Role of Biotechnology Simulation and Remotely Triggered Virtual labs in Complementing University Education Rakhi Radhamani
Hemalatha Sasidharakurup
Dhanush Kumar
Amrita School of Biotechnology Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University) Kollam, India
Amrita School of Biotechnology Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University) Kollam, India
Amrita School of Biotechnology Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University) Kollam, India
Nijin Nizar
Krishnashree Achuthan, MIEEE
Bipin Nair
Amrita School of Biotechnology Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University) Kollam, India
Amrita School of Engineering Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University) Kollam, India
Amrita School of Biotechnology Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University) Kollam, India
Shyam Diwakar, SMIEEE Amrita School of Biotechnology Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University) Kollam, India
[email protected] Abstract—Blended learning has been popularized in many universities in the last decade due to the rapid advances in computer technologies and relative increase in the usage of internet connectivity. A major constraint in providing high quality laboratory resources in some universities and in economically challenged countries is high costs, training personnel, training time and maintenance-related issues. Virtual and remote labs complement the real laboratory resources with virtually defined techniques including simulations, animations, remote triggering of the actual equipment and videos that facilitate user interactions. Our goal was to analyze the effectiveness of biotechnology virtual labs in integrating learning process among school and university students of ages 12-15 years and 17-24 years respectively within India. These labs were developed as part of a National mission on Education through ICT. We also focused on the use of virtual and remote labs as a new pedagogy for distance and mobile learning courses and the context of usage outside scheduled classroom timings. The evaluation of biotechnology virtual labs was performed via surveys, including online and manual feedback reports for analyzing the learning process of various student groups. Studies amongst students of different age groups suggested that virtualization helped their active learning in a traditional classroom scenario. Feedback from student users also indicated virtual and remote labs aided, mobile learning by improving their academic performance, after using virtual and remote labs (post usage) as education platform. Feedback statistics showed 90% of students used biotechnology virtual lab techniques and that helped them to get an actual feel of the experiment. All
participants scored more than 70% in the post-test, improving the class average from the pre-test scenario. 91% of teachers who participated in the workshops indicated that they could use virtual and remote labs in their daily teaching process as teaching material thereby reducing their lecture preparation time. Feedback analysis also indicated improved student performance enhancing laboratory education. Keywords—Virtual labs; remote labs; biotechnology; mobile and distance learning; education
I.
INTRODUCTION
Laboratory experience and practical skills have become crucial for biotechnology education [1]. In a traditional lab, students attend classroom lectures for theoretical knowledge and then attend laboratory session to apply the theory into practical situations [2]. However, in many Indian institutions, there are several limitations as time constrains, shortage of equipment and reagents, inadequate technical support etc. to setup a proper laboratory condition [3]. A number of pedagogical studies have shown the influence of laboratory education platforms [1], [4]. Online tools have been developed to overcome the constraints faced in the real lab scenario, thus supplement classroom education by providing an artificial working environment [5]. The high degree of flexibility of such labs facilitates self-driven learning, anytime-anywhere. As effective learning tools, it has been widely used for distance and mobile learning by students allowing self-organized
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learning. Previous studies have shown that due to socioeconomic problems, many Indian universities in both rural and urban areas face problems in providing a high quality education for students [6]. Rural areas have more economic challenges than urban areas for delivering better education facilities. In some rural scenes, certain education institutes lack financial capacity for requirements like adequate classrooms, computers and internet connection, electricity, reference books etc. These issues have correlations to unemployment and poverty that can affect education [7]. To help overcome some of the issues with laboratory education, we developed virtual labs as a new learning environment to support the university education system. Virtual labs have been suggested as an addon solution for student’s self-learning process and a support tool for teaching [8]. Additionally, our previous survey-based studies indicated that virtual labs could be a supplementary tool to improve academic performance in blended environments. Recent research indicated advantages of blended learning for students including increased flexibility, student engagement and motivation. [9]. Virtual labs are free online education tools that bring a new dimension in learning science using visualization techniques such as animation, interactive technologies like simulations, remotely controlled equipment and recorded video components[1], [10], [11] (see Fig. 1). Animations are virtualization techniques that catch user attention and engage their learning[12]. Simulations are mathematical models that provide a quantitative and hands-on experience to each experiment that supplements real laboratory practices and skills[13], [14]. Remote triggered (RT) experiments provide access to real laboratory equipment for those who face limitations of hands on experience like accessibility, location and cost[15], [16].
II.
