The MARVEL EU project: A social constructivist approach to remote experimentation

Abstract

The work presented in this paper proposes a conceptual model where remote experimentation is envisaged as a tool to achieve instructional objectives via social constructivist learning methods. The conceptual model described considers remote experiments as embedded activities in an e-learning framework that integrates the necessary tools to support the acquisition of theoretical concepts, synchronous communication via video-conferencing, interface panels to the equipments available in the remote workbench, and the necessary management tools to support this architecture. Each remote experiment is perceived by the students as a broader activity (called workshop activity) that enables them to achieve pre-defined learning goals, where collaborative actions and peer-review activities are at the basis of the underlying social constructivist learning model. The outcome of these activities is itself a learning object that provides evidence that the learning goals were achieved.