2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Engaging University Students in Practical Physics Labs through Motivational Active Learning

Presented at Engineering Physics and Physics Division (EP2D) Technical Session 1

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on student’s motivation to learn. As a result, the in-person laboratory session evolved into a virtual laboratory session. Despite this effort, many students struggled with the Homefront effects, such as communication gaps, digital literacy issues, unfavorable home environments, parental participation, etc. This led to adopting an enhanced motivation strategy to lessen the consequences of the pandemic on students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields of study. As such, several studies used software tools like machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), technology-enabled active learning (TEAL), and lots more to improve students’ motivation. These approaches deter students from acquiring practical skills, which lowers their technical proficiency—a vital skill for STEM students. However, only a few studies have used interactive, hands-on tools to improve student learning in practical Physics labs. Also, the difficulty of undergraduate students to make connections between their theory teachings and their practical exercises, as well as how pertinent these lab sessions are to their everyday lives, has led to the conclusion that physics experiments are highly abstract. This study used low-cost, interactive, code-free, miniature technology to improve students’ practical experiences and report how these experiments are applied in everyday activities. The study involved 50 STEM students registered for the Introduction to Physics laboratory course. According to the students’ feedback and the motivated strategy for learning questionnaires adopted, they were very motivated and had less anxiety with enhanced critical thinking.

Authors

Oluwapemiisin Gbemisola Akingbola http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0995-7020 Morgan State University [biography]

A Graduate Student of Electrical Computer Engineering at Morgan State University. Specialization in smart and connected systems, signal intelligence and network security.
Mr. Pelumi Olaitan Abiodun http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4969-9591 Morgan State University [biography]

Pelumi Abiodun is a current doctoral student and research assistant at the department of Civil Engineering, Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland. Pelumi got his BSc and MSc degree in Physics from Obafemi Awolowo University, where he also served as a research assistant at the Environmental Pollution Research unit, in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. As part of his contribution to science and engineering, Pelumi has taught as a teaching assistant both at Morgan State University and Obafemi Awolowo University. With passion to communicate research findings and gleaned from experts in the field as he advances his career, Olaitan has attended several in-persons and virtual conferences and workshop, and at some of them, made presentation on findings on air pollution, waste water reuse, and heavy metal contamination.
Dr. Oludare Adegbola Owolabi P.E. Morgan State University [biography]

Dr. Oludare Owolabi, a professional engineer in Maryland, joined the Morgan State University faculty in 2010. He is the director of the for sustainable infrastructure development, smart innovation and resilient innovation and the director of undergraduate programs at the department of civil engineering, Morgan State University.
Frank Efe http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5833-9862 Morgan State University
Hannah Abedoh Morgan State University [biography]

Hannah Abedoh is a highly motivated doctoral student in Business Management, specializing in Information Science and Systems. She is actively engaged in advanced research, focusing on the impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence on learning.

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