Mohamed Tawfik

Bio: Mohamed Tawfik is an academic researcher from National University of Distance Education. The author has contributed to research in topics: Remote laboratory & Engineering education. The author has an hindex of 14, co-authored 54 publications receiving 744 citations.

Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality (VISIR) for Remote Wiring and Measurement of Electronic Circuits on Breadboard

Abstract: This paper reports on a state-of-the-art remote laboratory project called Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality (VISIR). VISIR allows wiring and measuring of electronic circuits remotely on a virtual workbench that replicates physical circuit breadboards. The wiring mechanism is developed by means of a relay switching matrix connected to a PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation (PXI) instrumentation platform. The entire equipment is controlled by LabVIEW server software, in addition to a measurement server software that protects the equipment from hazard connections by verifying input circuit designs, sent by students, before being executed. This paper addresses other approaches such as remote labs based on Data Acquisition Cards (DAQs), NetLab, and RemotElectLab, comparing them with VISIR in order to emphasize its singularity. Topics discussed are as follows: the technical description, software, operation cycle, features, and provided services. In addition, the feedback received by students at several universities and the encountered drawbacks along with the proposed solutions are highlighted. The paper finally addresses the ongoing and future challenges within the VISIR community including its integration with Learning Management Systems (LMSs) and iLab Shared Architecture (ISA), its new hardware version release that is based on LAN eXtensions for Instrumentation (LXI), and its new open platform version that supports federated access.

State-of-the-art remote laboratories for industrial electronics applications

Abstract: There is no doubt that the implementation of practical sessions in engineering education paves the way for students to be familiar with the instruments and thus, with the industrial real-world. Moreover, they augment the learning outcomes by strengthening the understanding of scientific concepts and theories. Unfortunately, there exist a wide gap between the engineering educational curricula and the industrial real-world owing to the lack of experimentation availability. This is due to high cost and administration burdens that have hindered the adoption of practical sessions causing a significant decline in experimentation within engineering education. Recently, with the advent and exploitation of computer and communication technologies, remote laboratories have broadly proliferated among many universities. Remote laboratories provide on-line ubiquitous workbenches unconstrained by neither temporal nor geographical considerations and allow an interactive learning environment that maintains student attention. In this context, hundreds of remote laboratories for industrial electronics applications have been developed and numerous technologies have emerged in order to facilitate their construction and implementation. This paper reports on state-of-art remote laboratories for industrial electronics applications. and their design stages. The paper addresses many solutions in the development and the design stages, along with cutting edge technologies involved. This is in order to foster remote laboratories adoption within industrial electronics disciplines and hence, increase the industrial competencies in engineering education.

Laboratory as a Service (LaaS): a Novel Paradigm for Developing and Implementing Modular Remote Laboratories

Abstract: The increasing adoption of remote laboratories in education along with the shift from eLearning 2.0 towards eLearning 3.0, have demanded several considerations in their implementation and delivery format. In response to these needs, this contribution introduces a novel model, Laboratory as a Service (LaaS), for developing remote laboratories as independent component modules and implementing them as a set of loosely-coupled services to be consumed with a high level of abstraction and virtualization. LaaS aims to tackle the common concurrent challenges in remote laboratories developing and implementation such as inter-institutional sharing, interoperability with other heterogeneous systems, coupling with heterogeneous services and learning objects, difficulty of developing, and standardization. Beyond the academic context, LaaS will facilitate the incorporation of remote laboratories in the ecosystem of the ubiquitous smart things surrounding us, which increases everyday with the approaching Web of Things (WoT) and artificial intelligence era. This, in turn, will create a breeding ground for online control, experimentation, and discovery—in either formal or informal context and with neither temporal nor geographical constraints.

Expanding the Boundaries of the Classroom: Implementation of Remote Laboratories for Industrial Electronics Disciplines

Abstract: It is apparent that implementation of practical sessions in engineering education paves the way for students to be familiar with instruments and, thus, with the industrial real world. In recent decades, the high cost and administration burdens of physical equipment have caused a significant decline in experimentation within engineering education. This situation has fostered the development and adoption of remote laboratories as a replacement. Recently, remote laboratories based on a large variety of technologies have been developed at multiple universities and adopted in industrial electronics engineering education. Furthermore, some of these laboratories are replicated at many universities. This was the commencement of a new mainstream that advocates a better remodeling of those laboratories to allow their allocation, sharing among universities, and their interoperable communication with other heterogeneous educational systems, e.g., learning management systems (LMSs). This article, on the one hand, reports on the design of the state-of-the-art remote laboratories for industrial electronics disciplines along with the cutting-edge technologies adopted. On the other hand, the article sheds light on the outstanding interoperable educational remote laboratories architectures, classifying them with regard to their exclusive features and provided services, and pointing out the limitations of each.

Laboratory as a Service (LaaS): A model for developing and implementing remote laboratories as modular components

Abstract: This contribution introduces a novel model, Laboratory as a Service (LaaS), for developing remote laboratories as independent component modules and implementing them as a set of loosely-coupled services to be consumed with a high level of abstraction and virtualization. LaaS aims to tackle the common concurrent challenges in remote laboratories developing and implementation such as inter-institutional sharing, interoperability with other heterogeneous systems, coupling with heterogeneous services and learning objects, difficulty of developing, and standardization.

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

Abstract: 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.

Virtual and remote labs in education

Abstract: 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.

Mapping Existing Research Output Focused on Higher Education Teaching and Learning in Ireland 1990-2015

Abstract: Title Mapping Existing Research Output Focused on Higher Education Teaching and Learning in Ireland 1990-2015 Authors(s) O'Sullivan, Sara; Gibney, Amanda; Guerin, Suzanne; Staunton, Michael; Kalaitzake, Manolis Publication date 2015-06 Publisher National Forum Link to online version http://www.teachingandlearning.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Project-5-Mapping-Existing-Research-Output.pdf Item record/more information http://hdl.handle.net/10197/6860

Stupid Tutoring Systems, Intelligent Humans

Abstract: The initial vision for intelligent tutoring systems involved powerful, multi-faceted systems that would leverage rich models of students and pedagogies to create complex learning interactions. But the intelligent tutoring systems used at scale today are much simpler. In this article, I present hypotheses on the factors underlying this development, and discuss the potential of educational data mining driving human decision-making as an alternate paradigm for online learning, focusing on intelligence amplification rather than artificial intelligence.