Skip to main content

Strategies for Online-education Model for Project and Laboratory-based Assessment in Environmental Monitoring and Analysis Course

Author(s): Tony Hadibarata , Mohamad Noor Hazwan Jusoh
Author(s) information:
Environmental Engineering Program, Curtin University Malaysia, CDT250, Miri 98009, Malaysia

Corresponding author

The global COVID-19 epidemic compelled all educational institutions, including universities, to cease academic instruction. To assure the ongoing process of teaching, learning, and assessment, several universities have transitioned from traditional face-to-face techniques to online ones. The purpose of the study was to examine the online-education experience in an Environmental Engineering course using a virtual lab and simulation software, as well as to determine the student's perception of the implementation of virtual labs and simulation software and the benefits of these tools for enhancing learning activities. To familiarize students with various areas of environmental engineering analysis, two simulated experiments were developed: water quality monitoring and adsorption spectroscopy. The virtual labs were generally well-received, as indicated by the responses to the Likert-type questions. Virtual laboratories are more acceptable for senior students than for first-year students, according to the consensus. 88% of respondents agreed with the average of twenty claims, compared with 3% who disagreed and 9% who agreed but disagreed with the statement. This illustrates that, although students believe that substituting virtual laboratories for conventional laboratories is not a complete solution, they believe that virtual laboratories can be used in conjunction with conventional methods to facilitate improved study outside of laboratory hours. Virtual and online learning in engineering labs are still relatively new; additional research is necessary before instructors can effectively utilize this delivery medium and its accompanying technologies to enhance student learning.

Ngoatle, C.; Mothiba, T.; Ngoepe, M. (2022). Navigating through COVID-19 Pandemic Period in Implementing Quality Teaching and Learning for Higher Education Programmes: A Document Analysis Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 11146. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191711146.

Amaechi, C.; Amaechi, E.; Oyetunji, A.; Kgosiemang, I. (2022). Scientific Review and Annotated Bibliography of Teaching in Higher Education Academies on Online Learning: Adapting to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Sustainability 14, 12006. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912006.

Zhang, J.; Yu, S. (2022). Assessing the Innovation of Mobile Pedagogy from the Teacher’s Perspective. Sustainability, 14, 15676. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142315676.

Pintaric Z.N.; Kravanja Z. (2020). The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 on the Quality of STEM Higher Education, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 81, 1315-1320.

Talanquer, V.; Bucat, R.; Tasker, R.; Mahaffy, P. (2020). Lessons from a Pandemic: Educating for Complexity, Change, Uncertainty, Vulnerability, and Resilience. Journal of Chemical Education, 97, 2696-2700. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00627.

Clemente-Suárez, V.J.; Navarro-Jiménez, E.; Moreno-Luna, L.; Saavedra-Serrano, M.C.; Jimenez, M.; Simón, J.A.; Tornero-Aguilera, J.F. (2021). The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Social, Health, and Economy. Sustainability, 13, 6314. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116314.

Konrad, S.; Fitzgerald, A.; Deckers, C. (2021). Nursing fundamentals – supporting clinical competency online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Teaching and Learning in Nursing,16, 53-56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teln.2020.07.005.

Alqurshi, A. (2020). Investigating the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on pharmaceutical education in Saudi Arabia – A call for a remote teaching contingency strategy. Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal, 28, 1075-1083. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsps.2020.07.008.

Mathon, R.; Critchley, P.; Wong, R. (2012). Bridging Academic and Rural Communities: Lessons Learned from Use of Social Media and Technology in a Distance Learning Program. Canadian Journal of Diabetes, 36, S3-S4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjd.2012.07.023.

Bassani, P.B.S. (2011). Interpersonal exchanges in discussion forums: A study of learning communities in distance learning settings. Computers & Education, 56, 931-938. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2010.11.009.

Uddin, M.G.; Nash, S.; Olbert, A.I. (2021). A review of water quality index models and their use for assessing surface water quality. Ecological Indicators, 122, 107218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107218.

Yan, T.; Shen, S.L. (2022). Annan Zhou,Indices and models of surface water quality assessment: Review and perspectives. Environmental Pollution, 308, 119611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119611.

Han, X.; Liu, X.; Gao, D.; Ma, B.; Gao, X.; Cheng, M. (2022). Costs and benefits of the development methods of drinking water quality index: A systematic review. Ecological Indicators, 144, 109501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109501.

Casasanta, G.; Falcini, F.; Garra, R. (2022). Beer–Lambert law in photochemistry: A new approach. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry, 432, 114086. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2022.114086.

National Water Quality Standards For Malaysia. (accessed on 22 October 2022) Available online: URL: http://www.wepa-db.net/policies/law/malaysia/eq_surface.htm.

Dykema, J.; Schaeffer, N.C.; Garbarski, D.; Assad, N.; Blixt, S. (2022). Towards a reconsideration of the use of agree-disagree questions in measuring subjective evaluations. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 18, 2335-2344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2021.06.014.

Alan, U.; Kabasakal, K.A. (2020). Effect of number of response options on the psychometric properties of Likert-type scales used with children. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 66, 100895. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2020.100895.

Esquembre, F. (2015). Facilitating the Creation of Virtual and Remote Laboratories for Science and Engineering Education. IFAC-Papers OnLine, 48, 49-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2015.11.212.

Tatli, Z.; Ayas, A. (2010). Virtual laboratory applications in chemistry education. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 9, 938-942,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.12.263.

Potkonjak, V.; Gardner, M.; Callaghan, V.; Mattila, P.; Guetl, C.; Petrović, V.M.; Jovanović, L. (2016). Virtual laboratories for education in science, technology, and engineering: A review. Computers & Education, 95, 309-327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.02.002.

About this article

SUBMITTED: 27 November 2022
ACCEPTED: 02 January 2023
PUBLISHED: 4 January 2023
SUBMITTED to ACCEPTED: 36 days
DOI: https://doi.org/10.53623/apga.v2i1.168

Cite this article
Hadibarata, T., & Jusoh , M. N. H. . (2023). Strategies for Online-education Model for Project and Laboratory-based Assessment in Environmental Monitoring and Analysis Course. Acta Pedagogia Asiana, 2(1), 14–25. https://doi.org/10.53623/apga.v2i1.168
Keywords
Accessed
432
Citations
0
Share this article