A Critical Perspective of an Online Hands-On Laboratory Framework for Environmental Engineering Courses

Abstract

In environmental engineering education at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, laboratory exercises are a key component for a holistic learning experience. This project gives an outlook of online learning related research and teaching linked to a lab-based learning environment. The advent of the internet and online resources such as weblogs as a major communication methodology in higher education has showed a great deal of interest. In this project a further step into the realm of providing an online support system for student’s access to remote and distributed laboratory facilities in water and environmental engineering modules has been conducted. The approach demonstrates the feasibility of using an online laboratory effectively which can enable learners to reinforce their learning through hands-on practicals and can also be carried out in a flexible environment. An online weblog related the research and interlinked teaching for water and environmental engineering modules which can be implemented in reforming a lecture-based course for students undertaking water and wastewater engineering subjects