Project Description

The widespread implementation and adoption of Virtual Labs at Purdue University offers a disruptive means for next generation education of our students. Many of the existing lab courses in higher education have remained stagnant over the years and have limited updates over decades of use. As a means of incorporating cutting edge technology into our curriculum, Purdue has deployed VLs (or are in the final stages of development) in 29 courses (primarily in Engineering, but also spanning Science and Polytechnic). This project will entail the educational assessment of the collected data within these courses. Both process and outcome evaluation of the VLs will be used for formative and summative purposes. Process evaluation is focused on asking questions about the quality of the implementation and under what specific conditions what types of outcomes are achieved. We will evaluate the alignment between the learning goals of each course, the corresponding physical lab, the lab report, and student assessments. The feedback from the educational assessment can be used to make improvements in these virtual labs. The goal of this project will be to create the seminal journal paper on the current state of the art and opportunities for Virtual Labs within higher education.  

Start Date

2024 (earlier in the year is preferred) 

Postdoc Qualifications

Background in educational assessments and quantitative statistical analyses 

Co-Advisors

Michael D. Sangid, msangid@purdue.edu, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Professor, Website: https://engineering.purdue.edu/~msangid/

Erica A. Lott, ealott@purdue.edu, Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, Director of Teaching and Learning

Short Bibliography

Please see related webpages:
https://engineering.purdue.edu/virtual-labs
https://engineering.purdue.edu/virtual-labs/news
https://www.purdue.edu/innovativelearning/programs/purdue-virtual-labs/