scholarly journals An observational study of engineering online education during the COVID-19 pandemic

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0250041
Author(s):  
Shadnaz Asgari ◽  
Jelena Trajkovic ◽  
Mehran Rahmani ◽  
Wenlu Zhang ◽  
Roger C. Lo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Observational Study ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Privacy And Security ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Educational Stakeholders ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Face To Face Instruction ◽  
Online Format

The COVID-19 pandemic compelled the global and abrupt conversion of conventional face-to-face instruction to the online format in many educational institutions. Urgent and careful planning is needed to mitigate negative effects of pandemic on engineering education that has been traditionally content-centered, hands-on and design-oriented. To enhance engineering online education during the pandemic, we conducted an observational study at California State University, Long Beach (one of the largest and most diverse four-year university in the U.S.). A total of 110 faculty members and 627 students from six engineering departments participated in surveys and answered quantitative and qualitative questions to highlight the challenges they experienced during the online instruction in Spring 2020. Our results identified various issues that negatively influenced the online engineering education including logistical/technical problems, learning/teaching challenges, privacy and security concerns and lack of sufficient hands-on training. For example, more than half of the students indicated lack of engagement in class, difficulty in maintaining their focus and Zoom fatigue after attending multiple online sessions. A correlation analysis showed that while semi-online asynchronous exams were associated with an increase in the perceived cheating by the instructors, a fully online or open-book/open-note exams had an association with a decrease in instructor’s perception of cheating. To address various identified challenges, we recommended strategies for educational stakeholders (students, faculty and administration) to fill the tools and technology gap and improve online engineering education. These recommendations are practical approaches for many similar institutions around the world and would help improve the learning outcomes of online educations in various engineering subfields. As the pandemic continues, sharing the results of this study with other educators can help with more effective planning and choice of best practices to enhance the efficacy of online engineering education during COVID-19 and post-pandemic.

scholarly journals An Observational Study of Engineering Online Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shadnaz Asgari ◽  
Jelena Trajkovic ◽  
Mehran Rahmani ◽  
Wenlu Zhang ◽  
Roger C. Lo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Observational Study ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Online Instruction ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Sudden Change ◽  
Underrepresented Students ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Face To Face Instruction ◽  
Online Format

Although online education has become a viable and major component of higher education in many fields, its employment in engineering disciplines has been limited. COVID-19 pandemic compelled the global and abrupt conversion of conventional face-to-face instruction to the online format. The negative impact of such sudden change is undeniable. Urgent and careful planning is needed to mitigate pandemic negative effects on engineering education, especially for vulnerable, disadvantaged, and underrepresented students who have to deal with additional challenges (e.g. digital equity gap). To enhance engineering online instruction during the pandemic era, we conducted an observational study at California State University, Long Beach (a minority-serving institution). 110 faculty and 627 students from six engineering departments participated in our surveys and answered quantitative and qualitative questions to highlight the challenges they experienced during the online instruction in Spring 2020. In this work, we present the results of these surveys in detail and propose solutions to address the identified issues including logistical, technical, learning/teaching challenges, assessment methods, and hands-on training. As the pandemic continues, sharing these results with other educators can help with more effective planning and choice of best practices to improve the online engineering education during COVID-19 and beyond.

scholarly journals Towards Simulation Aided Online Teaching: Material Design for Applied Fluid Mechanics

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 112
Author(s):  
Gonca Altuger-Genc ◽  
Yue Han ◽  
Yegin Genc
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Fluid Mechanics ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Material Design ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Online Setting

Learning is shifting from synchronous in-class settings to asynchronous online platforms in an attempt to make education accessible to wider audience. However, certain vital components of engineering education, such as laboratory work and hands-on practices, are harder to conduct online. Understanding how technology can help offering such components online can impact the quality of online education a great deal. The goal of this study is to improve the effectiveness of online courses in engineering. Particularly, we aim to transform some of the hands-on practices that are fundamental for engineering education into online setting. We first explored existing literature and found that real-time experimentation can be carried out with the help of online modules. We then designed two simulations for a fluid mechanics lab. We expect these simulations to be used to support teaching and evaluation of fluid mechanics through various assignments that utilize these simulations.  This study surveys how online modules have been studied in effort to relax the time and location constraints of in-class education. Drawing upon the literature review it proposes a novel approach to incorporate simulations to ground learning of abstract concepts such as buoyancy.

Online education during the pandemic: new format — new opportunities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svetlana Viktorovna Koroteeva
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Essential Component ◽  
Pace Of Life ◽  
The World ◽  
Online Format

The article shows that the year 2020 taught us a lot and opened our eyes to a number of issues. However, it was precisely the Covid situation and the then announced pandemic that allowed many of us to slow down our pace of life a little and take a broader look at the world around us. The author, a well-known variety vocal teacher, reflects on the possibility of training vocal in an online format, while realizing such an essential component of the educational process as mentoring, and shows that the mentoring function is a necessary part of vocal lessons. It can be realized both through the choice of the repertoire and through communication between the teacher and the student. Vocal classes provide such an opportunity in the best possible way, since individual communication involves the transfer of one’s own worldview to the students, who perceive both the idea of the beautiful, and form their own technical singing skills, as well as build their own picture of the world following the teacher.

