Collaborative Research: Comparing Effectiveness of Web-based Interactive Digital Experiments to Physical Experiments for Engineering Classrooms

This project aims to serve the national interest by generating significant new insights and developing an improved understanding of contexts in which web-based experiments may be more beneficial than physical experiments. Experiential learning, a pedagogical approach that engages students in hands-on experiences, improves students’ conceptual understanding of abstract concepts and enables them to connect theoretical knowledge learned in the classroom to real-world situations. In this IUSE Level 2 Engaged Student Learning project, experiential learning acquired through in-class physical experiments using low-cost desktop learning modules (LCDLMs) is compared with that acquired through web-based interactive digital experiments (WIDEs). Although both LCDLMs and WIDEs offer educational institutions a cost-effective, accessible way to provide high-quality laboratory experiences in engineering, this potentially transformative project seeks to directly compare the efficacy of LCDLMs and WIDEs. The main advantages of WIDEs are that they are inexpensive, highly scalable, easy to maintain, and deployable across digital devices. The collaborating institutions – University of Colorado Boulder and Washington State University - intend to make the WIDEs experiments freely available to engineering and engineering technology students online, through the widely used LearnChemE website and on YouTube. Comparative assessments will be made at five institutions, including a minority-serving institution. The project is expected to generate transformative new insights on teaching through virtual and physical experiments by identifying contexts in which physical (LCDLMs) may be more beneficial, as well as identifying how to improve virtual experiments (WIDEs) to best achieve specific learning objectives. Fifteen WIDEs for each of three engineering courses and two new LCDLMs will be created. The WIDEs will be prepared using JavaScript and/or Python so they play directly in most browsers thus permitting use on Windows-based or Apple computers, as well as iPads and other tablets. For WIDEs, the accompanying screencasts will be recorded and processed using special software (Camtasia), then embedded on pages within the WIDE. Additionally, the same screencasts will also be located on a YouTube channel so that they reach the widest possible audience. The hypothesis that WIDEs will achieve comparable learning outcomes to LCDLMs will be tested through a quasi-experimental design study in which students from a given class will be randomly assigned to use either the simulation (WIDE) or the physical experiment (LCDLM). All students will be given the same pretest before the activity and post-test after the activity to measure cognitive gains. These tests will use the Qualtrics® survey instrument in which students can complete surveys on their mobile devices. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.