Use of Remote Laboratories for the Development of Critical Thinking of Engineering Students

This chapter evaluates the effect of a teaching strategy that integrates remote laboratory practices on the topic of electrical circuits on the development of critical thinking of engineering students at a state university in Ecuador. Design-based research was used that combines active quantitative and qualitative methodologies in which a teacher and 41 subjects from different engineering careers participated. The teaching strategy that was applied in virtual mode during the COVID-19 pandemic period was redesigned based on the evaluation of a previous intervention. At the beginning and at the end of the application of the teaching strategy, tests were applied to measure the students’ learning achievements and level of development of critical thinking. The results of the test to measure the level of learning achievement revealed that 85% of the students progressed in their knowledge of electrical circuits. Likewise, the capacity for argumentation, formulation of assumptions, interpretation, inference and deduction increased in the students, who, by 81%, raised their level of critical thinking in global terms. The results, which were validated through the Hake and Wilcoxon gain statistical tests, show that the realization of remote laboratory experiences, along with reading, writing, making presentations and participating in debates constitutes a suitable tool to promote the development of critical thinking.