Learning by Troubleshooting - A Suitable Didactical Scenario for Online Experiments?

Abstract Web-based technologies enable the conduction of remote experiments with real technical plants or laboratories for engineering education. In this paper, the online control system of a Methanol-water distillation column is presented, which has recently been developed at the Department of Process Dynamics and Operation of the Technische Universitat Berlin. A didactical scenario with a troubleshooting task has been created to be realised with the online column. In a formative evaluation study, the scenario has been accepted by the students and has shown a slightly positive effect on learning outcome. The potential of the "learning by troubleshooting" scenario is discussed.