1.

INTRODUCTION

Currently there is a growing tendency to introduce information and communication technologies (ICT) in the teaching and learning processes of students, not only on the conceptual contents of the various teaching subjects, but also on the procedural content. This is due to the large amount of didactic materials that can be made using ICT. Among these materials, it stands out the great interest in the use of virtual laboratories, especially in scientific fields, since the importance of the acquisition of skills by students is more necessary in science subjects, such as physics in general or optics in particular. That is, laboratory practices are an essential educational resource in teaching experimental and technical disciplines, and they allow students to check their degree of assimilation of the theoretical contents. However, sometimes practice subjects carry some degree of difficulty for students in terms of understanding the experience. These difficulties can be referred either to the theoretical foundation of laboratory practices, the procedure or how to use the required equipment. Moreover, for different reasons real laboratories may not always be available to students, which imposes restrictions on student learning when developing the procedural content of the subjects. Another factor that may limit the use of real laboratories is the schedule, as the laboratory may not always be free for them to use. From this point of view, the tools available today can be used to improve accessibility to the experimental part of the subjects by creating virtual laboratory practices [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].

In a previous work [7], our research group highlights the advantages of ICT instructional videos as tools to facilitate meaningful learning in our students, and stressed that the introduction of ICT in the teaching of experimental science is one of the most interesting stages of current teaching. This involves, for example, the introduction of new virtual platforms such as e-learning, m-learning and b-learning, with innovative teaching resources that promote meaningful learning in students. If we make an analysis of the tools related to virtual or remote laboratories, we find many resources in recent literature [8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14].

Following this line of research, and based on some of our previous results [15, 16], in this work we have focused on the design, creation and implementation of teaching materials that motivate the student and promote constructivist learning when performing Photonics laboratory practices. These materials have brought together the science, such as the scientific content of Photonics, with the use of techniques of generation and transfer of knowledge through the selection, hierarchization and structuring of information using concept maps. Concept maps are diagrams that represent organized knowledge. The theoretical foundation for concept maps relies on Ausubel’s Assimilation Theory [17], and Novak’s Theory of Learning [18]. A concept map consists of a graphical representation of a set of propositions about a topic, and every concept map answers to a focus question that clearly identifies the issue the concept map should help to resolve [19]. Our research group has applied concept maps as a teaching methodology in our assigned courses, in order to promote meaningful learning, and to enhance different learning strategies that transform information about the contents of a subject in knowledge [20]. In line with this approach, it has been shown [19] the statistically significant increase of learning obtained after the use by students of knowledge models based on concept maps. It has been validated that concept maps are very powerful educational tools to help students learn how to learn, when working with conceptual contents. Moreover, concept maps can be useful when working with procedural content, by creating laboratory practices procedural models based on concept maps [21]. These procedural models provide students new educational materials that allow learning to proceed, and conducting laboratory experiments both on real and virtual environments.

In this work, we propose the connection between concept maps, as base elements of procedural models, and instructional laboratory videos to study Photonics related content. Specifically, we have selected the contents of the Photonics practices to perform, and we have implemented training videos as base tools for the design and creation of a virtual laboratory, in order to facilitate students their training prior to the completion of the actual laboratory practices, or even substituting them in virtual learning platforms such as e-learning, b-learning or m-learning.

2.

METHODOLOGY

3.

RESULTS

The virtual laboratory developed in this work consists of 16 instructional videos on:

Figure 1 shows some screenshots of the instructional videos made.

Figure 1.

Screenshots of some instructional videos of the virtual laboratory

In order to draw conclusions that serve as a reference for its application in the teaching and learning processes, and to comprehensively validate the work carried out, we show the results obtained with the pilot course. Our goal is to later implement a new corrected version of the virtual laboratory for quantitative validation in the 2013/2014 academic year.

The results obtained from the evaluation forms can be summarized as follows: First, the assessment of the functional aspects by the students in the pilot group has been, overall, very positive. Most of the rated aspects in the form are in the range of “Above average” or “Excellent” quality on the Likert scale. If we make a more specific analysis, the items in this section that have better assessment are those corresponding to the quality of the instructional videos and the quality of the concept map procedural model. These items have been rated as “Excellent” by 52.3% of students (instructional videos), and 42.8% of students (procedural models). The item that scored worst is corresponding to the indicator measuring the “accessibility”. This could be improved in a future set-up of virtual laboratory.

Concerning the results of the evaluation of the didactic aspects measured in the second section of the evaluation form, we can note that they have been positive. We may highlight, as an example for analysis, two of the items where the student was asked about whether the instructional videos produced could be a supplement for the real laboratory, or even a replacement for it. Thus, 47.6% believe that these didactic materials are “Excellent” as support material for the laboratory. However, only 19% considered an “Excellent” idea using these materials to replace actual practice. The highest score for this item (33.3%) was in the “Average” rank. Given these results, it is clear that the main idea is not to replace the traditional practice laboratory, but rather supplement it with the use of the virtual laboratory. However, in the case of distance learning processes through e-learning platforms, where it is not possible to have a real laboratory available, the designed and developed instructional videos can be a fine substitute for the actual experience, and provide students with the same contents achieved in actual practices.

Regarding the assessment of the effectiveness of the developed procedural models, we conducted a quantitative estimation of the value of the concept maps made by the students in the pilot group. To carry out this assessment, we used Novak’s method [18]. The score in each of the maps made by the students was compared with values obtained from the guide procedural model made by the teacher. Thus, it was possible to quantify the degree of knowledge that the student had about the proper procedure for the successful completion of the practice. This quantification of the acquired knowledge was obtained from hierarchies, valid relationships, valid and meaningful cross-associations, and examples provided by the students in their procedural models. The scores on the maps have revealed that the integration of these didactic materials in the laboratories leads students to a better understanding of the procedure that takes place in virtual practices.

4.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, the results of this research have shown that virtual laboratories created incorporating instructional videos have offered us a useful tool to promote constructivist learning, designed to foster conceptual change by performing virtual practices, organized and sequenced for students to reflect on the information and content they receive. The instructional videos are a virtual guide to the experiment to be performed, which is an advantage for simultaneously carrying out practices when there is little laboratory equipment.

We believe that presenting various formats of audio-visual materials to complement the traditional manual of the practice laboratory may provide students with a better use, since they contain both the theoretical foundation and the development of the practice. In addition, video can add value on a class or a conventional laboratory session. For example, it provides access to experiences and it shows in detail the procedure for performing them. As for the procedural models used, concept maps have helped the students in the process of acquisition of conceptual and procedural content in an organized, sequenced, hierarchical and inclusive way. These procedural models help learning how to proceed in the practices. This virtual laboratory does not encourage the disappearance of the real laboratory, but the integration of both in our teaching practice.