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Experiential Learning Through Remote Electrical Engineering Labs During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Engineers learn best via experiential learning. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the safe-distancing measures have disrupted regular teaching activities across the world. While numerous engineering schools have resorted to e-learning, there is a risk that many would sacrifice the hands-on learning experience for the students. We adapted a freshmen electrical engineering module into mostly home-based learning mode, while retaining its experiential learning focus through remote lab activities with synchronous supervision. Our survey results and analyses showed that, although students felt face-to-face labs provided them with better hands-on training compared to online remote labs, they were still able to perform as well as previous cohorts in terms of their understanding of the principles taught. A key drawback of online remote labs is the difficulty to help students with debugging. This might be mitigated with the use of software tools that help students take a more active role in debugging on their own.