Work in progress - video-based lab tutorials in an undergraduate Electrical Circuit course

The Electrical Engineering curriculum is often coupled with extensive laboratory practice. The primary objectives of these laboratory experiences are to develop measurement and testing skills, draw relationships between classroom theory and real world applications and increase students' interest in the practice of the engineering profession. Traditionally, laboratory exercises that instruct students on the operation of instruments and basic measurement techniques are presented in a written format. For a novice student unfamiliar with the equipment, these written instructions can be confusing and frustrating. In this project, we are creating a Web-based repository of video tutorials for electrical circuit laboratory exercises in a sophomore-level Introduction to Electrical Circuits class. We will study the effectiveness of the video-based lab tutorials on improving students' lab skills. In addition, this study will examine the students' preference between the video-based lab tutorials and text-based lab tutorials.