Abstract
Over the years, conventional Laboratories in African Universities have been hampered by inadequate resources in terms of the required hardware, space and skilled personnel to administer them. This paper describes a multi-dimensional approach to experimentation, developed by the Makerere University iLabs Project Team, hereafter referred to as iLABS@MAK. The two dimensional approach involves both Virtual Labs and Online Laboratories designed to address laboratory deficiencies in Digital Electronics, encompassing five courses in the curricula of the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) in Computer, Electrical and Telecommunication Engineering Programs. A digital Online Laboratory, the Makerere University Digital iLab (MDEi) supporting experiments in the fields of combinational logic circuits and asynchronous sequential logic circuits has been developed. The laboratory utilizes the National Instruments Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite (NI ELVIS IIâ?¢) platform, the Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench (LabVIEW) graphical programming environment and NI Multisim. Typical experiment setups supported by the MDEi are presented
Highlights
The role of experimentation in technical education cannot be overemphasized
The effectiveness of conventional laboratories in several African Universities is inhibited by inadequate infrastructure, including unmatched equipment vis-à-vis the user community, and in many cases the infrastructure being obsolete
An Online Laboratory on the other hand involves the use of physical hardware the experiment data is real while the laboratory experience is simulated
Summary
The role of experimentation in technical education cannot be overemphasized. The laboratory experience adds a dimension that allows students to appreciate theoretical concepts and gain valuable career skills. An Online Laboratory on the other hand involves the use of physical hardware the experiment data is real while the laboratory experience is simulated This approach provides an opportunity to address the planning and logistics challenges associated with inadequately furnished conventional laboratories. The ISA is a web service infrastructure that supports access to a wide variety of online laboratories [3] It consists of three software tiers: the Labserver, which provides a physical connection to the laboratory hardware, the Client (user interface) and the Service Broker which mediates communication between the Labserver and Client, and provides generic services like user registration and authentication. On the ISA platform, an Online Laboratory supporting Digital Electronics courses for the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) Programmes in Computer, Electrical and Telecommunications Engineering has been developed by researchers at MAK. Finite State Machines, Programmable Logic Devices Multiplexers, Demultiplexers and other MSI Circuits, ADC, DAC, Multivibrators, Counters, Shift Registers, State Machine, Memory
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