Improving Teaching–Learning Process in MIL-STD-1553B Bus Classes Using a New Hybrid Web-Lab Methodology

Abstract

This article describes the implementation of a remote access experiment, called Web-lab 1553B (Digital Data Bus Lab), for courses in the Avionics Systems Program. Its main objective is to present a study about the use of two rotation model subgroups: 1) rotation laboratory and 2) station rotation. In the “rotation laboratory” subgroup, the teacher does not need to leave the classroom, once the access (rotation) to the lab is done remotely and not physically. On the other hand, in the “station rotation” subgroup, rotation is performed by changing the experiment functions, and thus students not having to physically change stations. This article shows some preliminary results, which demonstrate that the application of the aforementioned methods not only increases the teaching-learning process effectiveness (quantitative results) but also improves student satisfaction (qualitative results) and motivation. Two comparative tests were carried out to quantitatively verify the impact on the student's accomplishment: Test 1, following the theory class, and Test 2, following the demo class and lab practice, using the Web-lab 1553B. Results show an average increase of 27.69% in the student grades. Considering qualitative assessments, students' rates for the Web-lab 1553B method showed that 81.25% of the questions achieved rate “5” (top level), demonstrating that Web-lab meets the desired needs. These assessments serve as data sources for the validation of the hybrid teaching models, concerning classes and laboratory practices, as proposed, showing a high potential for practical implementation in different levels of education institutions.