Development, Implementation, and Preliminary Assessment of Virtual Laboratory

An interactive, multimedia-based set of computer modules has been created for use in Probability and Statistics for Civil Engineers—an undergraduate course. The modules comprise a new laboratory that was implemented for the first time during the Fall 1997 semester. To determine the effectiveness of the new laboratory, evaluation forms, direct observations of students' activities and behaviors, transcriptions from interviews with six students, and class grades were collected throughout the semester. Preliminary assessment of the data collected thus far indicates five main lessons about the implementation and effectiveness of the new laboratory: (1) implementation logistics can get in the way of learning; (2) the control group negatively impacted the evaluation process; (3) students' final course grades were not influenced by the laboratory, but their attitudes were; (4) the amount of effort put into the laboratory by the students affects how much students benefit from the lab; and (5) the laboratory helped bridge the gap between the classroom and the real world.