scholarly journals Meeting diversity during the covid-19 pandemic in a fully online learning environment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja Pfennig
Keyword(s):  
Online Teaching ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Content Management ◽  
Online Course ◽  
First Year ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Course Structure ◽  
Inverted Classroom ◽  
Language Difficulties ◽  
Dual Careers

Diversity among engineering students is growing more and more acknowledgeable in higher education – especially in first year classes where in applied universities students from many backgrounds form new classes. Differences in education (high school, job training, dual careers, etc.) are as common as various social aspects (family duties, etc.) that delay full time studying. This challenges students as well as lecturers especially in the covid-19 pandemic of 2020/2021. A standard based portfolio grading enables students to participate and place different skills in their cumulative assessment. The online course structure using Moodle as content management system (CMS) is based on inverted classroom teaching scenarios. These are supported by peer-to-peer lecture films and micro-lectures along with various online teaching materials and online meeting sessions. The portfolio cumulatively grades lectures, presentations, forum discussions, written homework and glossary entries. Although benefits of present classes are obvious the course results improved over previous semester especially for students with language difficulties. This paper reflects on the possibility to meet diversity in the covid-19 pandemic and enable first year mechanical engineering students to grow more homogeneous regarding scholarly work.

Preparation for the Fundamentals of Engineering Examination at Virginia Tech

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Dillard ◽  
Melissa D. Nipper ◽  
Scott W. Case ◽  
Alan A. Kornhauser
Keyword(s):  
Online Teaching ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Virginia Tech ◽  
Student Response ◽  
Pass Rate ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Engineering Practice ◽  
National Council ◽  
Practice Knowledge ◽  
Audio Video

The first step most engineers take toward professional engineering licensure is taking the Fundamentals of Engineering examination administered by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying. The examination is typically taken by students near completion of an undergraduate engineering degree. By following up with engineering experience and the Professional Engineering examination, engineers can be licensed in any of the 50 states of the U.S. Professional licensure is both an aid and an incentive to professionalism in engineers. Licensure provides a publicly recognized credential for engineering competence and professional ethics. The licensing process, together with state requirements for maintaining licensure, ensures that professional engineers have the depth and breadth of knowledge required for engineering practice. Knowledge of licensing requirements helps young engineers set their own standards for engineering competence. Virginia Tech has, for many years, assisted its senior engineering students in preparing for the Fundamentals of Engineering examination. The program began in the 1970’s as an unofficial series of review lectures offered by engineering faculty. Later, it became a two credit hour course administered by the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics with modules taught by faculty from many engineering disciplines as well as mathematics and chemistry. The course was taught every spring, using a set of notes and problems prepared by the instructors and available to students at reproduction cost. Lectures were scheduled in the evening to reduce interference with other courses. In spring 2011, the course was taught for the first time as an asynchronous online course developed by the instructors working in conjunction with Virginia Tech’s Institute for Distance and Distributed Learning. Updated lecture notes and problems were available for download, and lectures, recorded for the online course, were available for viewing as audio/video slide presentations using streaming video format. Since different faculty had different prior experience with computer-aided and online teaching, the different course modules used various online teaching techniques. The course website has been organized so that student response to the online materials may be monitored. Historically, Virginia Tech has had both high levels of undergraduate participation in the Fundamentals of Engineering examination and a high pass rate. Statistics on course registration, exam participation, and pass rate over the past decade are presented and compared with statistics for the new online course. In spite of a few technical and other issues, the online course appears to be a success. It is anticipated that feedback from this initial online offering will result in even better student acceptance and utilization of the online content, as well as examination performance, in the future.

scholarly journals The Effectiveness of Peer-to-Peer Lecture Films in Inverted Classroom Teaching Scenarios

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-234
Author(s):  
Anja Pfennig ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Work Load ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Peer To Peer ◽  
Video Production ◽  
First Year ◽  
Inverted Classroom

At HTW Berlin, Germany first year mechanical engineering students are taught material science as one of the fundamental courses with high work load in a blended learning environment with flipped classroom elements. Therefore peer-to-peer lecture films were established as source of theoretical background knowledge provided for self-study periods. Because the teaching method “inverted classroom” and class results directly relate to the quality of the video material one of the columns of lecture video production is the involvement of students in the lecture film production. First year students directly benefit from their fellow student learning experience, needs and perspective on teaching material. From the lecturers perspective students were generally more active and better prepared during class resulting in better grades. Practice examples introduce and evaluate both, the teaching method and videos.

