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The present study aimed to investigate the implementation status of laboratory-based courses in engineering disciplines. The research employed a survey method. The statistical population consisted of all undergraduate students and graduates engineering fields up to the year 2023 at Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University. The total population was 5,321 individuals, from which a sample of 357 was selected. Systematic random sampling was used to determine the sample size. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. The face and content validity of the questionnaire were confirmed by five educational experts holding PhD degrees. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, which was estimated at 0.781 for the entire questionnaire. In addition to descriptive statistics, one-sample t-test and Friedman test were used to analyze the data and answer the research questions. The findings indicated that the implementation status of laboratory courses across six key components: Objectives, content, materials and facilities, activities and methods, learning time, and educational space, was above average. Furthermore, the Friedman test results revealed that the content dimension had the highest mean rank, followed by activities and methods, while the objectives component ranked last.

This study examines the motivational changes of undergraduate students participating in a practical course designed to address the challenge of aligning academic training with industry needs. The study spanned two iterations of the course. During the first iteration, qualitative interviews were conducted to assess changes in student motivation throughout the practical course. In the second iteration, a motivation questionnaire was administered at three points: before, during, and after course completion. The results indicate a general decrease in student motivation during the course, followed by a partial recovery towards the end. This fluctuation highlights the need for continuous support and realistic feedback to maintain student engagement and motivation. This study contributes to the expanding body of research on how practical, industry-focused courses influence student motivation. By incorporating real-world contexts and challenges, this type of course can greatly enrich learning experiences and better prepare students for professional settings. However, one should carefully design these courses and implement effective mechanisms to maintain and foster student motivation throughout the course duration.

Practical-course blended learning based on virtual reality (VR) technology combines VR with traditional practical teaching, which provides students with a more diverse and personalized learning experience. The existing evaluation and analysis methods of teaching model implementation effects have shortcomings. Although VR technology plays an important role in practical-course blended learning, excessive reliance on technical means may lead to limitations in evaluation methods. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the evaluation and analysis of implementation effects of VR-based practical-course blended learning. Different types of teaching models were represented. A robust multi-target collaborative tracking method based on variational Bayesian inference was applied to track and evaluate the implementation effects of practical-course blended learning. The experimental results verified the effectiveness of the proposed method and explored the impact of different teaching models on the average scores and score stability of evaluation methods. Analysis results of score data showed that the assisted-teaching model improved the homework performance of students and the blended-learning model improved the performance of students in tests and final exams, while the complete teaching model performed more balanced in all aspects.

Practical courses are an important part of the training program for professional talents, and the introduction of thinking and politics education in practical courses is an important direction of the teaching reform of practical courses at the present stage, as well as the need to cultivate students’ comprehensive quality. This paper discusses the current problems of the teaching of practical courses, the positive significance of integrating the elements of thinking and politics into the teaching of practical courses and the principles of integration, and takes “Electronic Engineering Training 1” as the entry point to discuss the ways of integrating the elements of thinking and politics into the teaching of practical courses.

