The Role of Online and Traditional Laboratories in the Context of Modern Engineering Curricula

Teaching laboratories play an essential role in engineering and science education. The role of online and traditional laboratories in delivering a conventional engineering curriculum is well understood. Learning outcomes that students can achieve undertaking laboratories have been clearly articulated. Partly driven by changes and technology, demands by industry and changing expectations by society, contemporary engineering education is shifting from traditional teacher-focused content-driven paradigms to student-driven programs that focus on professional and twenty-first-century skills. Project-based learning, among other learning activities, replaces lectures and tutorials. This raises the question of what role online and traditional laboratories play in the context of modern engineering curricula. This study compares and contrasts frameworks that capture laboratory and project-based learning to answer this question. The analysis at this high level concludes that many of the learning outcomes that have been traditionally addressed by teaching laboratory sessions are now covered by project-based and other activities. Laboratory learning activities are only required for niche skills and applications. Further work is required to make more specific conclusion about individual learning objectives. This study is a starting point to prompt further investigations.