METHODS
To test the impact of simulations and remotely controlled experiments in Biotechnology education, we conducted several workshops involving participants from Indian Universities. Around 600 users participated on the workshop (200 K-12 students with in age group 12-15, 200 university level students with in age group 17-24 and 200 teachers teaching biotechnology course at different universities). The evaluation was performed via surveys, including online and direct feedback reports for analyzing learning process of various student and teacher groups. The participants showed their responses by marking Yes/ No to the respective questions of analysis. Data observed were then tabulated and impact of simulation and remote labs in enhancing biotechnology education was statistically analyzed. Pedagogical studies were conducted amongst teachers for analyzing how the teachers perceived this online tool in their daily teaching process. To analyze the effectiveness of simulation-based and remotely controlled experiments in learning biotechnology experiments, students were asked to perform any two experiments (one simulation-based experiment and one RTexperiment) of their own choice as learning exercises. Any mistakes while performing experiments is displayed on the computer screen. Therefore, the user needs to be careful while performing the lab session. After the virtual lab experience, a questionnaire-based feedback was conducted among the users and the responses for each question were noted for further analysis. The feedback survey included the following questions (see TABLE I). TABLE I. QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS TO ANALYZE THEEFFECT OF SIMULATIONS AND REMOTELY CONTROLLED EXPERIMENTS SI. No. Q1
Fig. 1. Virtual lab techniques. A. Animation B. Simulation C. Remotely controlled experiment. See http://vlab.amrita.edu/)
In this study, we analyzed the effective role of biotechnology virtual labs in integrating learning process among school and university students of ages 12-15 years and 17-24 years respectively within India. We tested the impact of introducing biotechnology virtual and remote labs as an instructional tool. We also focused on the usage of virtual and remote labs as new pedagogical tools for distance and mobile learning courses and the context of usage outside scheduled classroom timings. The paper highlights the role of explicit user interactions on virtual labs in aiding classroom education compared to a conventional non-ICT classroom.
Questions Which virtual lab technique do you prefer to use in your laboratory education?
Q2
Which virtual lab technique helped you to understand the concept of experiment?
Q3
Which virtual lab technique gave you a real lab experience using experiment simulator?
Q4
Which virtual lab technique motivated you to use ICT tools in your education?
Similarly, another study was conducted amongst 100 university students who have Neurophysiology course in their syllabus for a semester. After attending traditional classroom lectures, a pre-test was conducted among students to analyze their knowledge in various neurophysiology experiments and individual performance report was noted and tabulated for further analysis. The questions are listed in TABLE II. Same groups of students were subjected to learn the experiment using virtual labs as a learning platform, without the help of an instructor. After virtual lab experience, a post-test was conducted with same set of questions as in pre-test.
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TABLE II. PRE-TEST AND POST- TEST QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS TO ANALYZE THEIR KNOWLEDGE IN NEUROPHYSIOLOGY EXPERIMENTS SI. No.
Questions
Q1
What is a neuron?
Q2
What is a brain slice?
Q3
What is membrane capacitance representing?
Q4
Which neuronal behavior does the Hodgkin-Huxley model simulate?
Q5
Which ions mainly cause action potential or spiking?
Q6
With what units is membrane voltage measured?
Q7
What will happen when Na+ current is disabled?
Q8
What will happen when K+ current is disabled?
Q9
How would TEA affect the action potential?
Q10
What is Membrane potential?
determine the role of simulation-based labs and remotely controlled experiments in Biotechnology education. A. Biotechnology learners favoured simulations over remotely controlled experiments Among participants, 90% specified that the techniques used in biotechnology virtual labs helped them to get an actual feel of the experiment. Off 400 students, 80% supported that they prefer simulations based learning for their laboratory education. Feedback indicated that they could easily memorize the step-by-step procedure of experiment and reported that would help them to perform better in the traditional laboratory. 78% of the students reported simulations helped them to understand experimental concepts than remote experiments. 86% suggested that remotely controlled equipment gave them feel of using real lab equipment. 80% participants reported that explicit interactions in simulations motivated them to use ICT tools in their education process (see Fig. 2).
Performance level of students in each test was noted for further analysis. Apart this, an additional question was asked to the students to know their interest in virtual lab technique: x Which Virtual Lab technique (Simulation/Remote Trigger) helped you to learn the neurophysiology concepts and correctly answer the post-lab questions? A similar study was conducted among 200 teachers from different universities who participated in the virtual lab workshops. The study was focused to test the teacher’s interests in including simulation-based and remote lab techniques in classroom teaching process. Feedback survey collected from teachers (for feedback questions, see Table III) was included in our analysis. TABLE III. QUESTIONS FOR TEACHER PARTICIPANTS TO ANALYZE THEIR INTEREST IN INCLUDING SIMULATION-BASED AND REMOTE LAB TECHNIQUES IN TEACHING PROCESS. SI. No.
Questions
Q1
Would you support usage of virtual lab techniques in classroom education?
Q2
Would you suggest virtual lab as a reference material for laboratory education?
Q3
Do you agree that remote lab helps to provide students with a feel of real equipment?
Q4
Do you agree that virtual lab techniques can be used as a supplementary tool that helps students to access costly and highly sensitive equipment?
III.
RESULTS
Feedback data collected from participants of various workshops on Biotechnology virtual labs were used to
Fig. 2. Analyzing virtual lab techniques among students
B. Examination scores improved post virtual lab sessions. Students test scores for each question in the pre-test and post-test were analyzed. Statistics showed that 40% of the students were able to score above 90% marks in post-test. The same users did not score as much in their pre-test evaluations. All participants scored above 70% in the post-test, improving the class average from the pre-test scenario (see TABLE IV). Overall results suggested that student's performance in examinations increased when they practiced simulation-based and remotely controlled virtual lab experiments. In addition, we analyzed student responses for the additional question given to perceive which Virtual Lab technique was preferred in their Biotechnology education (see Fig. 3). Among 100 students, 85% of them preferred simulations-based experiment and only 15% of them were interested in remotely controlled labs. We could also notice that many users faced problems like network issues and timeslot booking while performing remotely-triggered experiments.
