Outcome of an Online Laboratory to Support a Master Program in  Remote Engineering

Michael E. Auer; Diana Vasilica Pop; Danilo Garbi Zutin

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: June 10, 2012
Start Date: June 10, 2012
End Date: June 13, 2012
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Online Learning
Tagged Division: Computers in Education
Page Count: 10
Page Numbers: 25.1016.1 - 25.1016.10
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--21773
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/21773
Download Count: 391

Paper Authors

biography

Michael E. Auer Carinthia University of Applied Sciences

visit author page

Since 1995, Michael Auer has been professor of electrical engineering at the Systems Engineering Department of the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Villach, Austria, and has also held teaching positions at the universities of Klagenfurt (Austria), Amman (Jordan), Brasov (Romania), and Patras (Greece). He was invited for guest lectures at MIT Boston, Columbia University, and the technical universities of Moscow, Athens, and others.
He is a senior member of IEEE and a member of VDE, IGIP, etc., author or co-author of more than 180 publications, and a leading member of numerous national and international organizations in the field of online technologies. He is Founder and Chair of the annual international ICL and REV conferences and Chair or member of the program committees of several international conferences and workshops. He is editor-in-chief of the International Journals of Online Engineering (iJOE, http://www.i-joe.org/), Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET, http://www.i-jet.org/), and Interactive Mobile Technolgies (iJIM, http://www.i-jim.org/).
Auer is Founding-President and CEO of the International Association of Online Engineering (IAOE) since 2006, a non-governmental organization that promotes the vision of new engineering working environments worldwide. In Sept. 2010, he was elected as President of the International Society of Engineering Education (IGIP). Furthermore, he is a member of the Advisory Board of the European Learning Industry Group (ELIG).

visit author page

author page

Diana Vasilica Pop

biography

Danilo Garbi Zutin P.E. Carinthia University of Applied Sciences

visit author page

Danilo Garbi Zutin has graduated in electrical engineering at the State University of Sao Paulo (UNESP), Bauru, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and obtained his master's degree in systems design (specialization in remote systems) at the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences in Villach, Austria. His research interests are in the field of remote engineering, online labs, remote control of devices, and software development for online labs. Garbi Zutin is currently a Senior Researcher and team member of the Center of Competence in Online Laboratories and Open Learning (CCOL) at the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences (CUAS), Villach, Austria, where he has been engaged in projects for the development of online laboratories.
In Jan. 2010, Garbi Zutin was appointed Secretary General of the International Association of Online Engineering and, in the following year, Secretary General of IGIP (International Society for Engineering Education). Garbi Zutin is author or co-author of more than 30 scientific papers published in international journals, magazines, and conferences. Most of these papers are in the field of online laboratories and issues associated with their dissemination and usage.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

Outcome of an Online Laboratory to Support a Master Program in Remote Engineering Abstract Active learning or working by means of online laboratories is especially valuable for distanceworking or education. Users in the workplace can access remote laboratories without having totravel. This flexibility is important for teleworking, education and lifelong learning. In spite of the well known benefits of online laboratories we observed a lack of specialists in thisfield and the number of needed specialists will dramatically increase in the coming years. Within an EU funded SOCRATES project five universities from Europe developed a JointEuropean Master Program in Remote Engineering. The students learn in a dual mode manner (each module is available in presence and an e-learning mode). The study program is running in four European universities. The student has thepossibility to spent one semester (3 modules) in one of the partner institutions of his homeuniversity. Part of the curriculum is the course of Rapid Prototyping of Digital Systems. Students attendingthis course learn different methods and tool concepts to create, implement and validate DigitalSystems to solve complex design tasks. This course is taught during the third semester of themaster program and includes a one day lecture where the basic theoretical concepts and firstlaboratory practices are introduced. The following lectures are carried out in a distance learningbasis via the Moodle platform. During the whole course each student has at his/her disposal one prototyping system. As thecourse was taught in a distant basis the hardware had to be transported between the partneruniversities. This situation led to the idea to develop an online laboratory with the already usedprototyping board where students could carry out exactly the same experiments as in the hands-onversion of the platform. Design, construction, implementation and test of the online lab were done at our university. Theonline lab was included in the MIT’s iLab Shared Architecture (ISA) and therefore can be usedworldwide. In order to have a students' evaluation of our remote solution for this laboratory, a short surveywas carried out. It included several multiple choice questions, answered by students from thesecond year of the Remote Engineering Master Program. The pilot testing of the laboratory was performed with regular students of the remote engineeringspecialization at our university. For all students, this was their first experience in working with aremote laboratory. The objective of the survey was to find out if the remote laboratory can totally replace the localone and if the students of the university have a positive approach on this solution. In order to achieve this statistical evaluation, different types of questions were used, such as:open, matrix, and grading questions. The detailed results of the assessment will be described in the draft paper but in sum 67% of thestudents were satisfied with the online laboratory, and 33% were very satisfied.

Citation
Format

Auer, M. E., & Pop, D. V., & Garbi Zutin, D. (2012, June), Outcome of an Online Laboratory to Support a Master Program in Remote Engineering Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21773

TY - CPAPER
AB - Outcome of an Online Laboratory to Support a Master Program in Remote Engineering Abstract Active learning or working by means of online laboratories is especially valuable for distanceworking or education. Users in the workplace can access remote laboratories without having totravel. This flexibility is important for teleworking, education and lifelong learning. In spite of the well known benefits of online laboratories we observed a lack of specialists in thisfield and the number of needed specialists will dramatically increase in the coming years. Within an EU funded SOCRATES project five universities from Europe developed a JointEuropean Master Program in Remote Engineering. The students learn in a dual mode manner (each module is available in presence and an e-learning mode). The study program is running in four European universities. The student has thepossibility to spent one semester (3 modules) in one of the partner institutions of his homeuniversity. Part of the curriculum is the course of Rapid Prototyping of Digital Systems. Students attendingthis course learn different methods and tool concepts to create, implement and validate DigitalSystems to solve complex design tasks. This course is taught during the third semester of themaster program and includes a one day lecture where the basic theoretical concepts and firstlaboratory practices are introduced. The following lectures are carried out in a distance learningbasis via the Moodle platform. During the whole course each student has at his/her disposal one prototyping system. As thecourse was taught in a distant basis the hardware had to be transported between the partneruniversities. This situation led to the idea to develop an online laboratory with the already usedprototyping board where students could carry out exactly the same experiments as in the hands-onversion of the platform. Design, construction, implementation and test of the online lab were done at our university. Theonline lab was included in the MIT’s iLab Shared Architecture (ISA) and therefore can be usedworldwide. In order to have a students&#39; evaluation of our remote solution for this laboratory, a short surveywas carried out. It included several multiple choice questions, answered by students from thesecond year of the Remote Engineering Master Program. The pilot testing of the laboratory was performed with regular students of the remote engineeringspecialization at our university. For all students, this was their first experience in working with aremote laboratory. The objective of the survey was to find out if the remote laboratory can totally replace the localone and if the students of the university have a positive approach on this solution. In order to achieve this statistical evaluation, different types of questions were used, such as:open, matrix, and grading questions. The detailed results of the assessment will be described in the draft paper but in sum 67% of thestudents were satisfied with the online laboratory, and 33% were very satisfied.
AU - Michael E. Auer
AU - Diana Vasilica Pop
AU - Danilo Garbi Zutin P.E.
CY - San Antonio, Texas
DA - 2012/06/10
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Outcome of an Online Laboratory to Support a Master Program in Remote Engineering
UR - https://peer.asee.org/21773
DO - 10.18260/1-2--21773
ER -