National HE STEM ProgrammeLondon & South East SpokeiSolutions/Room 5037 Building 2University of Southampton, Highfield Campus, SO17 1BJ0238 059 2601 / 0238 059 8219hestem@soton.ac.uk www.soton.ac.uk/hestem

COMMISSIONING VIRTUAL EXPERIMENTS INTHE UNDERGRADUATE LABORATORY

Ground breaking Science interaction

WHAT IS A VIRTUAL EXPERIMENT?

A Virtual Experiment or VE is a highly interactive web application. Unlike a simulation a VE does not usually model any part of the experiment; but is an interface to a set of pre-recorded experimental states derived from the original experiment. The users are given the tools to access the apparatus via the screen (mouse, pad or touch screen) and record the results themselves.

VEs can be embedded on most web pages or within a VLE such as Blackboard or Moodle. Alternatively VEs can be used offline on an intranet, USB drives or CDs. This flexibility allows for a large range of deployments to meet the needs of the users, whether they are students or professionals looking to up-skill. The only technical requirement is that users systems have the Flash player installed.

ARE THERE ANY EXAMPLES OF VIRTUAL EXPERIMENTS?

The Virtual Experiment team has experience developing over 20 unique VEs including:

Transpiration in plants:

http://www.reading.ac.uk/virtualexperiments/ves/preloader-transpiration.html

Measuring Crosslinking in Resin:

http://www.reading.ac.uk/virtualexperiments/ves/preloader-resin.html

Electrons and Semi-conductors:

http://www.edshare.soton.ac.uk/6589/1/preloader-diode.html

More can be found here:

http://ve.soton.ac.uk/ves.html

The team has experience making VEs for school level (Key Stage 3) and above including undergraduate and professional development level.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF VIRTUAL EXPERIMENT?

Virtual Experiments are ideal for complementing or supplementing laboratory practical sessions. They can be used as a stand-alone experience when access to the equipment is limited by time constrains, costs or risk, to introduce processes prior to the lab session or consolidate understanding following a lab session. The VEs can be performed by large numbers of independent users simultaneously without the need for supervision, replacement of costly samples or risking harm to the user or the equipment. A VE can be repeated numerous times if the initial outcomes are unsatisfactory, although the number of permutations recorded is such that users rarely obtain precisely the same result each time if this is characteristic of the original experiment.

Often students perceive the aim of a laboratory session is to enable them to get the apparatus to work and to obtain a set of results. Little thought may be given to the experimental procedure and the reliability of the results obtained. A VE can enable students to consider a range of experimental approaches without the complication of worrying about whether the apparatus will work and can be engineered to require students to look critically at the accuracy of the results obtained in order to make judgements as to the uncertainty in the measurements.

I WOULD LIKE TO COMMISSION A VE FOR MY LABORATORY. WHAT

CONSIDERATIONS NEED TO BE MADE BEFORE DEVELOPMENT CAN START?

A VE is produced from a recording of the experiments, usually as stills, which is then coded so that the user can manipulate the apparatus seen on screen to obtain the required results. Thus VEs aim to capture all possible results or outcomes of the original practical experiment. The number of different views, tools and variables all affect the complexity and development time, therefore these need to be laid out and discussed in depth before development can start. Not all experiments are suitable for delivery as a VE and several factors must be considered before starting development:

Are the variables discrete or continuous? In general discrete variables are easier to work with.

How many variables or states are there in the experiment? Each additional variable multiplies the number of outcomes, significantly increasing development time.

Reliability: Does the experiment reliably provide reproducible results? If not this can cause delays in the recording/capture process as the experiment will have to be repeated multiple times to obtain acceptable results.

Repeatability/Hysteresis. Is the order in which measurements are taken important? Does this affect future measurements? If so then the experiment may be more constrained.

Availability of apparatus. We have a filming studio, but for fixed experiments we can record on location and this may require additional time to complete depending on availability.

WHAT IS INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A VIRTUAL EXPERIMENT?

A typical Virtual Experiment development cycle comprises 5 stages:

Planning Stage

Meetings to discuss designs, complexity, variables and learning outcomes.

Capture Stage

Using professional grade equipment and techniques, the experiment is recorded to digital media ready for editing.

Development Stage

First the captured footage is encoded and prepared, then the Flash object is assembled and the experiment’s behaviour is programmed. The Development stage is normally the longest stage.

Testing Stage

Impact trials and user testing help highlight any weak points and the feedback is used to refine the Virtual Experiment ready for deployment.

Deployment Stage

The Virtual Experiment is packaged up and delivered via the chosen medium.

COSTS AND FUNDING

Costs can vary between £1,000 and £10,000 depending on the complexity of the experiment. If you would like a quote or to discuss commission of a VE get in touch using the details below.

WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION?

Our website can be found at: http://ve.soton.ac.uk Here you will find all the latest Virtual Experiments and news.

Or contact:

Paolo Memoli, Virtual Resources Development Officer

E: p.memoli@soton.ac.uk T: 023 8059 8227 P: highfield campus, building 2, room 5037