Development and Assessment of a Web-based Platform for an Active Learning Physics Lab Session on the linear regression technique

Abstract

Design, development and evaluation of a web-based platform to support hands-on introductory lab sessions in a first-year Physics course, within an undergraduate Electrical and Electronics Engineering curriculum, is presented and discussed. The aim of this project is to develop and put to use an active learning scenario for the introductory lab sessions of the Physics course; these are currently given in the form of conventional lectures and thus fail to attract students’ interest, motivate them or even aid them to grasp the essence of the methods they are expected to use in the following lab sessions. The material taught, namely, (i) linear regression method fundamentals and (ii) uncertainties in measurements, is basic and necessary for the quantitative verification of the physics laws and the estimation of unknown parameters. The application developed is web-based and consists of independent tabs (web pages), each providing access to a specific lab session. In order to evaluate the attractiveness and the educational effectiveness of the new application, DanaIntro, along with the new active learning scenario, a pilot test has been carried out with the 2020-21 firstyear student cohort, split into an ‘experimental group’ that used DanaIntro and a ‘control group’ that was taught in the conventional form (lectures and then problem-solving in class). Only the 1st part of DanaIntro (linear regression method fundamentals) was used in this pilot test. Analysis of student performance across all lab-related evaluation activities, described in detail here, has yielded positive results for the ‘experimental group’ - especially for students with a moderate understanding of the material (linear regression). These results encouraged the class instructors to develop the 2nd part of DanaIntro, on measurement uncertainties. Both parts are going to replace the respective conventional lectures and are planned to undergo formal evaluation in the next academic year.