Three ways to do hands-on and lab classes remotely

The radio antenna model that Kasper intends to send to students on the SunRISE project to measure radio waves from the sun. Image credit: W. Reeve, Anchorage, Alaska USA One of the challenges of teaching online is how to create meaningful hands-on experiences, but this fall University of Michigan engineering students will build their own pulse oximeters, control a robotic arm and install a radio antenna to collect data for a NASA mission to understand the sun's most violent space weather eruptions. Those are just a few examples of how Michigan Engineering will demonstrate this that remote, hands-on learning is not an oxymoron. To help professors adjust and create high-quality experiences for students around the world, the College of Engineering designated $500,000 toward the effort. Half of that went toward designing courses with a hybrid model, enabling some students to participate in person while others work remotely. The other $250,000 went toward materials for 17 classes that are sending kits to students so that they can complete hands-on projects at home. "The idea was to tell our faculty members, 'We know fall is going to be a challenge.