory classes. The students get better knowledge and understanding of the concept when they perform experiments in the laboratory. The hands-on practice will help the students to remember the concept. However, the lack of facilities and limitations in the laboratory infrastructure may affect the student learning process. In India, few technical institutions lack adequate laboratory facilities, and hence, the government of India has started a new initiative called the virtual laboratory to overcome this issue. The Government of India provided funding to the premier institutions in India to establish virtual laboratory facilities to help the institutions which do not have sophisticated laboratory facilities. The advancement in IT and internet facilities helps this initiative. In this chapter, basics of virtual laboratories, different types of virtual laboratories, impact of virtual laboratories in students learning process, opportunities, and limitations of the virtual laboratories were discussed.

scholarly journals Development of Online Virtual Laboratory Platform for Supporting Real Laboratory Experiments in Multi Domains

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 548
Author(s):  
Mohamed Elsayed Ahmed ◽  
Shinobu Hasegawa
Keyword(s):  
Educational Technology ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Virtual Laboratory ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Ict In Education ◽  
Teaching Process ◽  
Technology Application ◽  
Scientific Images ◽  
Virtual Laboratories ◽  
University Instructors

The increasing use of online virtual laboratories (OVLs) in educational institutions as a recent educational technology application necessitates developing a new educational platform for assisting instructors in using such technology in the teaching process without web programming obstacles. The OVLs are online environments that provide students with several types of content such as simulations, videos, scientific images, and infographics related to real laboratory experiments. This article proposes a unified online virtual laboratory platform (OVLP) to support instructors who teach real laboratory experiments in multi-domains. To evaluate the proposed platform, five university instructors and five experts of ICT in education have participated in this study. The data were collected using online questionnaires for both specialists, respectively. Regarding the results, they confirm that the proposed platform is acceptable for teaching real laboratory experiments, especially in the tested domains.

scholarly journals Analisis Kebutuhan: Pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris Berbasis Padlet di Teknik Mesin Universitas Islam Riau

GERAM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-72
Author(s):  
Fauzul Etfita ◽  
Sri Wahyuni
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
English Language ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Needs Analysis ◽  
Fundamental Aspect ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teaching Materials ◽  
Engineering Department ◽  
Academic Year

Teaching materials are a set of tools or facilities that contain materials, methods and evaluations used by teachers or lecturers in learning. So far, the teaching materials released by several developers have rarely been in accordance with the needs of Mechanical Engineering students, where some of the teaching materials available still use general English. In this study, in order to compile an appropriate teaching material, researchers have conducted a needs analysis. Needs analysis is a fundamental aspect for English language lecturers for specific purposes (ESP) in identifying information or the main needs of students and investigating areas of student shortages. In line with this statement, this research is a case study design that aims to determine the needs of mechanical engineering students in learning English through Padlet at the Faculty of Engineering in the 2019-2020 academic year. The data in this study were collected from researcher observations, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with 40 students and two English language lecturers in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The results revealed that speaking and writing are the main focus of English skills in the Mechanical Engineering department and listening along with reading are the next English skills needed than others.

Drafting software as a practicing tool for engineering drawing-based courses: Content planning to its evaluation in client–server environment

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-134
Author(s):  
MVS Babu ◽  
KNS Suman ◽  
P Srinivasa Rao
Keyword(s):  
Data Security ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Employability Skills ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Engineering Drawing ◽  
Client Server ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Basic Course ◽  
Academic Year ◽  
Server Architecture

In under graduate engineering education, engineering drawing is a basic course offered to 1st semester engineering students. With the advent of computers, the traditional engineering drawing practice in both industry and academia is being extensively replaced with computer aided engineering drawing. The present scenario in Indian engineering educational institutions has been studied and based on it an approach is proposed in the present paper, which involves the integration of software-based practice with client–server architecture. The proposed approach has been implemented to practice in our institute for few years. The use of this approach is required proper planning of the course content, delivery, practice and evaluation. The detailed discussion on the approach and its implications are examined through results. All the stakeholders are benefited by adopting this approach. The present paper focuses on the use of drafting software for the practice of engineering drawing-based courses in a secured client–server environment. This proposed approach guarantees multiple cascading advantages of improved understanding and enhanced spatial visualization among students. The proposed approach has been implemented for the students who admitted in the academic year 2014–15. The end exam results of these students have been compared with results of the batch admitted in academic year 2013–14. It was observed that the number of failures in the proposed approach were reduced up to 85% compared to conventional mode. Further, it facilitates to modernize the conduct of courses, provides data security, optimizes the utilization of computing facilities and most importantly it tests the students for the understanding of the topic and not for their artistic skills. Ultimately, it makes the engineering students industry-ready by enhancing their employability skills.

