How the COVID-19 changed the hands-on laboratory classes of electrical measurement

Abstract

This article depicts how COVID-19 affected practical teaching at Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Department of Measurement. It introduces the subject of Electrical Measurement and its hands-on laboratory classes. The course applies to more than 100 undergraduate students per semester. Since COVID-19 mainly affected the teaching of the hands-on laboratory courses, the article narrates how the COVID-19 lockdown has changed classes. An experience with the rapid transformation of lectures during the lockdown focusing on the hands-on laboratory classes is discussed, and the improvements that have been done to preserve its objectives, but also to adapt them to another possible lockdown, and the need to switch to the distance teaching, is revealed. The changes have been inspired by the results of a survey carried out among more than 250 students. The outline of the laboratory tasks transformation with an emphasis on the possibility of switching the real face-to-face measurement to the distance teaching remote lectures is described. The change includes reducing the number of laboratory tasks taught while preserving most of the objectives. All 11 new laboratory tasks are described in detail, and it is discussed how the possible change from hands-on to remote classes will affect every task.