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Engaging University Students in Practical Physics Labs through Motivational Active Learning

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Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

July 12, 2024

Conference Session

Engineering Physics and Physics Division (EP2D) Technical Session 1

Tagged Division

Engineering Physics and Physics Division (EP2D)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/47268

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Paper Authors

biography

Oluwapemiisin Gbemisola Akingbola Morgan State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-0995-7020

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A Graduate Student of Electrical Computer Engineering at Morgan State University. Specialization in smart and connected systems, signal intelligence and network security.

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biography

Pelumi Olaitan Abiodun Morgan State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-4969-9591

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Pelumi Abiodun is a current doctoral student and research assistant at the department of Civil Engineering, Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland. Pelumi got his BSc and MSc degree in Physics from Obafemi Awolowo University, where he also served as a research assistant at the Environmental Pollution Research unit, in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. As part of his contribution to science and engineering, Pelumi has taught as a teaching assistant both at Morgan State University and Obafemi Awolowo University. With passion to communicate research findings and gleaned from experts in the field as he advances his career, Olaitan has attended several in-persons and virtual conferences and workshop, and at some of them, made presentation on findings on air pollution, waste water reuse, and heavy metal contamination.

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biography

Oludare Adegbola Owolabi P.E. Morgan State University

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Dr. Oludare Owolabi, a professional engineer in Maryland, joined the Morgan State University faculty in 2010. He is the director of the for sustainable infrastructure development, smart innovation and resilient innovation and the director of undergraduate programs at the department of civil engineering, Morgan State University.

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Frank Efe Morgan State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-5833-9862

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Hannah Abedoh Morgan State University

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on student’s motivation to learn. As a result, the in-person laboratory session evolved into a virtual laboratory session. Despite this effort, many students struggled with the Homefront effects, such as communication gaps, digital literacy issues, unfavorable home environments, parental participation, etc. This led to adopting an enhanced motivation strategy to lessen the consequences of the pandemic on students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields of study. As such, several studies used software tools like machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), technology-enabled active learning (TEAL), and lots more to improve students’ motivation. These approaches deter students from acquiring practical skills, which lowers their technical proficiency—a vital skill for STEM students. However, only a few studies have used interactive, hands-on tools to improve student learning in practical Physics labs. Also, the difficulty of undergraduate students to make connections between their theory teachings and their practical exercises, as well as how pertinent these lab sessions are to their everyday lives, has led to the conclusion that physics experiments are highly abstract. This study used low-cost, interactive, code-free, miniature technology to improve students’ practical experiences and report how these experiments are applied in everyday activities. The study involved 50 STEM students registered for the Introduction to Physics laboratory course. According to the students’ feedback and the motivated strategy for learning questionnaires adopted, they were very motivated and had less anxiety with enhanced critical thinking.

Akingbola, O. G., & Abiodun, P. O., & Owolabi, O. A., & Efe, F., & Abedoh, H. (2024, June), Engaging University Students in Practical Physics Labs through Motivational Active Learning Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47268

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