Virtual Labs for Electronics Engineering using Cloud Computing

Debabrata Bagchi1, Kapil Kaushik

1, and Bhanu Kapoor

2

Sparsha Learning Technologies, Bangalore, India (1), and Dallas, TX (2)

E-mail: bkapoor@sparsha-learning.com

Abstract Online learning is fast becoming a preferred medium of

learning. It is estimated that 6 million college students took

at least one online course last year. Online learning in

technical education is primarily delivered through pre-

recorded videos.

We will discuss a virtual learning system in the context

of electronics engineering education. This learning system

models the circuits as well as the instruments that are

typically used in the labs to allow students to carry out the

experiments in a virtual environment. We have extended the

concept further to allow students to carry out the

experiments on the web-browsers and devices of their

choice. The simulations themselves are carried out utilizing

cloud computing infrastructure such as those provided by

Amazon and Microsoft while the use focuses on putting the

experiments.

Keywords Learning Environments, Tools, eLearning, e-Assessment,

Online Education, Virtual Labs

1. Introduction

One of the key challenges in online electronics

engineering education is related to the use of hands-on labs

that are essential for effective education in this area. Hands-

on laboratories are the oldest and most widespread form of

laboratory education. Hands-on labs have been used

generally for demonstrating how theory can be applied in

practice and for the acquisition of haptic skills, design skills,

and instrumentation skills. Hands-on labs are usually taught

as one single demonstration due to economical and logistical

reasons. However, it has been observed that forming and

understanding concepts require more than one single

demonstration. Despite their constraints, hands-on

laboratories promote the most important aim of using

laboratories - that is the realism.

Online learning is fast becoming a preferred medium of

learning. It is estimated that 6 million college students took

at least one online course last year. Online learning in

technical education is primarily delivered through pre-

recorded videos. While research has shown that these types

of videos may be positively received by students and they

feel like they are learning and become more confident in

their answers, but what is critically lacking is an ability to

practice and get real time feedback on the practice outcomes.

Practice alone provides ability for the learner to achieve

higher cognitive abilities in a specific subject.

Last year at this conference, we presented a concept of

virtual learning system [1] in the context of electronics

engineering education. This learning system models the

circuits as well as the instruments that are typically used in

the labs to allow students to carry out the experiments in a

virtual environment. We have extended the concept further

to allow students to carry out the experiments on the web-

browsers and devices of their choice. The simulations

themselves are carried out utilizing cloud computing

infrastructure such as those provided by Amazon and

Microsoft while the use focuses on putting the experiments.

We are underscoring the importance of practice in the

learning process.

The definition of practice differs from course to course

and is very contextual. For example in a programming

course, practice is all about doing smart coding assignments,

in an EE course, it could be about analyzing and designing

circuits. We present - DoCircuits [2] - the first web-based

circuit simulator which can be customized and integrated for

provide practice to EE courses. DoCircuits is completely

web-based, which not only means it’s cross-platform

(Windows/Mac/Linux) and requires no installation or plug-

ins, but also means that all the circuits you choose to can be

shared by just copy & pasting a URL.

In addition to being a great tool for learning and

experimenting, DoCircuits can also help you answer

everyday questions that come up when building circuits to

help the learner learn by exploration and feedback.

DoCircuits can be integrated with an LMS to provide

seamless integration with existing course delivery

mechanisms. An instructor can create practice assignments

and share them with his/her students. Using such practice

based platforms enables students to learn more effectively

and acquire the higher learning outcomes as required by a

course.

We will discuss effective use of virtual electronics labs in

various courses at various universities using the DoCircuits

platform [2] [Figure 1] for electronics education. All

components used in a typical lab including the measuring

instruments have been modeled in the tool to provide

learning experience that goes beyond what can be

experienced with hands-on labs.

All of this happens along with effective visualization of

results [Figure 2] that is integrated with the tool. The

framework itself is cloud-enabled so that the tool can be

accessed from any place including using mobile devices. It

can be used as an effective tool to complement hands-on labs

that may exist at universities and also as an effective aid to

the teacher. Most importantly, students can play with these

labs as and when they want it.

Figure 1: Web-browser platform for the DoCircuits labs

Figure 2: Visualization of results using the DoCircuits tool

We will discuss effective use of virtual electronics labs in

the cloud at some leading universities using the Sparsha

learning framework [2, 3] for electronics education. All

components used in a typical lab including the measuring

instruments have been modeled in the tool to provide

learning experience that goes beyond what can be

experienced with hands-on labs.

2. Assessment and Feedback

All of this happens along with effective assessment that is

integrated with the tool and customized to the needs of a

particular university. The framework itself is cloud-enabled

so that the tool can access from any place including using

mobile devices. However, it can also be used as an effective

tool to complement hands-on labs that may exist at

universities and also as an effective aid to the teacher.

Docircuits can also be used by teachers for delivering

online homework assignments in EE courses. To look at a

use case, let’s understand two important features in

DoCircuits: First, an ability to share circuits, and second an

ability to share results. For sharing the circuit, once the

student has created a circuit, she can share it by clicking on

the share button as in Figure 3.

Once a circuit is shared, the circuit is available

publicly or privately in a single URL. Sharing the URL with

the teacher in an Email, Tweet, or a Facebook post will

enable the teacher to get a simple and quick access to the

circuit the student has created. If you have completed

simulations, you can also share the result along with the

circuit in the same URL by just clicking on ‘Capture Output’

while you are sharing the circuit. This will redirect the

control to the plotter output where, after setting which output

to plot, the user can capture the screen image for sharing.

The final URL will have both the circuit and the result as

shown in Figure 4.

Figure 3: Share Button for sharing experiments & results

Figure 4: Sharing Circuit and Result URL

This has some advantages for a teacher using

Docircuits for online homework assignments. Not only does

the delivery of assignments from a student to a teacher is

automated but the result capture helps a teacher or a TA to

immediately check if the circuit constructed is correct. This

reduces effort for the teacher in validating the circuit.

3. Future Work

As part of future work, we are making the process

of choosing and creating custom lab experiments and

homework assignments easier for the teacher by providing

them with access to a large bank of circuits. We are also

working on ways in which the teacher can communicate the

correct circuit back to the student to add another way of

learning for the student. We are also working on providing

the teacher certain lab analytics, using which the teacher can

effectively measure the proficiency and effectiveness of the

lab for each and every student and the class.

4. References

[1] D. Bagchi, K. Kaushik, and B. Kapoor, Virtual

Learning System in Electronics Engineering Education,

Santa Clara, CA, IEDEC 2012.

[2] Virtual Labs to Acquire Real Skills,

http://www.docircuits.com/

[3] Sparsha Learning Technologies, http://www.sparsha-

learning.com/

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