Design and Evaluation of a Web-based Virtual Open Laboratory Teaching Assistant (VOLTA) for Circuits Laboratory

Abstract

A Virtual Open Laboratory Teaching Assistant (VOLTA) provides personalized instruction for students participating in a self-paced undergraduate circuits laboratory. VOLTA allows students to work in the open laboratory even when a teaching assistant is unavailable. The system's components include pre-lab testing and instruction, engineering design exercises, short topic explanation videos, instrumentation instruction (including safety), and a corresponding post-lab test module. This web-based software guides a student through a circuit simulation and hardware laboratory. VOLTA will also answer frequently asked questions that the student might have during the lab. Furthermore, VOLTA can guide the students in building, verifying, and troubleshooting a circuit simulation by utilizing a circuit recognition algorithm. This algorithm uses image processing to recognize the simulated circuits. Preliminary results show the circuit recognizer module can identify simple RLC circuits. This virtual open lab approach requires fewer resources and adds flexibility by using fewer teaching assistants and less dedicated laboratory spaces. The merits of our open laboratory approach include (1) individual, self-paced learning, (2) 24/7 accessibility, (3) personalized instructions for shy or more timid students in a non-threatening environment, and (4) increasing level of engagement. Because of these advantages, students who learn in an open lab environment will perform better than in a traditional closed lab. In this paper, we present the VOLTA software framework and discuss the preliminary results of pre-and post-lab assessment. The ANOVA test on pre-test and post-test scores showed a p-value of 0.171 indicating a modest improvement in performance compared to students who took the same course taught using a traditional closed laboratory approach. This study suggests that VOLTA can be used as an effective learning tool in circuits' laboratories.

Online robotics technology course design by balancing workload and affect

“…To observe the effect of teaching modes (in-person vs. online) on students' learning performance, students' exam grades crossing eight semesters were analysed using One-Way analysis of variance (ANOVA) via MATLAB's Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox, particularly, the anova1() function. The One-Way ANOVA provides results to determine any statistically significant differences between the means of two or more independent samples, i.e., whether different groups of an independent variable have different effects on the response variable (Kumpass-Lenk et al, 2018;Boysen, 2015;Saleheen et al, 2015;Khan et al, 2018). In this analysis, the independent variable is the teaching mode having two levels: inperson and online.…”

Remote System Setup Using Large-Scale Field Programmable Analog Arrays (FPAA) to Enabling Wide Accessibility of Configurable Devices

“…), and later at Georgia Tech (GT) utilizing similar dedicated lab stations that transformed into the earliest FPAA devices [29]. Additional remote systems have attempted other concepts having users log-in and control a remote computer [32][33][34][35], as well as debates over the right use of remote hardware for classes [32]. These approaches involve using a hardware board (e.g., Spartan 3 or Arduino board) and using graphical languages like Labview (e.g., [36]).…”

Effectiveness of Virtual Open Laboratory Teaching Assistant for​ Circuits Laboratories

“…Equipped with pre-lab testing and instruction, engineering design exercises, short topic explanation videos, instrumentation instruction (including safety), and a corresponding post-lab test module, VOLTA is able to provide on-demand, smart assistance to students. A preliminary study on the effectiveness of VOLTA showed that the students participating in VOLTA performed slightly better compared to the control group 7 . In that experiment, the ANOVA (analysis of variance) test was run on the gain score of the students.…”

“…It is similarly not feasible to provide 7/24 support. In order to address this problem, we developed a system called the Virtual Open Laboratory Teaching Assistant (VOLTA) that provides automated on-demand instructional support 7 .…”

“…In Spring 2015, VOLTA was revamped by implementing an additional feature of "hardware help" and utilized more "questions and answers" collected from the prior evaluation conducted in Fall 2014 7 ? This paper presents an analysis of these results.…”