Using Articulate Virtual Laboratories in Teaching Energy Conversion at the U.S. Naval Academy

1997 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Wu
Keyword(s):  
Energy Conversion ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Computer Software ◽  
The United States ◽  
Naval Academy ◽  
United States Naval Academy ◽  
Virtual Laboratories ◽  
Engineering Department

The Mechanical Engineering Department at the United States Naval Academy is currently evaluating a new teaching method which implements the use of a computer software. Utilizing the thermodynamic based software CyclePad, Intelligent Computer Aided Instruction (ICAI) is incorporated in an advanced energy conversion course (EM443) for Mechanical Engineering students. The use of the CyclePad software enhances lectures and aids students in visualization and design.

scholarly journals ASSESSING PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ RECEPTION AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS VIRTUAL LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS IN LIFE SCIENCES

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (6A) ◽  
pp. 1092-1105
Author(s):  
Mafor Penn ◽  
Lydia Mavuru
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Virtual Laboratory ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Inquiry Based Learning ◽  
Virtual Laboratories ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Learning Interventions

This research reports the assessment of pre-service teachers’ reception and attitudes towards virtual laboratory experiments in Life Sciences with the aim of advancing adaptability to digital learning. Using sequential mixed-methods in a quasi-experimental design, 68 pre-service teachers in the 3rd year of a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) program were surveyed before and after virtual learning interventions. This phase was followed by qualitative data gathering using focus group interviews with all participants. Findings from quantitative data analysis revealed a positive significant difference in pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards virtual laboratory experiments post learning interventions. From qualitative data pre-service teachers found the progression from using only traditional to including virtual experiments was useful in enhancing their conceptual understandings of Life Sciences concepts, convenience, inquiry-based learning, self-directed and autonomous learning. However, pre-service teachers noted that using virtual laboratories did not significantly develop their science process skills and as a result could not replace the experiences in a traditional biology laboratory. The implications of these findings project virtual laboratories as a supporting tool for experimentation in Life Sciences especially within and post the COVID-19 pandemic where issues of social distancing pose a threat to collaborative and inquiry-based science learning. Recommendations from these findings are discussed herein. Keywords: inquiry-based learning, life sciences, pre-service teachers, virtual laboratory experiments

Towards the semi-automatic adaptation of simulated virtual laboratory experiments

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Athanasios Sypsas ◽  
Dimitris Kalles
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Educational Environment ◽  
System Model ◽  
Virtual Laboratory ◽  
Activity Diagrams ◽  
Virtual Laboratories ◽  
Automatic Adaptation ◽  
Special Category ◽  
Real World Problems

Since real-world problems are complex a system model is usually required in advance to be built for such a problem to be properly investigated. Virtual laboratories constitute a special category of simulations and are based on models of physical laboratories and the experimental processes carried out therein. Similar experiments can be adapted to suit various learners’ needs if they can be transformed to satisfy the expected learning outcomes for each audience. We compare such experimental procedures using the Activity Diagrams which correspond to these experiments, in order to detect differences between them. These differences are, then, used for the required transformation of the experimental steps. The algorithm implemented uses a uses a BFS-like traversal to detect the differences between Activity Diagrams. The evaluation of the distance between the Activity Diagrams is carried out by the user and the possible needed transformation is decided to meet the learning outcomes in the educational environment selected by the user, educator or learner.

scholarly journals NEEDS ANALYSIS OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING STUDENTS IN LEARNING ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noeris Meiristiani ◽  
Yulia Nur Ekawati
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Study Program ◽  
Achievement Data ◽  
Engineering Study ◽  
Engineering Department ◽  
English Students ◽  
Academic Year ◽  
English Subject ◽  
Learning English

English subject that is learnt in Mechanical Engineering Study Program is different from English subject learnt in other programs, relating to the aspects of target situation, students’ weaknesses, students’ wishes and their needs. This research aims to find out Mechanical Engineering students’ problems in learning English, students’ needs in learning English and the process of designing syllabus of English subject. This research is case study using qualitative approach. The research participants are 40 students of Mechanical Engineering in third semester, in the academic year of 2017/2018 and two English lecturers who teach in Mechanical Engineering Study Program. The instruments to collect the data are questionnaire, interview and documentation (students’ achievement). Data moreover are reduced, displayed and then conclusions are drawn. The research results show that English subject is needed in Mechanical Engineering department. Students’ needs in learning English related with material aspects of listening, speaking, reading, writing, pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. In addition, the materials of mechanical engineering and application letter using English are also needed. Moreover, students’ problems in learning English are students’ lack confidence in mastering English both orally and in written. Students’ weaknesses in mastering pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary make English subject difficult to learn. In addition, they do not get used to reading and writing English texts. From the results, it is then recommended to review and design the syllabus of English for Mechanical Engineering which is suitable with students’ needs and give benefits for students and institution.

scholarly journals TRAINING HIGHER EDUCATION BIOSCIENCE STUDENTS WITH VIRTUAL REALITY SIMULATOR

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos Kaltsidis ◽  
Katerina Kedraka ◽  
Maria E. Grigoriou
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Learning Objectives ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environment ◽  
Virtual Laboratories ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Laboratory Training ◽  
Academic Year

Laboratory training is the cornerstone of science education in higher education. However, in several cases hands-on experimental procedures are not possible, and therefore technology provide alternative educational methods. One of the rapidly evolving technologies, namely Virtual Reality (VR) can offer multiple benefits in laboratory training through the development of simulations and virtual laboratories that support, facilitate, and promote an effective their learning experience. We present an empirical research carried out at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the Democritus University of Thrace during the winter semester of the academic year 2020-2021. 51 undergraduate students carried out a Virtual Reality activity aiming to train them to the use of a Class II Biosafety Cabinet (BSC) in an immersive virtual environment. Our results show that VR approach was highly and enthusiastically accepted by the students; they reported that they had an authentic learning experience which enabled them to better achieve the learning objectives. However, in some cases symptoms like dizziness and blurry image were reported most likely due to equipment, showing that improvement of the equipment used in VR is needed. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/747/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

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