Before the PRAMECO project started there was no preparation for such a situation we experienced due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. When the pandemic broke out, on-site laboratory events were suddenly no longer feasible. In contrast to other lab-events, the joining technology laboratory should remain productive. The PRAMECO project allows just that. Laboratory events can now held online. Students can Prepare prior to the event using online uploaded tutorials and simple instructional videos to acquire the necessary theoretical basis as well as using these tutorials and recorded Laboratory events for preparing for their exams. With the recorded and shared tutorial videos students are now able to prepare and learn on their own pace whenever they feel to or have the time for that. The maximum 5 Minute long tutorial videos are creating freedom for the self-study and preparation students were never able to experience before. The recorded instructional videos create a theoretical basis to successfully complete the laboratory units of the second IO. The videos of the first IO are, at the request of the students, reduced to the most important information in order to avoid repetitions in the laboratory of the second IO without cutting the necessary teaching content.

The Laboratory is now able to react to pandemic or similar situations. While the overall laboratory course still relies on a high hands-on component, in pandemic situations this can be cut without cutting necessary course content or putting students at risk. Thus, the lab remains productive under all circumstances. This was not possible before the PRAMECO project. The PRAMECO project also had an impact on the work and working methods of the laboratory staff. For example, the laboratory staff can now devote more time to preparation and follow-up work on teaching content or student support. This is possible due to the digital live labs of the second IO, which reduced the number of repetitions of the previous labs to a minimum. Previously, lab staff supervised several groups of up to a maximum of 15 students in the lab. Such supervision had to be repeated up to six times per laboratory unit. The digital live labs make it possible to supervise the high number of students in one session per lab topic. Repetitive repetition is now only necessary in the third practical part of the entire and newly designed laboratory unit.

Another impact of the PRAMECO project is the possibility to evaluate the Laboratory module online at HAW. Previously, an evaluation was realized via paper handouts to the students within the lecture. By creating new questionnaires custom to the project, these can now be conveniently retrieved and evaluated via online forms.

In contrast to conventional laboratories, it was possible to increase the practical component for the students. The theory part could be reduced due to the efficiency increase through the new 3 stages model. This is based on the first stage, self-study, as students can now learn in the time and way that is best for them. The theoretical learning success is therefore no longer tied to a presence laboratory event. Demonstration and discussion time could be reduced by the second stage. The slight reduction is based on higher quality discussions that can now be held between teachers and students, as repetitive questions due to limited visibility and poor audio conditions of the previous labs have been minimized by the live digital labs. by optimizing the previous stages, the praxis share of the third stage could be doubled. With the same amount of time spent by the students, it was thus possible to realize a practical MSG welding laboratory in addition to the self-welding of MMA seams of the previous laboratory. The pie charts shown in the following figure illustrate the time distributions in a comparison of the previous and the newly developed PRAMECO labs.

The following illustration compares the previous laboratory principle in the top row of the diagram with the newly developed laboratory concept in the second row. It is clear to see that by outsourcing theoretical content to self-study with the content provided and the digital live laboratory concept, the practical component, which is an essential part of teaching at the HAW, could be doubled. While the Demonstration and Discussion part or the Laboratory event stayed nearly the Same.