Faculty Pilot First-Year Experience for Incoming Freshmen Interested in Pursuing a Degree in Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Keyword(s):  
Social Adjustment ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
First Year Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
Full Time ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Course Structure ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Incoming Freshmen

In this opening chapter, the researchers, three full-time college faculty members, discuss the initial focus of their collaborative work and research. Driven by the concerns regarding the reading and writing abilities of students entering their programs and across their campus, they responded to this issue by establishing and co-teaching yearlong linked courses to incoming first-year students interested in education, a pilot that eventually became known as the First-Year Reading, Thinking, and Writing Initiative. The data collected from the first few years of the Initiative indicate the benefits of having a year-long linked course structure for this population of students to promote academic achievement, social adjustment, and, as the researchers learned through this experience, civic engagement.

Strategies for Success: Teaching an Online Course

2009 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 36-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane E. Cole ◽  
Jeffrey B. Kritzer
Keyword(s):  
Online Teaching ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Inservice Training ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Discussion Boards ◽  
Hybrid Courses ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
New Faculty ◽  
Inverted Classroom

Online and hybrid courses have become an integral part of teacher education programs for preservice and inservice training. However, these programs can be intimidating to new faculty who must develop both pedagogical and technological skills in short order. The authors describe some strategies that have helped improve their online teaching and make their online courses be more effective. Some of the practices include persistent presence, discussion boards, weekly video messages, problem-solving climate, scaffolding, inverted classroom, and use of organizational modules.

scholarly journals Improving Learning Outcome for GSL (German as a Second Language) Students in a Blended Learning Cumulative Assessment Material Science Course

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 93-100
Author(s):  
Anja Pfennig ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Blended Learning ◽  
Material Science ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Work Load ◽  
Migration Background ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Course Structure ◽  
Inverted Classroom ◽  
Improved Learning

First year students especially with migration background and language deficiencies rate material science in mechanical engineering as one of the fundamental courses with high work load and necessity of language skills due to the descriptive nature of the course. Therefore a blended learning course structure using based on inverted classroom teaching scenarios was established. Heart of the self-study period are visualizing peer-to-peer lecture films supported by micro-lectures along with various online teaching materials. Although students with migration background generally scored lower in tests due to the lack of language skills improved learning outcomes are demonstrated in high quality class discussions and in overall understanding. This paper introduces the learning structure and graded activities, evaluates the course and compares results of native German-speaking students to those of students with migration background.

scholarly journals A New Methodology for Teaching the Course “Russian as a Foreign Language” in the Digital Environment: Development, Results and Prospects

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 01012
Author(s):  
Elena V. Pinevich ◽  
Liudmila V. Panina ◽  
Olga E. Solianik ◽  
Natalia A. Ionova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Learning System ◽  
Experimental Methodology ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Electronic Resource ◽  
Course Structure ◽  
Progress Control ◽  
Technical University

The article considers issues covering teaching Russian as a foreign language in a technical university in the preparatory department, using the new online course. The process of production of the online course is revealed. The course structure is described, which includes the following sections: «New Vocabulary», «Reading a Text», «New Grammar», «Listening to Texts and Dialogues», «Complete the Tests», «Interesting Facts about Russia». We mention three possible scenarios of using the online course: 1) an independent distance course (without teachers’ participation); 2) a supplementary electronic resource (in traditional full-time studies offline, with teachers’ participation); 3) blended learning. The methodology of experimental teaching in the “blended learning system” with the use of the online course “Russian as a Foreign Language: Beginners’ Level” is described. Thorough information is given on preparing the experiment, its contingent, conditions, and duration of studies. We mention the peculiarities of studies online versus studies offline. We take into consideration the methods of students’ progress control: they are both traditional (written homework was checked by teachers), and automatized (online tests were checked by computer). We analyze the experimental methodology results, and the advantages of both self-studies and classwork. The article concludes with the prospects of the online course “Russian as a Foreign Language” in a technical university and the further development of the following courses: “The Introductory Course of Phonetics and Graphics”, “The Scientific Speech Course”.

scholarly journals Improvement of learning outcome in material science through inverted classroom techniques and alternative course assessment

