Our laboratory equipment runs on 1990´s Ms-Dos based software, we need to convince our administrators to buy the popper upgrades.
I need some reference bibliography, to show that the students will be more inspired by the new software (it´s Atari Vs. Xbox).
"The physical laboratory system has now become quite universal. No university
in the world can now live unless it has a well-equipped laboratory."
Lord Kelvin (1885)
You may want to turn the argument not into talking about interest and engagement, but into training young scientists using up-to date equipment and software. Here are links to some papers you may find useful:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2005.tb00833.x/pdf
http://www.rsc.org/pdf/uchemed/Vol_5_No2.pdf#page=2
I think that the hardware and software used does affect how the students feel about their learning. They know whether it is current or old hardware or software. If it is old, they will have less confidence that they will be ready for the "real world" after they graduate.
I am a full professor in computer science with a specialty in software engineering and graphics. We renovated our labs about 7 years ago; along with the renovations we got a grant for all new equipment. The new lab space made a huge positive affect on all the students. In addition, the new computers were a great boost in "we are modern", however we had several problems with student inadvertently disconnecting the cables and that led to network problems. Therefore we had some backlash that we were in the dark ages again.
The one drawback in keeping up with the latest and greatest in the long run is we do not always have the money for the newest and greatest hardware/software each year. Not all places give educational discounts. For example, I am using AWS this year and while there is an educational account, cost for the different services that are provided are the same for non-educators and educators. If you do not monitor strictly or restrict student to what services are being used you can cost your department $1000 in one month. Therefore they feel like they are still limited on using the cool and new technology.
The last thing I want to point out is not always having the latest and greatest is realistic in the real world. Most of our graduates work for the federal government and they are still coding for systems that are far behind the newest technology. The computer science fundamental skills are what make the best computer scientist in the long run, because they can apply these techniques to any new technology. But that is what might not attract students because it is not shiny and new.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Education