Successes, Expectations and Challenges Associated with In-person to Online Remote Transition of an Engineering Statics Course

Anu Osta; Jennifer Kadlowec; Melanie Amadoro

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access
Location: Virtual Conference
Publication Date: July 26, 2021
Start Date: July 26, 2021
End Date: July 19, 2022
Conference Session: Building Success in the Online Classroom
Tagged Division: Mechanics
Page Count: 13
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--37783
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/37783
Download Count: 210

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Anu Osta Rowan University orcid.org/0000-0003-0479-4664

visit author page

Dr Anu Osta is a Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering Department at Rowan University. His teaching interests are Engineering Mechanics, Materials Science and Manufacturing.

visit author page

biography

Jennifer Kadlowec Baldwin Wallace University

visit author page

Jennifer Kadlowec is Professor and Program Director of Engineering at Baldwin Wallace University. She previously was on the faculty of Mechanical Engineering in the Henry M. Rowan of College of Engineering, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ for 20 years and has been an active member of ASEE since 1998. She joined as a graduate student, after working on an engineering education project and presenting that work and student chapter activities at annual conference. As a faculty member, she regularly publishes and presents at the ASEE Annual Conference. Her interests are in design education and assessment in mechanical and biomedical engineering. She previously served ASEE in leadership roles in the ERM and Mechanics Divisions and as a PIC-III Chair.

visit author page

author page

Melanie Amadoro Rowan University

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

Continuing education amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the most daunting experiences for most students. As the virus continued to spread across the country, various school districts and localities faced mounting pressures to close school facilities. College students were asked to leave campus and finish the semester remotely, placing them in an unfamiliar learning situation. A mix of hybrid and in-person classes was offered by some schools. Staying connected with friends and campus communities suddenly became difficult. The transition wasn’t easy for many students. The detailed impact of this transition to digital learning will only be revealed in due course as more time passes by. However a short term effect on the students can be gauged by collecting feedback from the students. It has been speculated that the most vulnerable students will be left falling behind even further and will face more hurdles to keep pace. In order to gauge the successes and the challenges on the lower classmen engineering students, at this Mid Atlantic mid-sized public university, a couple of surveys was conducted during various stages in the fall semester of teaching an engineering statics course. The underlying objective was to identify the instructional benefits and challenges, learning successes and failures, adaptability of faculty and students to a hyflex mode of course delivery. A survey was conducted asking the students to compare their experiences from prior semesters with the current one and provide their feedback on things students found challenging/not working well and what improvements/changes would make a greater impact on them. Additionally course outcomes such as quiz and test scores was also compared to determine if the students gained the intended learning outcomes or different ones (some less than or more than), both from the faculty and students’ perspectives. The survey probed the following: (1) students’ understanding of the course material (in terms of level of easiness or difficulty) (2) experience with in-person classes versus remote instruction (in terms of class load, degree of satisfaction with instruction received, and technical challenges such as hardware, connectivity, instruction delivery platform, etc) (3) effect of surrounding environment (living arrangements in pre- vs post COVID environment) (4) availability and use of resources (instructor office hours, group work, learning materials, tutoring, etc.

Citation
Format

Osta, A., & Kadlowec, J., & Amadoro, M. (2021, July), Successes, Expectations and Challenges Associated with In-person to Online Remote Transition of an Engineering Statics Course Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--37783

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Continuing education amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the most daunting experiences for most students. As the virus continued to spread across the country, various school districts and localities faced mounting pressures to close school facilities. College students were asked to leave campus and finish the semester remotely, placing them in an unfamiliar learning situation. A mix of hybrid and in-person classes was offered by some schools. Staying connected with friends and campus communities suddenly became difficult. The transition wasn’t easy for many students.  The detailed impact of this transition to digital learning will only be revealed in due course as more time passes by. However a short term effect on the students can be gauged by collecting feedback from the students. It has been speculated that the most vulnerable students will be left falling behind even further and will face more hurdles to keep pace. 
In order to gauge the successes and the challenges on the lower classmen engineering students, at this Mid Atlantic mid-sized public university, a couple of surveys was conducted during various stages in the fall semester of teaching an engineering statics course. The underlying objective was to identify the instructional benefits and challenges, learning successes and failures, adaptability of faculty and students to a hyflex mode of course delivery. A survey was conducted asking the students to compare their experiences from prior semesters with the current one and provide their feedback on things students found challenging/not working well and what improvements/changes would make a greater impact on them. Additionally course outcomes such as quiz and test scores was also compared to determine if the students gained the intended learning outcomes or different ones (some less than or more than), both from the faculty and students’ perspectives.  
The survey probed the following: (1) students’ understanding of the course material (in terms of level of easiness or difficulty) (2) experience with in-person classes versus remote instruction (in terms of class load, degree of satisfaction with instruction received, and technical challenges such as hardware, connectivity, instruction delivery platform, etc) (3) effect of surrounding environment (living arrangements in pre- vs post COVID environment) (4) availability and use of resources (instructor office hours, group work, learning materials, tutoring, etc.

AU  - Anu Osta
AU  - Jennifer Kadlowec
AU  - Melanie Amadoro
CY  - Virtual Conference
DA  - 2021/07/26
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Successes, Expectations and Challenges Associated with In-person to Online Remote Transition of an Engineering Statics Course 
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/37783
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--37783
ER  -