Improvement in Laboratory Skills and Knowledge Achieved Through Individual Student Lab Participation

In a fundamental electrical engineering laboratory course, the performance of students in a solo laboratory team organization was contrasted with the performance of students utilizing a multiple student lab team model.The students' performance on the laboratory final practicum exam provided an indicator of their individually acquired knowledge and skills.The student's participation individually in lab resulted in marked improvement in the their ability to learn rudimentary laboratory skills and knowledge and their ability to apply them in basic circuits analysis applications.Several other factors were investigated that could have contributed to this increase in student performance on the final laboratory practicum exam; however, the only factor that significantly and independently contributed to the students' laboratory skills and knowledge base proved to be student level of participation in the laboratory exercises.The results of this study indicated that students must be fully engaged in the fundamental laboratory exercises to thoroughly and properly learn the skill and knowledge required for application to basic circuit analysis.