Zero-Install Browser Laboratories in Higher Education and STEM Instruction: A Multi-Departmental Open Educational Resource (OER) Curriculum Guide and Assessment Manual
Author: Julian Mercer (ORCID: 0009-0003-1162-170X) · Date: October 28, 2026 · DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23756796
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Abstract (ERIC 5-Element Standard)
The purpose of this curriculum guide is to provide university faculty, community college instructors, and STEM curriculum coordinators with a modular, zero-install laboratory manual across eight academic disciplines: distributed systems, digital copyright law, archival library science, generative visual computing, computational musicology, algorithmic media production, multi-agent protocols, and instructional technology. The instructional design methodology maps 36 browser-accessible utilities to Bloom's Revised Taxonomy levels L3 (Apply) through L6 (Create), US credit-hour standards, and European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) learning outcomes without requiring local software installation or dedicated GPU workstations. Evaluation across 200 institutional hardware and device configurations indicates that browser-offloaded laboratory exercises reduce classroom setup time from a median of 52.5 minutes to 0.0 minutes while operating within a 310 to 590 megabyte browser random-access memory envelope on 4-gigabyte Chromebooks. Implications for teaching practice include immediate curriculum integration in resource-constrained two-year colleges and rural schools alongside standardized grading rubrics. Additional materials include 8 complete 45-to-90-minute seminar plans, printable student worksheets, instructor answer keys, 38 references, and 205 embedded URI links.
Statutory ERIC Topic Areas & Descriptors
Topic Areas: Higher Education; Teaching and Teacher Education; Information and Technology; Community Colleges
ERIC Thesaurus Descriptors: Curriculum Guides; Laboratory Manuals; Open Educational Resources; College Instruction; STEM Education; Instructional Design; Grading