Formative Electronic Lab Assessments in the Engineering Laboratory: A Viable Alternative to Weekly Lab Reports,” IEEE Transactions on Education, in-press. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=13

A lab pedagogy interweaving weekly student portfolios with onsite formative Electronic Laboratory Assessments (ELAs) is developed and assessed within the laboratory component of a required core course of the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) undergraduate curriculum. The approach acts to promote student outcomes, and neutralize academic integrity violations, while refocusing instructor and teaching assistant roles towards high-gain instructional activities, such as personalized student tutoring. A mixed-method study evaluated the learning effectiveness and student satisfaction using bi-weekly ELAs versus traditional lab reports in a large-enrollment (N=68) undergraduate computer engineering laboratory course. The results of the evaluation indicate statistically significant effects on both learning outcomes and student satisfaction towards the use of formative assessments in laboratory delivery, which were corroborated by the instructor’s reflections. Students in the Electronic Lab Assessment with Tutoring Enabled Delivery (ELATED) cohort performed better on the post-test and were more satisfied with the lab assessment design and assistance received in lab than those in the Control cohort. The findings offer a promising alternative for ECE and engineering lab instruction that fosters gains in practical skills and content mastery.