Background The study explores an innovative teaching mode that integrates Icourse, DingTalk, and online experimental simulation platforms to provide online theoretical and experimental resources for clinical biochemistry practical courses. These platforms, combined with flipped classroom teaching, aim to increase student engagement and benefit in practical courses, ultimately improving the effectiveness of clinical biochemistry practical teaching. Methods In a prospective cohort study, we examined the impact of integrating the Icourse and DingTalk platforms to provide theoretical knowledge resources and clinical cases to 48 medical laboratory science students from the 2019 and 2020 grades. Students were assigned to the experimental group using an overall sampling method, and had access to relevant videos through Icourse before and during class. Using a flipped classroom approach, students actively participated in the design, analysis, and discussion of the experimental technique. For the experimental operation part, students participated in virtual simulation experiments and actual experiments. Overall, the study aimed to evaluate students’ theoretical and operational performance after completing the practical course. To collect feedback, we distributed a questionnaire to students in the experimental group. For comparison, we included 42 students from the grades of 2017 and 2018 who received traditional instruction and were evaluated using standard textbooks as the control group. Results The experimental group scored significantly higher than the control group on both the theoretical and experimental operational tests (82.45 ± 3.76 vs. 76.36 ± 3.96, P = 0.0126; 92.03 ± 1.62 vs. 81.67 ± 4.19, P < 0.001). The survey revealed that the experimental group preferred the teaching mode that combined the flipped classroom with the virtual simulation platform. This mixed method effectively promoted understanding of basic knowledge (93.8%, 45/48), operative skills (89.6%, 43/48), learning interest (87.5%, 42/48), clinical thinking (85.4%, 41/48), self-learning ability (91.7%, 44/48), and overall satisfaction compared with traditional methods (P < 0.05). This study demonstrates that an innovative teaching approach significantly improves the quality of clinical biochemistry practical courses and promotes students’ professional development and self-directed learning habits. Conclusion Incorporating virtual simulation with flipped classrooms into clinical biochemistry practical teaching is an efficient and well-received alternative to traditional methods.

Background: The restrictions concerning social contact due to the COVID-19 pandemic implied a rethinking of teaching methods at universities in general, and for practice-oriented teaching such as dental education in particular. This qualitative study aimed to assess aspects of feelings of certainty and uncertainty during this specific education process, incorporating the perspectives of teaching staff and dental students. Methods: Qualitative methods based on interviews were used for data collection. Dental students from different academic years (second, third, fourth, and fifth) and teaching staff responsible for the content and implementation of courses within the dental curriculum were recruited. The data analysis was performed by qualitative content analysis. Results: A total of 39 dental students and 19 teaching staff participated. When students and staff dealt positively with this specific situation, certainty was achieved. The availability of presentations and clear communication enhanced feelings of certainty. The participants often felt unsure about how to handle such a challenging situation and felt insecure when planning for the semester. The students missed contact with other students and argued that the information policy on their dental studies was not transparent enough. In addition, dental students and teaching staff were nervous about the risk of infection from COVID-19, especially in practical courses with patient contact. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic situation leads to a rethinking of dental education. Feelings of certainty can be strengthened by clear and transparent communication as well as training in online teaching methods. To reduce uncertainty, it is crucial to establish channels for information exchange and feedback.

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has prompted schools and universities to shift their teaching to virtual classrooms from one day to the other. As a unique example, we had to virtualize the second half of a two-semester course on human-centered innovation, which heavily relies on direct interaction with and among students in small groups. In going virtual, we found adapting assignments to be only the tip of the iceberg. Despite being familiar with the students, we faced challenges in preserving high levels of creative interaction and in surveying team morale and status. Reflecting on our experiences, we detail solutions related to the lack of creative interaction by fostering off-topic chit-chat and surveying team morale by introducing more explicit communication and seeking team consent. To help teachers adapt to virtual teaching, we discuss how our mitigation approaches, which we developed in an extreme setting that required close, creative collaboration, may apply to virtual teaching in general.

Background The coronavirus pandemic led to a lockdown of public life. For universities, this meant suspensions or corresponding adaptations of practical courses. In Germany, Kiel Dental Clinic received special permission to start practical courses under appropriate hygiene conditions. The study aimed at recording the experiences and associated challenges of course implementation under the special regulations from the perspective of students and teachers. Methods Qualitative guided interviews were conducted with students and teachers at Kiel in the summer semester 2020. Students (4th, 6th, 8th, 10th semesters) were recruited and lecturers responsible for conducting the practical courses within the dental clinic’s four departments. Evaluation was carried out by means of qualitative content analysis, whereby deductive procedures were supplemented by inductive ones. Results Thirty-nine students and 19 lecturers took part. The flow of information at the start of the course was welcomed by students and teachers across the board. The lack of or limited adjustment to the scope tended to be assessed positively by students. The majority of both groups suspected there had been no reduction in learning, and learning had been improved due to the smaller group sizes. Regarding the necessary conditions for conducting the course, positive and negative aspects became apparent. Conclusion Students and teachers felt very relief to start the practical courses under special conditions although the implementation was very challenging for both groups. The structural and content-related course adaptations required a high degree of flexibility on the part of students and lecturers alike, but also meant that courses were able to be conducted without serious deficits in learning gains.

