IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jmathe/v11y2023i9p2153-d1139107.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analysis, Evaluation and Reusability of Virtual Laboratory Software Based on Conceptual Modeling and Conformance Checking

Author

Listed:
  • Athanasios Sypsas

    (School of Science and Technology, Hellenic Open University, 26335 Patras, Greece)

  • Dimitris Kalles

    (School of Science and Technology, Hellenic Open University, 26335 Patras, Greece)

Abstract

Virtual laboratories have been increasingly used in tertiary education for natural and applied sciences, especially due to the COVID pandemic, generating a substantial investment in corresponding software applications, including simulation experiments and procedures. However, it is expensive and time-consuming to analyze, understand, model and implement the virtual experiments, especially when it is necessary to create new ones from scratch, but also when they must be redesigned and addressed to an audience in a different educational setting. We use UML Activity Diagrams and Petri nets to model experimental procedures and then apply conformance checking to detect possible nonconformities between expected model behavior and actual model execution. As a result, we provide an estimation of the conceptual proximity between experiments performed in different educational settings using the same virtual laboratory software, assisting educators and developers in making informed decisions about software reuse and redesign by providing a systematic and formal way of evaluating software applicability. A virtual microscoping experiment was used as a case study for validation purposes. The results revealed that the specific virtual lab software can be ported, without modifications, from tertiary to secondary education, to achieve learning outcomes relevant to that education level, even though it was originally designed for a distance education university. The proposed framework has potential applications beyond virtual laboratories, as a general approach to process modeling and conformance checking to evaluate the similarity between the specification of experimental procedures and actual execution logs can be applied to various domains.

Suggested Citation

  • Athanasios Sypsas & Dimitris Kalles, 2023. "Analysis, Evaluation and Reusability of Virtual Laboratory Software Based on Conceptual Modeling and Conformance Checking," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-16, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jmathe:v:11:y:2023:i:9:p:2153-:d:1139107
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/11/9/2153/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/11/9/2153/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Abumalloh, Rabab Ali & Asadi, Shahla & Nilashi, Mehrbakhsh & Minaei-Bidgoli, Behrouz & Nayer, Fatima Khan & Samad, Sarminah & Mohd, Saidatulakmal & Ibrahim, Othman, 2021. "The impact of coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) on education: The role of virtual and remote laboratories in education," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jayashree Premkumar Shet & Christy Paulina J, 2022. "Is There Tremendous Advancement in Educational Setting during COVID-19 Age? A Case Study of Nabhanya College, KSA," World Journal of English Language, Sciedu Press, vol. 12(8), pages 151-151, December.
    2. Sepasgozar, Samad M.E., 2022. "Immersive on-the-job training module development and modeling users’ behavior using parametric multi-group analysis: A modified educational technology acceptance model," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    3. Vallès-Peris, Núria & Domènech, Miquel, 2024. "Digital citizenship at school: Democracy, pragmatism and RRI," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    4. Alina Mihaela Dima & Mihail Busu & Vanesa Madalina Vargas, 2022. "The mediating role of students’ ability to adapt to online activities on the relationship between perceived university culture and academic performance," Oeconomia Copernicana, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 13(4), pages 1253-1281, December.
    5. Zibarzani, Masoumeh & Abumalloh, Rabab Ali & Nilashi, Mehrbakhsh & Samad, Sarminah & Alghamdi, O.A. & Nayer, Fatima Khan & Ismail, Muhammed Yousoof & Mohd, Saidatulakmal & Mohammed Akib, Noor Adelyna, 2022. "Customer satisfaction with Restaurants Service Quality during COVID-19 outbreak: A two-stage methodology," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    6. Camilleri, Mark Anthony & Camilleri, Adriana Caterina, 2022. "Remote learning via video conferencing technologies: Implications for research and practice," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    7. Arpaci, Ibrahim & Karatas, Kasim & Kusci, Ismail & Al-Emran, Mostafa, 2022. "Understanding the social sustainability of the Metaverse by integrating UTAUT2 and big five personality traits: A hybrid SEM-ANN approach," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    8. Iqbal, Muhammad Zahid & Campbell, Abraham G., 2021. "From luxury to necessity: Progress of touchless interaction technology," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    9. Pažický Martin, 2023. "The Effects of Social Distancing Measures on COVID-19 Spreads in European Countries," Review of Economic Perspectives, Sciendo, vol. 23(2), pages 105-158, June.
    10. Khan, M. Laeeq & Malik, A. & Ruhi, U. & Al-Busaidi, A., 2022. "Conflicting attitudes: Analyzing social media data to understand the early discourse on COVID-19 passports," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jmathe:v:11:y:2023:i:9:p:2153-:d:1139107. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.