Using lab experiments in electric circuits to promote achievements in mathematics

Abstract

The paper describes the results of a study that compared the academic achievements of practical engineering students who learned about complex numbers through traditional lectures and in lab experiments using basic AC circuits with those of students who attended the same lectures but whose exercises were the standard ones-in a classroom using chalk on a blackboard. The final examination, immediately after studying the complex numbers unit, showed a small, but not significant gap between the two groups, with the experimental group's grades slightly higher than the control group. In a test given four months later, this gap widened to about 16 points on average for the experimental group-a significant difference. This difference can be attributed to the contribution of the laboratory experiments that required the experimental group members to engage in active learning, thereby heightening their knowledge construction. The students' allocation to the control and experimental groups was at random.