Abstract:

This paper describes an educative innovation project consisting of the development of a virtual laboratory through a web platform, to assist students e-learning. The main objective of the project is to enable students’ access to the most widely used methods of ergonomic evaluation, methods that are often applied by ergonomists.
In addition, the theoretical information is completed with cases of study that will serve as examples of how to apply the methods.
As a result, theory and practice are presented within the same framework.
The virtual laboratory provides students with a practice and consultation tool extended beyond the formal scope, (classroom and laboratory), and it supports the study of Ergonomics in a more accessible environment, the Internet.
In the platform online students will have, first of all, an introduction to the methods of ergonomic evaluation, an introduction to the muscle-skeletal disorders and the main risk factors related to these.
Subsequently, for each method of evaluation presented, students will have access to: the theoretical basis of the method, the procedure to follow, a solved exercise, a proposed exercise (including the solution) and a self-evaluation questionnaire. Moreover, ergonomic community forums have been developed to solve students’ questions about Ergonomics, as well as about the functioning of the platform.
The virtual laboratory provides students with an interesting tool that will allow them the e-learning. Furthermore teachers will be motivated to improve the contents and other aspects of the virtual laboratory, in a dynamic way, as the result of the feedback from students.

Keywords:

On-line Platform, virtual laboratoy, ergonomic assessment, e-learning.