# Experiment Information System Based on an Online Virtual Laboratory
## 2 Design and Methods
### A Blended Learning Model  
A benefit of the 3D virtual laboratory is that teachers are able to design and develop reasonable blended teaching plans for experimental courses. Blended courses typically involve a certain number of regular courses published on the Internet, as well as a small number of face-to-face courses that are held in a real laboratory. In our case, the course implementer can split the course and deliver part of the experiments on the virtual laboratory and retain other parts in the physical laboratory. The regular online experiment part is also equipped with online courseware and micro-classrooms, to provide students the corresponding experiment guidance. In the experimental course design process, it is unnecessary to fix the ratio of the number of the real experiments and the virtual experiments. The ratio of these two parts can vary. According to the investigations on blended-course cases [13; 26; 27; 28], it is reasonable that, at the initial step, the number of the online parts should be at least equal to the number of those in the physical laboratory, that is, the ratio can be set to be 1:1. As the course progresses, the ratio of the two is ultimately determined by the experiment types and specifics, about to 10% floating variation. Specifically speaking, in the physical laboratory part, students must attend the following sections: the first introduction class, the midterm seminar, the last class, the pre-exam review class, and the final exam. These sections aim to help students get familiar to the real devices and the virtual environment, make midterm and last-term summaries and reviews, and prepare for the final exam. That is, it is helpful for students to construct a complete knowledge system bridging real experiments and virtual ones. The rest of the physical laboratory courses are planned before and/or after each online unit experiment. They are designed as the complementary lessons to the corresponding virtual experiments, for instance, a preview lesson before a virtual experiment or a review course after a virtual experiment, and are, thus, set to be optional. Whether or not to attend this part of courses depends on students' completion of the virtual experiment and their understanding of it. Based on the experimental data received from the virtual experiment platform, the teacher can advise the students whether to choose the corresponding physical laboratory course. In this manner, the ratio is approximately 1:1 for students who can participate in all recommended physical laboratory courses. Figure 3 shows an example of the blended-model course arrangement. The abscissa represents a typical 16-week instruction block. The ordinate represents the number of class hours. The minus sign distinguishes between different experiment types without mathematical meaning. This schedule is only a sample, and the specific time can be adjusted according to the students' abilities and their mastery of the experiments. Table 3 gives the detailed teaching plan according to Figure 3.  
Figure 3: An example course arrangement of the blended learning model for digital circuit course.