Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011 - rees2009

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) Página 728 de 957
Laboratory experiments: Case study of a virtual approach
Elena Tejado, Álvaro. Ridruejo, Konstantina Konstantopoulou, Teresa Palacios and
Jose Ygnacio Pastor
elena.tejado@mater.upm.es , alvaro.ridruejo@upm.es , konstantina@mater.upm.es ,
teresa.palacios@mater.upm.es , jypastor@mater.upm.es
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid
Spain
Abstract: Laboratory experiments have always been regarded as a crucial
component to scientific and technical studies. They provide a deep insight to
many concepts and develop skills which are not attainable through other means.
Laboratory experiments are, however, marred by a number of problems. To
overcome some of such obstacles, we have implemented two pilot virtual
laboratory experiments at the Materials Engineering Degree of the
Polytechnic University of Madrid. This kind of experiment sought the
enhancement of the students’ skills by changing their role to an active agent in
the learning process as well as improving the design of more sophisticated
experiments and their extension to a larger number of students
Introduction
Due to the advent of the European Space for Higher Education, it has increasingly become
necessary to develop new methodologies in order to adapt the content to the new
educational model because with its implantation many changes have befallen. These new
learning strategies have been developed throughout Europe, encompassing the evaluation
of the strengths and weaknesses of the existing higher education systems, the definition of
professional and academic skills and the implementation of new teaching methodologies.
Regarding the latter, and restricting ourselves to engineering education, much effort has
been devoted to methodologies such as “problem-based learning” and “project-based
learning”. These methodologies emphasize the role of the student not as a passive
recipient of information but as a crucially active agent in the learning process (McKeachie,
1999 and Ellis, 2005).
Laboratory experiments are fundamental in order to prepare students to practice
engineering and, in particular to deal with the forces and materials of nature, as
engineering is a practicing profession. They have always been central in acquiring a solid
scientific and technical background, both as a complement for theoretical contents and by
themselves (Feysel & Rosa, 2005). Nevertheless, a successful implementation of
laboratory experiments is not always feasible. Some of the most relevant problems can be
listed:
• High number of students. In some degrees the total amount can be above 600-800,
which leads to overcrowding and dramatically reduces the interaction with
students.
• Limited financial resources for the development of laboratory experiments.
• Limited space for the proper development of the laboratory experiments.
Proceedings of Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011
Madrid, 4 th - 7 th October 2011