The function of the engineering profession is to manipulate materials, energy, and information, thereby creating benefit for humankind. To do this successfully, engineers must have a knowledge of nature that goes beyond mere theory—knowledge that is traditionally gained in educational laboratories. Over the years, however, the nature of these laboratories has changed. This paper describes the history of some of these changes and explores in some depth a few of the major factors influencing laboratories today. In particular, the paper considers the lack of coherent learning objectives for laboratories and how this lack has limited the effectiveness of laboratories and hampered meaningful research in the area. A list of fundamental objectives is presented along with suggestions for possible future research.

http://web.stanford.edu/group/asee/wikiupload/6/69/Feisel_LabsInEngEd.pdf

The Role of the Laboratory in Undergraduate Engineering Education

This article challenges the belief that strong sense of community is limited to the traditional classroom and proposes that the virtual classroom has the potential of building and sustaining sense of community at levels that are comparable to the traditional classroom. Drawing on research literature, the concept of learning community is applied to the virtual classroom by taking on the issue of how best to design and conduct an online course that fosters community among learners who are physically separated from each other. Course design principles are described that facilitate dialogue and decrease psychological distance, thereby increasing a sense of community among learners.

/pdf/building-sense-of-community-at-a-distance-1e7y95z2xw.pdf

Building Sense of Community at a Distance

Control apparatus and method including a first control device, located at the vehicle or premises, for monitoring or detecting an event, which generates and/or transmits a first notification signal containing event information to a second control device located remote from the vehicle or premises. The second control device generates and/or transmits a second notification signal to a remote communication device for providing notification of the event occurrence. Control apparatus and method including a first control device, located at a vehicle or premises, which generates and/or transmits a first signal for activating, deactivating, enabling, or disabling, a vehicle or a premises system, equipment system, subsystem, device, component, appliance, a vehicle, or a premises, in response to a signal generated and/or transmitted from a remote second control device. The second control device is responsive to a third signal generated and/or transmitted by a remote third control device.

Control, monitoring and/or security apparatus and method

This review presents the first attempt to synthesize recent (post-2005) empirical studies that focus on directly comparing learning outcome achievement using traditional lab (TL; hands-on) and non-traditional lab (NTL; virtual and remote) participants as experimental groups. Findings suggest that most studies reviewed (n?=?50, 89%) demonstrate student learning outcome achievement is equal or higher in NTL versus TL across all learning outcome categories (knowledge and understanding, inquiry skills, practical skills, perception, analytical skills, and social and scientific communication), though the majority of studies (n?=?53, 95%) focused on outcomes related to content knowledge, with most studies (n?=?40, 71%) employing quizzes and tests as the assessment instrument. Scientific inquiry skills was the least assessed learning objective (n?=?4, 7%), and lab reports/written assignments (n?=?5, 9%) and practical exams (n?=?5, 9%) were the least common assessment instrument. The results of this review raise several important concerns and questions to be addressed by future research. Data supports equal or greater outcome achievement in virtual/remote labs vs. hands-on.A categorization tool (KIPPAS) is presented for meaningful outcome comparisons.The Knowledge and understanding (K) outcome of the KIPPAS tool is most frequently assessed.Quizzes/exams are the most frequently used tools for evaluating outcome achievement.

Learning outcome achievement in non-traditional (virtual and remote) versus traditional (hands-on) laboratories

Laboratory experimentation plays an essential role in engineering and scientific education. Virtual and remote labs reduce the costs associated with conventional hands-on labs due to their required equipment, space, and maintenance staff. Furthermore, they provide additional benefits such as supporting distance learning, improving lab accessibility to handicapped people, and increasing safety for dangerous experimentation. This paper analyzes the literature on virtual and remote labs from its beginnings to 2015, identifying the most influential publications, the most researched topics, and how the interest in those topics has evolved along the way. To do so, bibliographical data gathered from ISI Web of Science, Scopus and GRC2014 have been examined using two prominent bibliometric approaches: science mapping and performance analysis. Display Omitted Laboratory experimentation plays an essential role in engineering and sci-entific education.Virtual and remote labs are emerging as a valuable alternative to conven-tional hands-on labs.This paper analyzes the literature on virtual and remote labs from 1993 to 2015.4405 records retrieved from ISI Web of Science, Scopus and GRC2014 are processed.Two bibliometric approaches are applied: performance analysis and science mapping.

Virtual and remote labs in education

The emergence of worldwide communications networks and powerful computer technologies has redefined the concept of distance learning and the delivery of engineering education content. This article discusses the Sloan Consortium’s quest for quality, scale, and breadth in online learning, the impact on both continuing education of graduate engineers as well as degree-seeking engineering students, and the future of engineering colleges and schools as worldwide providers of engineering education.

https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/sites/default/files/v9n1_bourne_1.pdf

Online Engineering Education: Learning Anywhere, Anytime

The objective of this study is to investigate a remote laboratory on electric motors using high-speed networks between Japan and the United States. The client, situated at Stanford University, Stanford, CA, accessed the remote laboratory system set up in Japan. Through this client, the remotely located user operated the motors and conducted experiments. The remote laboratory was conducted over a high-quality digital video conference system, making it possible for both sides to communicate smoothly with each other and for the remote user to observe close-up details of the laboratory, including the motor's fine movements. Using a network bandwidth of 15 Mb/s, the authors were able to demonstrate the validity of the remote laboratory experiment.

DVTS-based remote laboratory across the Pacific over the gigabit network

Distance education is not a new phenomenon. Correspondence courses have been around for many years. Instructional television is a much newer phenomenon, but we nonetheless have decades of experience. However, currently we are experiencing a "virtual land rush" (some would say "gold rush") in distance education because of the advent of the Internet. This article examines why this is occurring, provide an overview of online distance education activities in the United States, and present a survey of the relevant technologies and their prospects.

Online distance education in the United States

Distance education has been undergoing incremental change over the past decade or so since the advent of the commercial Internet and the World Wide Web. However, we are currently on the cusp of advances that will facilitate experiential learning at a distance, reduce the cost of distance education production, expand access to education, and closely integrate formal education into the fabric of everyday life. Following a review of distance education technology past and present, this paper presents the evolving technologies that will facilitate the most important advances in the field and reviews their early applications.

Distance Education: New Technologies and New Directions

The Center for Telecommunications at Stanford University, in partnership with the Stanford Center for Professional Development, has designed and deployed an experimental system for delivery of Stanford courses in multimedia format to distance learners using the Internet as well as two experimental, asychronous transfer mode (ATM)-based, high-speed network testbeds. This configuration is designed to prototype the emerging broadband communications infrastructure in the United States and elsewhere. The courses are stored on servers and made available to distance learners on-demand. The user interface is implemented on the World Wide Web. Issues of systems integration, educational effectiveness, and economics are under study as part of the project, called ADEPT (Asynchronous Distance Education ProjecT). In this paper, ADEPT is described along with its experience to date.

Dale A. Harris

Papers

Online Engineering Education: Learning Anywhere, Anytime

DVTS-based remote laboratory across the Pacific over the gigabit network

Online distance education in the United States

Distance Education: New Technologies and New Directions

Advancing asynchronous distance education using high-speed networks