Turtle Lab: a web environment to design and apply experiments. An opportunity to teach experimental psychology in distance education

Abstract

Students’ direct experience with the research procedures related to the phenomena they study in their academic subjects is a desirable strategy for undergraduate and postgraduate studies. This strategy should include the presentation of the phenomenon and how scientists have approached it experimentally under controlled laboratory conditions. However, in some degrees such as Psychology, only a small percentage of laboratories are available for introductory courses. This situation is aggravated in distance learning universities, where virtual laboratories should be used as an alternative. Shared physical spaces limit the possibilities of analyzing effects that need continuous application times. The development of innovative practical lessons is limited by a shortage of resources. In order to design experimental practical lessons, either the purchase of programming software or the use of open access tools is required, however, the latter require programming knowledge. This project aims to facilitate the design of experimental tasks for the teaching of psychological processes through the use of an online system. With the Turtle Lab system (https://turtlelab.eu/), teachers will be able to create practical lessons without downloading software or learning how to program it. The system allows you to create tasks by uploading the experimental essays in image format and include instructions from frequently used documents (such as pdf, ppt). The expected impact is the use of the platform in postgraduate subjects, the dissemination of science and professional guidance.