Review by: Reichert, Raimond (2004-08-03)

Laboratories are a core requirement in many domains, in particular in engineering education. However, real-world laboratories are costly, time-consuming, and can be difficult to schedule and to attend. Simulations may decrease cost by minimizing the use of expensive equipment and increase student access since they can be used at anytime on the students’ computers. This article reports on two studies regarding the acceptance and the effectiveness of a simulation for electronics laboratories. The first study was explorative and helped determine that students would accept simulations. In the following, this review focuses on the second study which focussed on the learning outcomes.

The authors used the commercial Electronic Laboratory Software which simulates a power supply, a breadboard for making connections, and a number of instruments to take measurements. 18 students were assigned to the physical lab group taking seven physical labs. 22 students were assigned to the combined lab group which completed seven simulated labs correspondeding 1:1 to the physical labs of the other group, and took two physical labs that repeated two simulated labs. All students did a written pre-test of lab and theory knowledge and a final assessment consisting of a written test and a new lab.

The results of the pre-test indicated equivalent performance of the two groups prior to the experiment. The results of the written post-test indicated a significant difference in favor of the combined lab group. The results of the lab test showed that the time required to complete the lab, which was the measure chosen, was equivalent between both groups.

Even though results of any study using a particular simulation can not be generalized to all simulations of the same type, this study provides a good example of how the acceptance and effectiveness of a virtual learning environment can be assessed. It is a time-consuming, labor-intensive process, but a process that should be replicated whenever virtual learning environments are to play an important role in any course. Unfortunately, the software used in this study is no longer available, even only two years after the study was done.