Constructing hands-on distance labs: the development and implementation of an Intelligent Learning Management System (ILMS-d) in undergraduate IoT courses

Engineering education emphasizes experiential learning and laboratory experience, an approach which has faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The inability to conduct hands-on laboratory experiments in engineering courses can significantly impede the student's learning experience, as well as their acquisition and retention of knowledge. Hence, it is imperative that practical hands-on laboratory experiments be incorporated as a critical component of distance learning tools. While researchers have proposed multiple methods, the provision of practical hands-on laboratory experience without limitations of time or place remains a challenging issue. This study aimed to address this issue by developing an Intelligent Learning Management System (ILMS), the ILMS-d, to construct a hands-on distance laboratory for engineering courses. We investigated the effect of implementing the ILMS-d in IoT courses on students' learning achievement and engineering problem-solving skills, and we assessed their acceptance of the proposed system. We found a significant positive effect on the learning achievement and engineering problem-solving skills of high, medium, and low achievers. In addition, students at all achievement levels responded positively to the usefulness and ease of use of the ILMS-d. Future research should incorporate different AI functions into the ILMS-d to construct more adaptive hands-on distance laboratories for students.