Does the lack of hands-on experience in a remotely delivered laboratory course affect student learning?

Abdel-Salam, Tarek; Kauffman, P.; Crossman, Gary

doi:10.1080/03043790600911886

Cited by 19 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Further, if there is group work involved, then there may be some development of 'soft skills', which require knower insight. However, as is discussed in [19,33,34], practicals can often become much less active than envisioned in the above figure. Students frequently do little preparation for practicals (i.e., they do not perform the tour through the purist insight quadrant).…”

Section: Practicalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Legitimation Code Theory to Conceptualize Learning Opportunities in Fluid Mechanics

Pott

Wolff

2019

Fluids

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With widespread industry feedback on engineering graduates’ lack of technical skills and research demonstrating that higher education does not effectively facilitate the development of open-ended problem-solving competencies, many educators are attempting to implement measures that address these concerns. In order to properly formulate sensible interventions that result in meaningful improvements in student outcomes, useful educational measurement and analysis approaches are needed. Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) has rapidly emerged as an effective, theoretically informed ‘toolkit’ offering a suite of dimensions through which to observe, analyze, interpret, and design teaching and learning practices. LCT Semantics has been used to help engineering educators unpack both levels of engineering knowledge abstraction and the complexity of engineering terms, while LCT Specialization focuses on knowledge practices (using the epistemic plane) and enables a visualization and differentiation between kinds of phenomena and the fixed versus open-ended methods with which to approach a particular phenomenon. Drawing on a range of initiatives to enable an improved practical grasp of fluid mechanics concepts, this paper presents a description and graphic LCT analysis of student learning that has been designed to anchor the ‘purist’ principles underpinning applied fluid mechanics concepts (such as in piping and pump network design) by way of concerted ‘doctrinal’ practices, and the exposure to more open-ended practical situations involving peer learning/group work, allowing educators to visualize the code clash between the curriculum and the world of work.

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Section: Practicalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Legitimation Code Theory to Conceptualize Learning Opportunities in Fluid Mechanics

Pott

Wolff

2019

Fluids

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“…Abdel-Salam et al (2006) carried out a study to evaluate the effectiveness of a video-based, hands-off laboratory in fluid mechanics as compared with a traditional hands-on laboratory in their distance-education programme for students living in remote areas. They found that the performance of distance education students was equal to the performance of on-campus students in the writing of laboratory reports.…”

Section: Question 3: Should Hands-on Physics Practicals Be Replaced Wmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retrospective perceptions and views of engineering students about physics and engineering practicals

Bhathal

2011

European Journal of Engineering Education

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Hands-on practical work in physics and engineering has a long and well-established tradition in Australian universities. Recently, however, the question of whether hands-on physics and engineering practicals are useful for engineering students and whether they could be deleted or whether these could be replaced with computer simulations has been raised, mainly due to cost-cutting exercises. In order to ascertain the usefulness of hands-on engineering practicals and first year practical physics classes to their engineering degree, a retrospective survey was carried out with third year engineering students. The general picture that emerges from the survey indicates that the majority of the students found hands-on physics and engineering practicals preferable to simulations on a computer and that practical work is useful not only for linking theory to practicals but also for gaining technical skills.

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“…At the same time, despite the optimism about hands-on learning, an unconditional endorsement of hands-on experiences is not confirmed unequivocally. For example, a study comparing learning in a fluid-mechanics course through video versus hands-on implementation found that students who watched videos performed just as well on assessments, or even better than the students who had hands-on experience (Abdel-Salam, Kauffman, & Crossman, 2006 ). Indeed, there has long been a debate over the efficacy of active hands-on activities versus static schematics in teaching science (e.g., Ma & Nickerson, 2006 ; McNeil & Jarvin, 2007 ; McNeil, Uttal, Jarvin, & Sternberg, 2009 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hands-on experience can lead to systematic mistakes: A study on adults’ understanding of sinking objects

2017

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In line with theories of embodied cognition, hands-on experience is typically assumed to support learning. In the current paper, we explored this issue within the science domain of sinking objects. Adults had to make a guess about which of two objects in a pair would sink faster. The crucial manipulation was whether participants were handed real-life objects (real-objects condition) or were shown static images of objects (static-images condition). Results of Experiment 1 revealed more systematic mistakes in the real-objects than the static-images condition. Experiment 2 investigated this result further, namely by having adults make predictions about sinking objects after an initial training. Again, we found that adults made more mistakes in the real-objects than the static-images condition. Experiment 3 showed that the negative effect of hands-on experiences did not influence later performance. Thus, the negative effects of hands-on experiences were short-lived. Even so, our results call into question an undifferentiated use of manipulatives to convey science concepts. Based on our findings, we suggest that a nuanced theory of embodied cognition is needed, especially as it applies to science learning.

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Does the lack of hands-on experience in a remotely delivered laboratory course affect student learning?

Cited by 19 publications

References 19 publications

Using Legitimation Code Theory to Conceptualize Learning Opportunities in Fluid Mechanics

Using Legitimation Code Theory to Conceptualize Learning Opportunities in Fluid Mechanics

Retrospective perceptions and views of engineering students about physics and engineering practicals

Hands-on experience can lead to systematic mistakes: A study on adults’ understanding of sinking objects

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