E-Learning Laboratories for Optical Circuits: Separation of Imperfections in Technology and Teaching Methodologies

One of the main challenges in teaching online laboratories is the separation of imperfections in technology and teaching strategies. In this presentation, we will discuss learning assessment of a set of remote laboratories that cover "optical circuits" material * . By optical circuits we refer to systems that employ optical fiber or free space links to carry encoded information. These laboratories involve the evaluation of optical fiber, fiber compatible components, and links for transmission of encoded optical signals. Remote laboratories that have been developed at the University of Colorado Boulder (UCB) and the University of Houston (UH) have been assessed for the first time in the Spring 2006 semester in courses offered in the Engineering Technology Department of the University of Houston. One of the objectives of this project is to evaluate the teaching strategies given the imperfections in the technology of remote data acquisition. In order to fulfill this objective, the authors have conducted opinion surveys among the participating students and some experts in the field. The paper will present the findings from the collected data, student success evaluation through a hands-on testing of skills, and faculty observations. The data is collected from sixteen students who took the course and four experts who participated in the evaluation of the teaching methods.