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja Pfennig
Keyword(s):  
Study Skills ◽  
Material Science ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Work Load ◽  
First Year ◽  
Final Exam ◽  
Inverted Classroom ◽  
Course Assessment ◽  
Classroom Techniques ◽  
High Work Load

Material Science is known to first year mechanical engineering students as one of the fundamental courses with high work load. The knowledge of the complex science of materials enables students to select appropriate engineering materials in different designs due to acquired knowledge on the correlation of materials properties, microstructure and their intended manipulation. These abilities are not well constituted in one final exam. Therefore peer-to-peer lecture film supported inverted classroom szenarios were estabilished to work in the course. These were accompanied by a newly developed moodle course following the blended learning approach that gives students the chance to cumulative accomplish micro-grades via multiple activities, such as tests, lectures, presentations, forum discussions, written homeworks and glossary entries. These grades are summed to obtain the overall course grade. Improved learing outcomes are demonstrated in high quality class discussions and most -important to students- in better grades (average 43/60=B) compared to those being assessed by one final exam only (average 39/69=C+). The majority of students agreed on enhanced study skills when forced to study throughout the entire semester instead of learing intensely towards the end of the semester. This paper introduces the learning structure as well as graded activities, evaluates the course and compares activity results to former class results.

scholarly journals A Comparative Assessment of Online Learning Readiness for First Year and Final Year Engineering Undergraduates

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-105
Author(s):  
Yee-Yong Lee ◽  
Su-Hie Ting
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Instructional Delivery ◽  
First Year ◽  
Delivery Methods ◽  
Curricular Development ◽  
Online Learning Readiness

Measuring student readiness in online learning should also be of great concern to institutions, including all areas from their curricular development to the pedagogies they experience. Although there have been attempts at universities to develop online learning courses, students' readiness has yet to be investigated, particularly for engineering students who take a mix of theoretical and practical-based courses. This study evaluates the readiness of civil engineering students toward the implementation of online learning and their preferences and acceptance towards online instructional delivery and assessment methods. Ways for improvement are proposed in line with the students’ readiness to determine the best desirable practices and strategies for online pedagogy. Respondents are selected from first and final year students, to examine and compare their online learning perspectives. A survey questionnaire was used. Findings revealed that year one and year four students' readiness was relatively moderate for most of the components and relatively high for the components that involved hardware/software requirements and technology skills. Most respondents indicated a moderate acceptance level on online assessment, ranging from a mean score of 3.46 to 3.81. As online learning is gradually becoming another method for life-long and self-determined learning, findings from the study might help university educators to develop better online learning strategies, especially delivery methods and assessments, to help students cope with online teaching and learning.

The Internet — A First Year Course Option for an Engineering Common Programme

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-17
Author(s):  
R. G. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Student Response ◽  
The Internet ◽  
First Year ◽  
Course Structure

The Internet — a first year course option for an engineering common programme For new users of the Internet there is a need for a coherent presentation of its facilities. A first year option for all engineering students at Sheffield Hallam University is ‘Navigating the Information Super Highway’ which achieves this. The paper outlines the rationale of this course, describes the topics covered, course structure and student response to it.

Microcomputer Instruction in First-Year Engineering at Waterloo

1994 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-153
Author(s):  
E. Brundett ◽  
H. C. Ratz ◽  
G. E. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Computer Network ◽  
Word Processor ◽  
First Year ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Network Access ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
New Students ◽  
Microcomputer Software ◽  
Electronic Spreadsheet

During the last six years, microcomputer instruction to first-year engineering students at Waterloo has evolved to a stable format and content. Now, approximately 80% of new students have microcomputer experience. Hence, microcomputer software is demonstrated briefly in a laboratory equipped with an array of monitors and other multimedia facilities, and is followed immediately by student practice on a computer network. Students with limited experience receive additional laboratory demonstrations and personal assistance. Currently, students are introduced in the first week to the microcomputer network, and to a word processor. A brief memorandum is prepared by students to confirm their network access, and to detect students with poor writing skills. In weeks three to six, an electronic spreadsheet, graphing software, and other software are introduced. Assignments are integrated within an Introduction to Professional Engineering course. Microcomputer evaluation is based upon satisfactory completion of an engineering report, and two technical memoranda. Students acquire sufficient experience to continue self-directed learning with the assistance of full-time microcomputer consultants. Students realize that microcomputer skills are essential, both as engineering students and later, as engineering professionals, and their response has been quite favourable.

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