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Cooperative Weblab: A Tool for Cooperative Learning in Chemical Engineering in a Global Environment

2009; Elsevier BV; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s1570-7946(09)70747-3

2543-1331

G. Roux, Giann Braune Reis, Charles D.F. Jesus, Roberto C. Giordano, Antonio José Gonçalves Cruz, Paulo F. Moreira, Cláudio Augusto Oller do Nascimento, Luiz Valcov Loureiro,

Advanced MEMS and NEMS Technologies

Weblabs are defined as a set of web-based physical laboratories that allows remote access and control in real time. Since the last decade, Weblabs are being more and more employed in many educational institutions around the world. In São Paulo state (Brazil) a “Cluster of Weblabs in Chemical and Biochemical Process Engineering” was implemented. This project has received a grant from FAPESP (State of São Paulo Research Agency). The experimental setups are physically placed in laboratories in São Paulo, São Carlos, Ribeirão Preto and Campinas, that are up to 250 km apart. This paper presents the implementation of two Cooperative Weblab (CW) experiments. The main concept behind the CW is to develop a set of experiments for undergraduate students that should be performed by “mixed teams” located in different institutions at the same time. Collaboration is achieved by gathering participants into working groups that are asked to simultaneously solve a technical problem, for which a weblab experiment is available. This procedure emulates challenges that will frequently take place in their future professional lives. Each group is supervised by a local instructor. Video conference software is used along the experiments (the institutions are connected through a high speed network, named KyaTera). All long the experiments, the students are encouraged to interact, exchange information and opinions on the phenomena that take place during the experimental practice. At the end of the session, the data collected are shared by the students and they produce a unique report for both groups. The use of this approach fosters interest in students. It is clear that the CW offer real benefits to chemical engineering education. It is now necessary to spread the dimension of the cluster and to increase the interaction with groups from other countries.