Undergraduate Engineering Laboratories During COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Abstract Engineering is a practical discipline. Therefore, laboratories have always been considered an integral part of engineering education particularly undergraduate engineering education. Laboratory experiments not only help students in understanding theoretical concepts, they also serve the purpose of teaching the required engineering hands-on skills. Laboratory experiments almost always involve groups of students working together under supervision of lab. instructor. Thus, students also learn teamwork through laboratory sessions. Recent Covid-19 pandemic has globally affected all activities which require social interaction. University experience is one of these effected areas and educators world-wide are devising innovative ways to minimize the impact of pandemic on student learning. The most popular approach is to move learning online. Online instructions are good for teaching theoretical knowledge. However, laboratory requires hands-on execution of experiments and simulations can replace the hands-on experiments only to a limited extend. Moreover, Laboratory sessions involve more social interaction as students work in groups, work on the shared laboratory equipment and interact one-to-one with lab. instructor. In this paper seven faculty members from a regional public university will explain about the adjustments they made to their laboratory courses in order to minimize the impact of pandemic on students learning. All faculty members teach courses related to Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology. This paper will identify which approaches are common among various courses and instructors and which are specific to a particular course. We will also observe the impact of these changes on students learning as indicated by their examination results. Some of the laboratory courses discussed in this paper are DC Circuits and Design, AC Circuits and Design, Introduction to Robotics and Automation, Programmable Logic Controllers and Control Systems, Industrial Electronic Current Control Systems, Technical Data Management and Applications, Digital Computer Circuits, and Practical Digital Logic Design.