This thesis contributes to the general body of knowledge of research into
engineering education. The main scope of the thesis is on enhancing laboratory
education. There are three main types of laboratory: virtual, hands-on and
remote. The hands-on lab is the oldest and most commonly used medium for
experiential education in undergraduate degrees of science and engineering. The
literature review of laboratory education has shown that hands-on labs suffer
from many disadvantages, which can be overcome by utilizing hybrid laboratory
structures that incorporate virtual and/or remote modes.
The investigation into enhanced laboratory education is achieved via
implementing new technical and pedagogical models of conducting laboratories.
The technical model incorporates three access modes (virtual, hands-on and
remote) to the laboratory experience in one software package called the TriLab.
The TriLab concept has been applied to the Process Control Lab at the Chemical
Engineering Department of Loughborough University and has been implemented
using LabVIEW. The Joomla web content management system was used to
develop an online portal for disseminating the remote component of the TriLab
resulting in the first remote lab portal of Loughborough University and one of the
few available in the UK.
A pedagogical model of laboratory education based on Kolb’s experiential
learning theory and by the utilization of the TriLab concept is proposed. The
model is built on a hypothesis, which states that the poor learning outcomes of
hands-on laboratory sessions can be associated with poor activation of the
stages of Kolb’s experiential learning cycle. It has been proposed that access to a
virtual lab in a preparatory session will play a role in activating the stages of
Kolb’s cycle. To verify this, educational experimentation procedures were
designed and applied to two groups, control and experimental. Measurements
via pre- and post-lab tests, marks for the laboratory report and the final exam of
the module have been performed. The statistical analysis of the measurements
has supported the stated hypothesis and solution proposal. The proposed
pedagogical model is one of the few that provide a way of conducting laboratory
education based on constructivist educational theories. (Continues...).

Towards enhancing laboratory education by the development and evaluation of the "TriLab": a triple access mode (virtual, hands-on and remote) laboratory

Recent calls of constructivist pedagogy emphasize the role of delivering education in more authentic and real contexts. It urges the change of the classical classroom lecture model towards more active participation of the students. Engineering is to large extent an applied science, it is very important to be taught in its genuine context rather than the current more theory oriented model. One important issue is to support the classroom theoretical lectures with real applications. Laboratories are provided essentially as core part of engineering education as a platform of showing the applicability of theory into practice, however, most labs are not portable and can not be moved into the classroom to show the links between theory and practice in real time. One solution is close the distance through remote operation of the lab rig during the lecture. This approach is also useful in enriching the number of utilized rigs through sharing among institutes. This paper reports on the approach of utilizing and sharing remote experimentation for classroom theoretical lectures. It also reports the students opinion towards the novel approach.

Beyond the classroom walls: remote labs, authentic experimentation with theory lectures

This paper describes the rationale for developing and disseminating an entire curriculum dedicated to Electric Energy System (EES) education at undergraduate and graduate levels It presents the benefits of teaching just a few well thought out fundamentals-based courses in this area at the undergraduate level that allow students to take complementary courses and thus be broadly educated This allows them flexibility upon graduation to work in industry, to go on to graduate school and PhD research, or to work in a field different than power/energy It describes the graduate courses being developed with the help of experts in their respective fields Finally, this paper describes the dissemination of this material to other universities and practicing engineers by establishing a Consortium of Universities for Sustainable Power (CUSP™) that as of now has been joined by over 170 universities

Power Systems Education Based on CUSP™-Curriculum

The purpose of this chapter is twofold. First, it presents a review of the Fourier methods of representing signals. Second, it provides the foundation for a systematic transition from the Fourier representation of analog signals to that of digital signals.

Fourier Representation of Signals

A statistical analysis is performed on 11 course grades for over 200 B.S.E.E. students. These students graduated from the California State University, Long Beach (C.S.U.L.B.) over a four-year period. The resulting means and correlations along with certain other data provide an interesting insight into academic tendencies. Some conclusions are drawn from these tendencies as to future industrial success and as to effective course development.

A Statistical Analysis of the Grades of B.S.E.E. Recipients

A classroom demonstration has been developed which allows the correlation functions of a wide variety of pre-selected signals to be displayed on an oscilloscope. The demonstration utilizes standard equipment found in most undergraduate electrical engineering laboratories and requires no special construction of new equipment or extensive modification of existing instruments. All the steps involved in generating a given correlation function can be displayed in a logical step-by-step sequence from the input signals to the output function. Either autocorrelation or cross-correlation can be performed and the effects of varying different parameters illustrated. Additionally the same two signals can be convolved so that the validity of the superposition integral can be demonstrated. The application of correlation techniques to the detection of signals in the presence of noise can also be demonstrated. Examples of all these possibilities are given.

Robert L. Fawcett

Papers

A Classroom Demonstration of Correlation, Convolution and the Superposition Integral