A wood cantilever of length ~2.5 m is driven into resonance using the hand as a simple driver. Video recordings of these oscillations are analyzed to determine experimental second harmonic (n = 2) damped resonance frequencies. These frequencies are compared to theoretical ones, obtained from measurements of elastic moduli, damping properties, and…

Achieving the Dream (ATD) is one of 12 higher education and digital learning organizations that make up the Every Learner Everywhere Network (Every Learner), whose mission is to help higher education institutions improve and ensure more equitable student outcomes through advances in digital learning, particularly among poverty-impacted, racially…

The University of the South Pacific is owned by 12 nations in the South Pacific Ocean. The institution provides higher education through its 14 campuses, with at least 1 campus per member country. To be able to overcome the geographical divide and isolation, while ensuring high-quality learning and teaching, the university utilizes Internet,…

The Canadian Remote Sciences Laboratories (CRSL) website (www.remotelab.ca) was successfully employed in a study of the differences in the performance and perceptions of students' about their learning in the laboratory (in-person) versus learning at a remote location (remote access). The experiment was completed both in-person and via remote…

An introductory, nonscience-majors chemistry course was converted to a Web-based course. The differences in student populations, teaching strategies, laboratory methods, and learning outcomes are described. Practical information is also given on the use of software and other online technology to implement course conversion. (Contains 2 tables.)

In this article, we show the implementation of a computer-based digital storage oscilloscope (DSO) and function generator (FG) using the computer's soundcard for off-campus acoustic experiments. The microphone input is used for the DSO, and a speaker jack is used as the FG. In an effort to reduce the cost of implementing the experiment, we examine…

Screen-based microscopes allow for a shared visualisation and task-directed conversations that offer significant pedagogic advantages for the science disciplines involving observation of natural samples such as the geosciences and biosciences, and particularly for distance education in these disciplines. The role and development of a virtual…

The "Learning and Teaching Initiative Grants" scheme has funded about 120 projects with an "eLearning" focus during the past three years. Project leaders from twenty-nine completed 2012/2013 projects were interviewed with an aim of ascertaining innovative ideas that were successful, and unsuccessful, and exploring ways in which…

FisL@bs is a network of remote and virtual laboratories for physics university education via the Internet that offers students the possibility of performing hands-on experiments in different fields of physics in two ways: simulation and real remote operation. This paper gives a detailed account of a novel way in physics in which distance learning…

This paper describes the use of weblabs--web based experiments--for cooperative learning by students working together from two different locations to conduct experiments and write reports.

Distance education has created new challenges with respect to the course evaluation process. This study aimed to determine if the adopted Telecourse Evaluation Questionnaire (TEQ) could be used to effectively evaluate a course developed for multisite distance delivery and taught by a team of instructors. It utilized a pretest and posttest…

Many have argued that interactive 3D virtual environments have great educational potential due to their ability to engage learners in the exploration, construction and manipulation of virtual objects, structures and metaphorical representations of ideas. Although learning benefits have been demonstrated in research settings, and substantial usage…

The present state of information communication technology makes it possible to devise and run computer-based e-laboratories accessible to any user with a connection to the Internet, equipped with very simple technical means and making full use of web services. Thus, the way is open for a new strategy of physics education with strongly global…

For distance-education students, the requirement for a laboratory course can present a significant hurdle to completing degree requirements. To better serve these nontraditional students, the authors developed a distance version of the laboratory course to provide a hands-on experience similar to that of on-campus students. In order to make the…

The topic of inquiry is explored in an online freshman level introductory biology course for non-majors. The research took place in a distance learning program at a small community college in the Southeast. Students in the course were required to complete an extended guided inquiry in their homes and to communicate about their work by way of the…