Fostering Performance in Hands-on Laboratory Work with the Use of Mobile Augmented Reality (AR) Glasses

The learning of laboratory skills is essential in science education, but students often get too little individual guidance in this area. Augmented reality (AR) technologies are a promising tool to tackle this challenge and promote students’ high-level learning and performance in science laboratories. Thus, the purpose of this study was (1) to design an AR-assisted learning environment to support individual knowledge construction, (2) to investigate students’ learning processes and learning outcomes and (3) to examine the usability of the system. Pharmacy students (n = 16) were assigned to experimental (n = 10) and control (n = 6) groups and performed the same laboratory work together with pre- and post-tests. The experimental group worked with AR glasses that provided additional support and timely guidance during the work with additional info-screens, questions related to choosing correct reagents and laboratory tools and think-aloud questions, whereas the control group worked in a traditional laboratory context. The results showed that AR was more effective in fostering performance in the science laboratory compared to traditional laboratory instruction and prevented most of the mistakes. The AR group considered the guidance and feedback provided by AR to be beneficial for their learning. However, no apparent differences were found in tasks measuring students’ understanding of the content knowledge. Thus, an AR environment embedded with supportive tools could partly replace the teacher in science teaching laboratories by providing individual and timely guidance for the students.

Computer simulations for the teaching of photoelectric effect

The photoelectric effect in the production and transformation of light is animportant phenomenon in quantum physics. The theory was initially presented by Albert Einstein and allows us to explain several technological applications in engineering. The use of computer simulations in the process, as they have already been proven to yield in science teaching, can provide excellent conceptual learning results, and that includes the teaching of the photoelectric effect. Ten simulations available on the internet were classified by criteria established based on bibliographic research developed within the framework of the historicity, concept, and context triad, and then four were selected and used in a classroom with engineering undergraduate sophomores. The Predict-Observe-Explain (P.O.E.) methodology was used to guide students in carrying out the experiments. The results of the analysis of the simulations and the elaboration of a laboratory instruction guide and experimental intervention, with the methodology, demonstrated the effectiveness of using computer simulations for the learning of scientific concepts in the context of engineering education.

Comparison of student satisfaction, perceived learning and outcome performance:

Objective The goal of this study was to investigate whether blended online with laboratory instruction differs from traditional classroom lecture and laboratory with regard to student satisfaction and performance in a radiographic technique class teaching radiation health and physics. Methods Following institutional review board approval, 122 participants were randomly assigned to either an online or classroom environment for the lecture portion of the course. All participants attended weekly laboratory sessions in person. Anonymous surveys given during midterm and final exams assessed satisfaction with learning experience and expected grades. Linear models assessing differences between groups were adjusted for age, gender, prior online class experience, online class preference, self-reported computer skill, and time of year. Results Students in the blended cohort reported overall greater satisfaction (p < .03) and found the delivery method more enjoyable (p < .002) than did the traditional classroom cohort. No differences in exam scores between groups were observed. Conclusion This study demonstrated that a blended format of instruction can improve learner satisfaction as compared with the traditional classroom method. Blended instruction implemented into a traditional educational program helps students balance schedules, has a positive impact on perceived learning, and provides exam success similar to that of the traditional classroom.

A Personal Reflection on the Key Challenge for Higher Education: Improving the Quality of University Instruction

Since the founding of the University of Bologna in 1088, the quality and societal impact of university-based research has steadily risen and is widely expected to continually improve in the future. But, while the effectiveness of university teaching over this same period has improved through the adoption of laboratory instruction, the seminar method, tutorials, and more valid and reliable means of assessing students, the qualitative enhancement and continuous development of instruction compared to research appears less certain. Why does this difference exist? I will argue the cause is to be found in the limitations of universities’ traditional collegial culture and in the failure of recent national efforts to improve academic quality to effectively address academic norms and values.

Exploring the Role of Scaffolds in Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in an Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory

ABSTRACT The need for shifting the expository laboratory instruction style to inquiry-based approaches is widely acknowledged. Problem-based learning (PBL), one of the inquiry-based approaches, advocates students’ self-directed learning. The literature...