The project team developed and assessed the use of a virtual laboratory for (1) eliciting engineering epistemic practices not easily accomplished with in-person university laboratories and (2) increasing the accessibility of laboratory content for students studying in online environments. A virtual laboratory was developed based on a physical lab (jar testing) common in most undergraduate and graduate environmental engineering programs.
The team partnered with Oregon State University instructors to deliver both the physical and virtual versions of the jar testing laboratory, comparing student motivation, epistemic practices, and development of engineering identity through surveys and discourse analysis of video-recorded observations of the team.