Enhancing distance learning of science—Impacts of remote labs 2.0 on students' behavioural and cognitive engagement

• Published in: Journal of computer assisted learning Vol. 37; no. 6; pp. 1606 - 1621
• Main Authors: Sung, Shannon H., Li, Chenglu, Huang, Xudong, Xie, Charles
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.12.2021; Wiley; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Cognitive Processes; Curricula; Curriculum Design; design‐based research; Distance Education; Distance learning; engagement; High School Students; inquiry‐based learning; Laboratories; Learner Engagement; Mixed methods research; mixed‐methods; Multiple Regression Analysis; remote labs 2.0; Science Activities; Science Education; Science Teachers; Student Behavior; Students; student‐teacher‐lab interaction; Teachers; Teaching Methods; telepresence; Telepresence systems; virtual/3D environments
• ISSN: 0266-4909; 1365-2729
• DOI: 10.1111/jcal.12600

Background With the increasing popularity of distance education, how to engage students in online inquiry‐based laboratories remains challenging for science teachers. Current remote labs mostly adopt a centralized model with limited flexibility left for teachers' just‐in‐time instruction based on students' real‐time science practices. Objectives The goal of this research is to investigate the impact of a non‐centralized remote lab on students' cognitive and behavioural engagement. Methods A mixed‐methods design was adopted. Participants were the high school students enrolled in two virtual chemistry classes. Remote labs 2.0, branded as Telelab, supports a non‐centralized model of remote inquiry that can enact more interactive hands‐on labs anywhere, anytime. Teleinquiry Instructional Model was used to guide the curriculum design. Students' clickstreams logs and instruction timestamps were analysed and visualized. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine whether engagement levels influence their conceptual learning. Behavioural engagement patterns were corroborated with survey responses. Results and Conclusions We found approximate synchronizations between student–teacher–lab interactions in the heatmap. The guided inquiry enabled by Telelab facilitates real‐time communications between instructors and students. Students' conceptual learning is found to be impacted by varying engagement levels. Students' behavioural engagement patterns can be visualized and fed to instructors to inform learning progress and enact just‐in‐time instruction. Implications Telelab offers a model of remote labs 2.0 that can be easily customized to live stream hands‐on teleinquiry. It enhances engagement and gives participants a sense of telepresence. Providing a customizable teleinquiry curriculum for practitioners may better prepare them to teach inquiry‐based laboratories online. Lay Description What is currently known about the subject matter Engaging students in inquiry‐based laboratories is challenging for science teachers. Remote labs represent good approximations to physical labs and can broaden participation in distance learning. Most remote labs follow a centralized model for users to interact with predefined parameters. Backend logs recording user clickstream provide means to study behavioural engagement. What this paper adds Providing an instructional model to facilitate synchronous student–teacher–lab interactions on remote labs 2.0. Visualizing collective and individual behavioural engagement patterns about the teleinquiry instructional cycles. Disengaged participation during live stream lab is a strong predictor for students' lowered learning gain. We corroborated behavioural engagement patterns with survey responses. Implications of study findings for practitioners Telelab offers a non‐centralized model of remote labs 2.0 that allows users to live stream hands‐on teleinquiry easily. Teleinquiry Instructional Model enhances student–teacher–lab interactions and gives participants a sense of telepresence. Identifying common engagement patterns during teleinquiry activity may be a valuable signal for early intervention. Providing a customizable teleinquiry curriculum for practitioners may better prepare them to teach inquiry‐based laboratories online.