(German title: iLAB.pro: SmartGlass als Prüfungstool zur prozessbezogenen Beurteilung in naturwissenschaftlich-technischen Laborpraktika)

Laboratory practicals are the central element of basic practical training in all natural science and engineering subjects. If one considers the form of performance assessment in laboratory practicals, this is still often carried out exclusively in the traditional way, i.e. mostly as a written laboratory protocol and oral test. These forms of examination usually take place at the end of the laboratory practicals and represent a product-based assessment of performance. So far, the consideration of the experimental process during the execution of the experiment has been completely neglected as part of the performance assessment, although the students spend most of their time doing this. 

This is where we come in with iLAB.pro. By developing new and intelligent digital technologies such as smartglasses as an examination tool for process-related assessment in addition to the existing/traditional performance assessment in science and technology laboratory practicals and investigating their validity, we are closing the gap between current examination procedures and everyday experimentation.

With the help of the Smartglass, students are provided with digital information on the practical experiment (e.g. theoretical background, instructions on setup and execution), measurement data is recorded using voice or sensor technology and made available in various representational displays. On the other hand, students use the camera, screen capturing and microphone of the Smartglass to document the experiment while it is being carried out. Both measures relieve the students of the burden of carrying out the experiment and preparing the protocol. They also use the documentation to evaluate the test results. The recorded experimental process is used and edited by the students for reflection and commentary after the experiment has been completed. During the experiment, students can view and manipulate these representational displays without negatively influencing or distracting from the execution of the experiment in the real world with additional devices. Elements of multimedia teaching and examination methods are thus ideally combined with those of real experiments and at the same time used to document the learning outcomes, so that at the end a multimedia experiment protocol is available for experiment assessment.

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