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed unprecedented hurdles on health care systems and medical faculties alike. Lecturers of practical courses at medical schools have been confronted with the challenge of transferring knowledge remotely. We sought to evaluate the effects of a web-based medical microbiology course on learning outcomes and student perceptions. During the summer term of 2020, medical students at Saarland University, Germany, participated in a web-based medical microbiology course. Teaching content comprised clinical scenarios, theoretical knowledge, and instructive videos on microbiological techniques. Test performance, failure rate, and student evaluations, which included open-response items, for the web-based course were compared to those of the on-site course from the summer term of 2019. Student performance was comparable between both the online-only group and the on-site comparator for both the written exam (n=100 and n=131, respectively; average grade: mean 7.6, SD 1.7 vs mean 7.3, SD 1.8; P=.20) and the oral exam (n=86 and n=139, respectively; average grade: mean 33.6, SD 4.9 vs mean 33.4, SD 4.8; P=.78). Failure rate did not significantly differ between the online-only group and the comparator group (2/84, 2.4% vs 4/120, 3.3%). While lecturer expertise was rated similarly as high by students in both groups (mean 1.47, SD 0.62 vs mean 1.27, SD 0.55; P=.08), students who took the web-based course provided lower scores for interdisciplinarity (mean 1.7, SD 0.73 vs mean 2.53, SD 1.19; P<.001), opportunities for interaction (mean 1.46, SD 0.67 vs mean 2.91, SD 1.03; P<.001), and the extent to which the educational objectives were defined (mean 1.61, SD 0.76 vs mean 3.41, SD 0.95; P<.001). Main critiques formulated within the open-response items concerned organizational deficits. Web-based courses in medical microbiology are a feasible teaching option, especially in the setting of a pandemic, leading to similar test performances in comparison to on-site courses. The lack of interaction and the sustainability of acquired manual skills warrant further research.

Background Curriculum design and specific topic selection for on-site practical courses in clinical disciplines with limited teaching time is challenging. An electronic learning supported curriculum based on the flipped classroom principle has a high potential to effectively gain knowledge and education along with improving practical experience. Here, we demonstrate the introduction of a flipped classroom curriculum for practical courses in Otorhinolaryngology (ORL) in real world practice to improve the on-site time management and students’ experience. Methods Educational aims of our practical curriculum were analysed and rearranged into a flipped classroom (FC) framework. Core knowledge was taught preliminary based on a moodle platform in predominantly interactive formats. Two quasi-randomized groups were formed with 212 participants either receiving or not receiving access to the e-learning program to reduce a potential allocation bias to the e-learning group. All students completed a questionnaire with learning related items. Focusing the study on the intervention group, we investigated if students using the flipped classroom more often felt better prepared for the practical course. Results The online learning platform was highly accepted and frequently used by 66% of participating students in the e-learning group. Students with frequent use of our e-learning platform significantly felt better prepared for the practical course ( p  = 0.001). The far majority of all students supports the idea of further development of e-learning. More than 70% were generally interested in ORL. Handouts were the overall most important learning resource and more than 50% relied solely on them. Conclusions Flipped classroom curricula can save time and help improving the on-site experience in practical courses especially in smaller surgical disciplines. The acceptance of digital learning is high, and most students rely on handouts for learning ORL, emphasizing the need for guidance by the teacher e.g. through electronic learning. Our results underline the high potential of FC to address teaching challenges for smaller medical disciplines with limited teaching time like ORL.