Achumba I.E., Azzi D., Dunn V.L., Chukwudebe G.A.
Electronic and Computer Engineering Department, School of Engineering, University of Portsmouth, Anglesea Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO1 3DJ, United Kingdom; Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, PMB
Achumba, I.E., Electronic and Computer Engineering Department, School of Engineering, University of Portsmouth, Anglesea Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO1 3DJ, United Kingdom; Azzi, D., Electronic and Computer Engineering Department, School of Engineering, University of Portsmouth, Anglesea Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO1 3DJ, United Kingdom; Dunn, V.L., Electronic and Computer Engineering Department, School of Engineering, University of Portsmouth, Anglesea Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO1 3DJ, United Kingdom; Chukwudebe, G.A., Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, PMB 1526, Oweri, Imo State 460221, Nigeria
Laboratory work is critical in undergraduate engineering courses. It is used to integrate theory and practice. This demands that laboratory activities are synchronized with lectures to maximize their derivable learning outcomes, which are measurable through assessment. The typical high costs of the traditional engineering laboratory, which often militate against the synchronization of laboratory activities and lectures, have catalyzed the increased adoption of virtual laboratories in engineering laboratory education. The principles of assessment in the virtual learning environment are essentially the same as in the traditional learning environment, with the same requirements for fairness, reliability, and validity. This motivated the incorporation, in a Virtual Electronic Laboratory (VEL) environment, of a Bayesian network-based tool for the performance assessment of students' laboratory work in the environment. This paper details a description of the assessment tool, its verification, evaluation (as an assessment tool within the VEL environment), and application processes. © 2008-2011 IEEE.
Engineering laboratories; Laboratory environment; Laboratory work; Performance assessment; Traditional engineerings; Undergraduate engineering course; Virtual laboratories; Virtual learning environments; Bayesian networks; Computer aided instruction; Research laboratories; Sensitivity analysis; Distance education