STUDENT CONCERNS FOR ENGAGEMENT IN ONLINE ACTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS DURING COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Memarian ◽  
S. Zuluaga ◽  
M. Stickel
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Student Response ◽  
First Year ◽  
Positive Feeling ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
Neutral Tone

This paper shares a summary of the self-reported concerns of 134 first-year engineering students around engagement in online active learning environments during COVID-19. The students had volunteered to participate in remote weekly problem-solving workshops for four weeks that utilized Active Learning techniques. In this paper, we specifically analyze samples from the students who participated in only one workshop and responded to the following question: What concerns do you have that might limit your ability to engage in online active learning environments? Twenty of the participants reported no concerns. The tone of each student's response and personal feelings reported were also analyzed. Then, a thematic analysis of each student response was made, with the transcription and coding agreement being performed by two coders. As expected, most of the students expressed their concerns in a negative or neutral tone, and only a few expressed an affinity for current educational settings. Word mining of feeling terms shows that more students had verbalized being disengaged, followed by distracted and uncomfortable and none communicated a positive feeling. Our thematic analysis showed that learning socially (72/114, or 63%) is the most pressing concern for the students, followed by more personal regulating factors such as attitude and motivation (44%), quality of physical and virtual study environment (40%), as well as the guidance received from the course administrators (24%). Findings suggest the need for developing a global understanding of what active learning in an online environment entails in the context of engineering education, and to develop and adjust tools and practices to help students learn in this new context.

scholarly journals Tracking Active Learning in the Medical School Curriculum: A Learning-Centered Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 238212051876513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lise McCoy ◽  
Robin K Pettit ◽  
Charlyn Kellar ◽  
Christine Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Medical School ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
First Year ◽  
Group Instruction ◽  
Large Group ◽  
Curriculum Review ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
Learning Centered ◽  
Semistructured Interviews

Background: Medical education is moving toward active learning during large group lecture sessions. This study investigated the saturation and breadth of active learning techniques implemented in first year medical school large group sessions. Methods: Data collection involved retrospective curriculum review and semistructured interviews with 20 faculty. The authors piloted a taxonomy of active learning techniques and mapped learning techniques to attributes of learning-centered instruction. Results: Faculty implemented 25 different active learning techniques over the course of 9 first year courses. Of 646 hours of large group instruction, 476 (74%) involved at least 1 active learning component. Conclusions: The frequency and variety of active learning components integrated throughout the year 1 curriculum reflect faculty familiarity with active learning methods and their support of an active learning culture. This project has sparked reflection on teaching practices and facilitated an evolution from teacher-centered to learning-centered instruction.

Accounting and Finance Students' Perceptions About Active Learning in an Economics-Lecture Classroom

2020 ◽  
pp. 18-34
Author(s):  
Sandrina B. Moreira
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Active Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Interactive Learning ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Student Centered Learning ◽  
Learning Techniques

In higher education there is an increasing trend from teacher-centered to student-centered learning environments, wherein active learning experiences can play a decisive role. This chapter assesses how students perceive the use of active learning techniques within the lecture framework, traditionally accepting students as passive listeners. A survey was distributed in the undergraduate course of Accounting and Finance - evening classes, at the end of the semester, to evaluate and help refine the active learning approach conducted in an economics course. Students reported an overall positive response towards active learning, which helped them to focus, engage, and learn. They especially value the lectures as interactive learning experiences. Students' appraisal regarding the usefulness of key implementation rules like the what, when, who technique on slide-written instructions, as well as the variety of active learning activities tested, revealed the designing and testing of active learning events need improvement.

scholarly journals INTERNATIONAL FIELD SCHOOL FOR FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENTS

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Dick ◽  
Thai Son Nguyen ◽  
Mackenzie Sillem
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Student Response ◽  
First Year ◽  
Barriers To Learning ◽  
Intercultural Effectiveness ◽  
Early Introduction ◽  
Field School ◽  
International Projects ◽  
On Line ◽  
Field Schools

Engineering graduates increasingly find that they are part of teams that draw a multi-disciplinary membership across a broad range of cultural, socio-economic, and linguistic backgrounds. Although engineering students often have the opportunity to participate in international projects (e.g. co-operative education programs, study abroad), formal international field schools are not typical within engineering curricula, particularly at the first- and second-year level. To provide an early introduction to intercultural perspectives, first-year engineering students at Vancouver Island University (VIU) participated in a field school at Tra Vinh University (TVU) in Tra Vinh Province, Vietnam over a period of three weeks. This field school consisted of a number of cultural and engineering activities, and involved pairing of students at both TVU and VIU for the duration of the experience. To measure student response during the field school, participating VIU students completed the on-line Intercultural Effectiveness Scale questionnaire pre- and post-experience. Students at both institutions also completed reflection exercises throughout the three-week period. This feedback suggested each student pairing continuously developed skills necessary to overcome linguistic, cultural, and technical barriers to learning and growing over their time together. Students described an enhanced understanding of self, and an increased likelihood to further participate in intercultural experiences. 

scholarly journals Cultivating the Entrepreneurial Mindset through Design: Insights from Thematic Analysis of First-year Engineering Students' Reflections

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Huerta ◽  
Jeremi London ◽  
Amy Trowbridge ◽  
Marvyn Arévalo Avalos ◽  
Wen Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
First Year

scholarly journals Understanding Barriers to Student Success: What Students Have to Say

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Kuley ◽  
Sean Maw ◽  
Terry Fonstad
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
College Of Engineering ◽  
The University

This paper focuses on feedback received from a set of qualitative questions that were administered to undergraduate students in the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan, as part of a larger mixed methods study. The larger study aims to identify what characteristics, if any, can predict or are related to student success; The “start-stop-continue” method was utilized to assess student perceptions about  their success in the college as a whole. The students were asked: Are there any specific things that you can think of that act/acted as barriers to your success in engineering (stop)? What could the college do/change to make first year more successful for engineering students (start)? Is there anything in your engineering degree so far that you feel is done well and helps students succeed (continue)? Students identified the quality of instruction early in their program as well as adjustment to college workloads and self-directed learning as the most significant barriers tostudent success.

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