A Framework for Engineering Dissection Exercise Creation and Implementation

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Hart ◽  
Steven B. Shooter ◽  
Charles J. Kim
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Reverse Engineering ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Rigorous Approach ◽  
Engineering Activity ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Different Levels

Hands-on product dissection and reverse engineering exercises have been shown to have a positive impact on engineering education, and many universities have incorporated such exercises in their curriculum. The CIBER-U project seeks to examine the potential to utilize cyberinfrastructure to enhance these active-learning exercises. We have formulated a framework for product dissection and reverse engineering activity creation to support a more rigorous approach to assessing other exercises for satisfaction of the CIBER-U project goals and adapting the best practices. This framework is driven by the fulfillment of learning outcomes and considers the maturity of students at different levels. Prototype exercises developed with the framework are presented. The approach is sufficiently general that it can be applied to the consideration and adaption of other types of exercises while ensuring satisfaction of the established goals.

AN "ACTIVATION" PROCESS FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION: THE MODEL AND APPLICATION

2011 ◽  
Vol 19 (02) ◽  
pp. 147-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
GIANLUCA ELIA ◽  
A. MARGHERITA ◽  
G. SECUNDO ◽  
K. MOUSTAGHFIR
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Education ◽  
Research Training ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Activation Process ◽  
Technology Entrepreneurship ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Research Training Program ◽  
Develop Technology ◽  
Market Solutions

The pervasiveness of scientific developments has raised the role of entrepreneurship as a driver of socio-economic value. Higher education institutions are thus asked to create entrepreneurial mindset and competencies with the purpose to make students people able to proactively identify opportunities and transform them in market solutions. In particular, engineering education programs can be of relevance to develop technology entrepreneurship competencies through hands-on and experiential approaches. In such vein, this paper proposes a model of entrepreneurship education as an "activation" process which uses four critical levers with the purpose to infuse the essence of entrepreneurship in tomorrow's engineering professionals. The application of the model is exemplified through the analysis of a research training program grounded in the aerospace domain. The key features of the initiative are discussed in the perspective of exploring new models of entrepreneurial engineering education.

scholarly journals Faculty’s and Students’ Perceptions of Online Learning During COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zakaryia Almahasees ◽  
Khaled Mohsen ◽  
Mohammad Omar Amin
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Data Privacy ◽  
Privacy And Security ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Learning Challenges ◽  
Face To Face Learning ◽  
Method Of Instruction ◽  
Self Learning

COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted teaching in a vriety of institutions. It has tested the readiness of academic institutions to deal with such abrupt crisis. Online learning has become the main method of instruction during the pandemic in Jordan. After 4 months of online education, two online surveys were distributed to investigate faculty’s and Students’ perception of the learning process that took place over that period of time with no face to face education. In this regard, the study aimed to identify both faculty’s and students’ perceptions of online learning, utilizing two surveys one distributed to 50 faculty members and another 280 students were selected randomly to explore the effectiveness, challenges, and advantages of online education in Jordan. The analysis showed that the common online platforms in Jordan were Zoom, Microsoft Teams offering online interactive classes, and WhatsApp in communication with students outside the class. The study found that both faculty and students agreed that online education is useful during the current pandemic. At the same time, its efficacy is less effective than face-to-face learning and teaching. Faculty and students indicated that online learning challenges lie in adapting to online education, especially for deaf and hard of hearing students, lack of interaction and motivation, technical and Internet issues, data privacy, and security. They also agreed on the advantages of online learning. The benefits were mainly self-learning, low costs, convenience, and flexibility. Even though online learning works as a temporary alternative due to COVID-19, it could not substitute face-to-face learning. The study recommends that blended learning would help in providing a rigorous learning environment.

scholarly journals FEATURES OF THE DISTANCE LEARNING ORGANIZATION AT UNIVERSITIES IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-288
Author(s):  
E.A. Balezina ◽  
V.V. Forostyan
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Research University ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Technical Equipment ◽  
Additional Time ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Classical Education ◽  
Perm State National Research ◽  
Online Format

Distance education is becoming in demand in many universities in the country. At the beginning of 2020, an epidemiological situation arose in Russia and the world, which showed that distance learning is the safest way to get an education. But not all Russian universities were ready to quickly switch to distance learning. This led to some difficulties: the load increased on all actors of the educational process, the technical problems of the university and students became actualized, there was a need for additional time for adaptation of students, teachers, and university administration. As a result, the level of satisfaction with the learning process has changed. The purpose of this publication is to characterize the features of the organization of distance learning and identify its future prospects (using the example of Perm State National Research University). The empirical base of the study is materials of a survey of university students about their satisfaction with online learning. The authors assess three areas: 1) the level of material and technical equipment of students; 2) changes that have occurred in the organization of training (workload, time for completing assignments, mastering educational material, academic performance); 3) prospects of distance learning (limitations and reasons for their occurrence, merits). In practical terms, the study can clarify the need to expand distance learning in all universities in the country. Distance learning can become an effective alternative to classical education if state authorities and local governments finance distance learning, if universities provide trainings on organizing and conducting classes in an online format.

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