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TABLE IV. STUDENT’S PERFORMANCE RATE IN EXAMINATION. Percentage of marks
Pre-test evaluation
Post-test evaluation
(percentage of users)
(percentage of users)
0
40
80-89
6
34
70-79
10
22
90
Fig. 4. Analyzing virtual lab usage among University teachers
Fig. 3. Virtual simulations as an effective tool in integrating theoretical and practical knowledge
C. Teachers perceive simulations and remote labs as online interactive textbooks A feedback-based survey was conducted among 200 professors from different Indian universities to know their interest in using biotechnology virtual labs in their teaching process. Response indicated that 91% of professors suggested using virtual lab techniques in classroom education. 88% of responses showed that professors would like to suggest virtual labs as a laboratory reference material. 94% teachers indicated that remote labs would add a feel of real lab environment to students. 88% of them mentioned their willingness to use virtual as a supplementary educational tool to help students access laboratory equipment (also see Fig.4). IV.
DISCUSSION
In this study, the effective role of Biotechnology simulation and remotely triggered virtual labs in complementing university education were analyzed using feedback collected from students and teachers participated in various workshops conducted across various Indian Universities [17]. Data analyzed from overall studies indicated usage popularity of virtual labs as a supplementary education material for enhancing biotechnology education. Overall feedback results showed that most students preferred simulation-based experiments than remotely controlled labs as a supplementary education platform in their learning. 90% of them endorsed the techniques used in biotechnology virtual labs as it helped them to understand via a step-by-step procedure and actual feel of an experiment.
Feedback also suggested that usage of interactive simulators increase the student motivation when compared to remotely triggered experiments. In the survey, it was noted that around 85% of students supported simulation-based labs since the technique is accessible for them any time. The study also revealed several problems faced by students related to usage of remotely triggered labs in education. Only 15% supported remotely controlled labs the majority faced connectivity issues and issues with time-slot booking systems. The results of classroom test showed that students who scored less in the pretest scored above 70% in the post-test for same questions given for the study. It has been noticed that students who has used virtual labs as an additional material to learn neurophysiology labs understood the concepts of experiments even in the absence of an instructor. From previous studies on student performance [1], it was indicative that virtual laboratory experiments are useful for students who have access and usage limitations like unavailability of expensive reagents and equipment, timing issues with classroom schedule, ethical concerns, difficulty in result interpretation, handling of sophisticated instruments and use of hazardous materials and improve student learning performances. However, a small percentage of students reported difficulties in using online education tools due to lack of adequate computer literacy. During the workshops, students commented: "In one hour we can’t finish even 1 experiment in real lab whereas we could do so many using virtual labs", "if we Google an experiment we have to search the theory, procedure, video etc. separately. But VL (virtual lab) provides everything together as a learning package". "I could successfully complete 15 experiments in 4 hours which can’t be finished in a real lab. I scored more than 90% in self-evaluation part". Professors also suggested that the blended approach in learning and teaching was critical in promoting self-organized learning. Preliminary analysis also indicated that explicit interactions enhanced laboratory education. Around 90% of professors who participated in the workshop promoted virtual labs in classroom education. Teachers also gave their verbal feedback during workshops. Some comments included: "Some
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students hate black-board and (they) sleep during class lectures. We were happy to use these interesting and entertaining virtual labs". "At the college level, many students are unable to do all the experiments properly due to lack of equipment or other reasons. Therefore, it would be very useful for students if we include virtual lab experiments in syllabus". "If there are two batches of students to do wet lab experiments, we have to explain the experiments twice. Sometimes we miss certain important points. But VL reduces that workload and makes it easier." Professors also suggested virtual lab techniques as an additional reference material for students that helped students to access costly and highly sensitive equipment beyond the class hours. V.
[3]
[4] [5]
[6] [7]
CONCLUSION
This deployment-based study on 600 users via face-to-face workshop sessions and 100 Biotechnology postgraduate students was a trial-and-error method to analyze studentteacher behavior while using content-rich virtual and remote labs for compensating essential laboratory requirements in universities. Our current studies indicate a trend in usage of ICT-enabled virtual labs enhanced academic performance of students. It also suggests the usage of virtual labs as next-gen interactive textbooks for classroom users and for distance and mobile learners. Virtual labs are freely available online for public use via http://vlab.amrita.edu.
[8] [9]
[10]
[11]
ACKNOWLEDGMENT This project derives direction and ideas from the Chancellor of Amrita University, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi. This work is funded under the Sakshat project of National Mission on Education through ICT (Phase I and Phase II), Department of Higher Education, MHRD, Government of India. Authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of CREATE team, Prema Nedungadi, Raghu Raman of CREATE, Sanjay Pal, Nandita Mishra, Sobha Nair, Vidhya Prakash, Ajith Madhavan and Swarna Iyer of Amrita School of Biotechnology.
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