A Multi-year Case Study in Blended Design: Student Experiences in a Blended, Synchronous, Distance Controls Course

Alisa Gilmore; Tareq Daher; Markeya S. Peteranetz

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Conference: 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access
Location: Virtual On line
Publication Date: June 22, 2020
Start Date: June 22, 2020
End Date: June 26, 2021
Conference Session: Computers in Education Division Technical Session 5: Online Teaching and Learning
Tagged Division: Computers in Education
Page Count: 16
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--34018
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/34018
Download Count: 552

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Paper Authors

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Alisa Gilmore P.E. University of Nebraska, Lincoln

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Alisa N. Gilmore is an Associate Professor of Practice in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Her expertise is in teaching and developing courses in robotics, telecommunications, circuits and control systems. She serves as the chair of the Continuous Improvement of Teaching and Learning committee in the College of Engineering, and assessment coordinator for the ECE department. She is passionate about engineering education at the college level and increasing the pipeline in K-12. She directs the organization of the Nebraska Robotics Expo, an annual statewide K-12 robotics competition, now in its 11th season. Prior to joining the faculty at UNL, Ms. Gilmore held engineering positions in telecommunications research and development, wireless system deployment, and manufacturing control systems. Ms. Gilmore holds a Master of Science degree in electrical and computer engineering from Georgia Tech, a BS in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech, and a BS in mathematics from Spelman College. Gilmore is a registered professional engineer in the state of Nebraska.

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Tareq Daher University of Nebraska, Lincoln orcid.org/0000-0001-8901-0608

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Tareq Daher earned his Bachelors in Computer Science from Mutah University in Jordan. He pursued a Master’s of Instructional Technology at the University of Nebraska –Lincoln while working as the coordinator for the Student Technology Program on the UNL campus. Currently, Dr. Daher works as the director for the Engineering and Computing Education Core (ECEC) at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Dr. Daher collaborates with engineering faculty to document and research the integration of innovative instructional strategies and technologies in their classrooms and designs and delivers professional development programs for faculty in the college.

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Markeya S. Peteranetz University of Nebraska, Lincoln

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Dr. Peteranetz is the Learning Assessment Coordinator for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering. Her research interests include the impact of instructional practices on student learning and motivation, and sources of within-person variation in motivation and self-regulated learning.

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Abstract

In the college of engineering at a Midwestern, research intensive institution, several engineering courses are taught synchronously at a distance in classrooms on two campuses that are 60 miles apart. With this distance comes the need for innovation to incorporate active learning in the classroom. Active learning has been shown to provide superior gains in student learning, when compared to the traditional lecture format. The incorporation of active learning at a distance, however, presents a new set of challenges entirely: how do you effectively engage students across multiple locations, at the same time, and when cohorts are physically remote from the instructor? The blended approach to learning provides one method to facilitate the design of a highly engaging, distance engineering classroom. This paper explores this project’s ability to involve students in highly interactive, effective in-class activities built upon a foundation of pre-class online activities. The interactive nature of both the in-class and online activities is facilitated by a suite of computer technology tools, which will also be described in this paper.

Blended learning is widely being experimented within STEM fields. However, little research has been done on the student perception in engineering fields, in particular electrical and computer engineering courses. Continuous improvement of teaching and learning methods that are grounded in evidence based instructional strategies are essential to the learning process (Barr & Tagg, 1995; Cerbin, 1994; Darling-Hammond, 2008; Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 1998). Quantitatively, this study incorporates educational interventions with the aim of understanding the impact of the blended approach in a distance classroom on undergraduate students’ learning and performance in control concepts over the course of a semester. Qualitatively, this study furthers our understanding of electrical and computer engineering students’ perceptions of a distance synchronous blended classroom. Over the course of 3 years, a research instrument was used to collect data: a survey gathering student perceptions on the blended approach in general and as it relates to the distance synchronous component. Preliminary data analysis shows the impact of the blended design on classroom delivery and instruction and students’ perceptions of the course delivery.

Citation
Format

Gilmore, A., & Daher, T., & Peteranetz, M. S. (2020, June), A Multi-year Case Study in Blended Design: Student Experiences in a Blended, Synchronous, Distance Controls Course Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34018

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - In the college of engineering at a Midwestern, research intensive institution, several engineering courses are taught synchronously at a distance in classrooms on two campuses that are 60 miles apart. With this distance comes the need for innovation to incorporate active learning in the classroom. Active learning has been shown to provide superior gains in student learning, when compared to the traditional lecture format.  The incorporation of active learning at a distance, however, presents a new set of challenges entirely: how do you effectively engage students across multiple locations, at the same time, and when cohorts are physically remote from the instructor?  The blended approach to learning provides one method to facilitate the design of a highly engaging, distance engineering classroom.  This paper explores this project’s ability to involve students in highly interactive, effective in-class activities built upon a foundation of pre-class online activities. The interactive nature of both the in-class and online activities is facilitated by a suite of computer technology tools, which will also be described in this paper.  

Blended learning is widely being experimented within STEM fields. However, little research has been done on the student perception in engineering fields, in particular electrical and computer engineering courses. Continuous improvement of teaching and learning methods that are grounded in evidence based instructional strategies are essential to the learning process (Barr &amp;amp; Tagg, 1995; Cerbin, 1994; Darling-Hammond, 2008; Johnson, Johnson, &amp;amp; Smith, 1998).  Quantitatively, this study incorporates educational interventions with the aim of understanding the impact of the blended approach in a distance classroom on undergraduate students’ learning and performance in control concepts over the course of a semester. Qualitatively, this study furthers our understanding of electrical and computer engineering students’ perceptions of a distance synchronous blended classroom. Over the course of 3 years, a research instrument was used to collect data: a survey gathering student perceptions on the blended approach in general and as it relates to the distance synchronous component. Preliminary data analysis shows the impact of the blended design on classroom delivery and instruction and students’ perceptions of the course delivery. 


AU  - Alisa Gilmore P.E.
AU  - Tareq Daher
AU  - Markeya S. Peteranetz
CY  - Virtual On line 
DA  - 2020/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - A Multi-year Case Study in Blended Design: Student Experiences in a Blended, Synchronous, Distance Controls Course
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/34018
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--34018
ER  -