Abstract:

Developing and adapting laboratory experiments and useful practical resources is critical for understanding complex concepts and procedures while keeping accurate terminology and performance in higher-education courses. COVID19 pandemic lockdown restrictions forced to quickly adopt to ubiquitous and hybrid learning methodologies, where virtual laboratories emerged as powerful educational tools. Undoubtedly, hands-on experiences are valuable and instrumental in the medicine and biomedical science degrees to master instrumental procedures and comprehend complex concepts. Current technological advances have been very helpful maintaining positive feedback from students, yet some laboratories are challenging to implement to successfully ensure assimilation practical procedures and concepts without specialized instrumentation and expert guidance. Exploratory procedures and techniques are extremely valuable yet require specialized equipment, and benefit from face-to-face detail procedures and good practices. Likewise, developing appropriate tools for tracking the learning process in such remote learning experiences as well as being able to adopt teaching resources and methodologies is of utmost interest.

Our purpose was to develop and adapt a teaching-learning strategy for ensuring practical learning acquisition of biophysics the human auditory field concepts, as well as, set the methodology and tools allowing for blended and ubiquitous determination of individual or grouped frequency-dependent auditory thresholds and isophonic equal-loudness contour curves. Furthermore, we adapted the methodology for either hybrid or blended-learning strategies. We hypothesized that either an asynchronous follow-up of a guided virtual laboratory adaptation or blended strategy built upon methodological audio-visual decentralized materials and web-app virtual resources could ensure and promote autonomous learning acquisition, soft skills development, enhance performance and implication from students.

We designed and adapted a methodology comprising written and audio-visual materials shared in advance in moodle-based and data on cloud-based platforms, to support either asynchronous or synchronous online activities as well as in-person instruction. Teaching was performed either virtually or face-to-face. A virtual environment running on an open web application was used to support self-determination of acoustic thresholds and isophonic curves within the human auditory field. The experience was carried out in consecutive years 2020 and 2021, either fully remotely or combining in-person instruction with online activities. This adaptation allowed also for hybrid learning in the second year when any student was isolated due to pandemic restrictions. The students successfully followed instructions and online activities carrying a set of experimental, graphical-analytical as well as numerical problem-based activities with positive feedback and implication.

Our developed teaching-learning methodology enhanced comprehension of acoustic biophysics and instrumental procedures for practical determination of auditory thresholds comparing average equal loudness contours with automatically reconstructed individual or grouped isophonic curves and limits. Such methodology effectively motivated students in either modality, ensuring performance and enhancing autonomous learning.

Keywords:

Innovations in Higher Education, Blended learning, Ubiquitous and autonomous learning, Technology-enhanced learning.