Impact of pre-lab videos on improving students' learning outcomes

Abstract

In Engineering Technology courses that involve lab activities, we observed a knowledge gap among 10-30% of students that increases as the semester progresses. This places those students at a disadvantage relative to their peers, as they have difficulty understanding and mastering advanced topics. The knowledge gap also often results in the repetition of topics and prolonged lab sessions, as well as more serious issues such as the mishandling of equipment. STEM instruction typically is based on verbal, deductive, reflective, and sequential learning methods. However, studies show that students in science and engineering programs tend to do well with visual, inductive, active, and global learning methods. With this information in mind, we developed custom pre-lab videos to address the knowledge gap. The pre-lab videos demonstrate basic usage and implementation of laboratory equipment, software tools, and commands that are used in our courses. We used these videos for instructional purposes in two different engineering technology disciplines: a freshman level course on electronics and a sophomore level course on solid modeling. To examine the effectiveness of pre-lab videos, students' learning outcomes were assessed by conducting lab proficiency exams for the respective courses before and after implementation of the videos. We observed improvement in students' overall performance, a 20-30% reduction in the time needed to complete labs or tutorials, and the reduction of the knowledge gap as indicated by a narrower grade distribution. In addition, 10-15% more learning material was delivered, and the frequency of equipment mishandling was also reduced by 40-50%. The results of the study will be discussed in detail along with a description of how the authors have used the video tutorials for transitioning the traditional engineering technology courses to hybrid or online courses.