Cloud-based virtual labs vs. low-cost physical labs: what engineering students think

Abstract

The educational courses that fall into Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) category require an extensive practical training in laboratories, in order to build and strengthen students' skills, thereby preparing them for a future job market. In particular, the significant advancements in computer science and engineering press an urgent need to rethink the core of the existing academic courses, their objectives, and the tools for the practical work, due to the need to maintain the balance between the knowledge that academia provides to the students and the actual requirements for students' future job vacancies. To this end, our educational research includes the design and development of two different types of laboratories, i.e., a low-cost Raspberry Pi-based laboratory, and a laboratory in the cloud, for the practical teaching of the course Distributed systems. In this paper, we present the valuable feedback from our undergraduate students for both types of the aforementioned experimentation approaches, thereby unraveling the pros and cons of both, and analyzing the existing challenges that still need to be properly tackled.

Virtual Labs in Electrical Engineering Education During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Not only understanding of the Outcome-Based Education (OBE) paradigm underlying engineering programs but also significant metacognitive and learning competency are required in engineering education settings during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic [19]. Strategies, learning approaches, and practical instructions for using virtual laboratories can be provided online, in the cloud, on the web, or as videos [20][21][22][23][24]. The use of remote labs and AR/VR can be used to support practical learning in virtual labs because it can visualize models in 3-dimensional form and provides cognitive and pedagogical benefits for students as well as a cost-effective investment for higher education institutions [18,[25][26][27][28][29].…”

“…Virtual labs also provide versatility in the teaching and learning process [20]. The virtual lab is presently a widely developed medium [21,22], and its effectiveness as a tool for improving students' laboratory experience [23,24], and they have been tested standing balanced with real labs [25][26][27]. In addition, virtual labs can also save money by reducing the costs of equipment, space, and practical laboratory maintenance staff [28,29].…”

Electrical Engineering Practicum: The Place of Virtual Laboratory in Nigerian Universities

“…Virtual laboratories require software updates, whereas physical laboratories require physical upkeep. Therefore, the infrastructure and maintenance requirements are also different [51]. It is impossible to practically include all potential scenarios in any virtual laboratory system since the simulation environment lacks the physical parts of experimentation, such as the feel and sight of substances.…”

“…Such laboratories are suitable for creation and testing within their constraints, assuming users can handle the level of abstraction. Multiple students can use the equipment simultaneously in virtual laboratories, making it easier for different teaching organizations to share the lab resources [51].…”

Implementation of Low-Cost Laboratory in Education: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Practice learning is very important in improve the competence of students (Slamnik-Kriještorac et al, 2021). The learning by doing method is able to increase the students understanding for learning materials up to 70%.…”