Developing and delivering a remote experiment based on the experiential learning framework during COVID-19 pandemic

TL;DR

This paper presents a framework for conducting remote engineering experiments based on experiential learning during COVID-19, demonstrating its effectiveness through a case study and student feedback.

Contribution

It introduces a novel online experiential learning framework for engineering experiments, breaking traditional lab activities into smaller, manageable tasks suitable for remote delivery.

Findings

Students appreciated the online experiential approach

The method enhanced understanding and engagement

Positive student feedback on remote experiment format

Abstract

The students following Engineering disciplines should not only acquire the conceptual understanding of the concepts but also the processors and attitudes. There are two recognizable learning environments for students, namely, classroom environment and laboratory environment. With the COVID-19 pandemic, both environments merged to online environments, impacting students' development of processes and characteristic attitudes. This paper introduces a theoretical framework based on experiential learning to plan and deliver processes through an online environment. A case study based on the power factor correction experiment was presented. The traditional experiment that runs for 3 hours was broken into smaller tasks such as a pre-lab activity, a simulation exercise, a PowerPoint presentation, a remote laboratory activity, and a final report based on the experiential learning approach. A questionnaire that carries close and open-ended questions were administered to obtain students' reflections about developing the processes through an online-friendly experiential learning approach. The majority of the students like the approach followed and praise for providing them with an opportunity to perform the experiment in a novel way during the COVID-19 situation.