Virtual Conference
July 26, 2021
July 26, 2021
July 19, 2022
Tools to Enhance Student Learning of Undergraduate Engineering Content
Educational Research and Methods
6
10.18260/1-2--36603
https://peer.asee.org/36603
397
Isabel Hilliger is the Associate Director for Assessment and Evaluation at the Engineering Education Division in Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC). Isabel received a BEng and PhD in Engineering Sciences from UC, and an MA in Policy Organization, and Leadership Studies from Stanford Graduate School of Education. Her research theme is the use of methodologies and analytical tools for continuous curriculum improvement in Higher Education. She has created qualitative and quantitative instruments for outcome assessment in enginering education. She has also evaluated policy efforts towards engineering diversity and undergraduate research.
He is an associate professor in the Computer Science Department and Associate Dean for Engineering Education at the Engineering School in Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Jorge holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Toronto in Canada and a Master's Degree in Engineering Sciences from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. His research focuses on areas of automated reasoning in Artificial Intelligence; specifically, automated planning, search and knowledge representation. He is also interested in the development of teaching approaches and systems that promote the wellbeing of students.
Constanza Melian is Assessment and Evaluation Coordinator for Division of Engineering Education at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
Constanza is sociologist, interested in issues of education, social inequality, poverty and gender gaps. Methodologically his interests and work is in survey design, construction of quantitative instruments, statistical data analysis and evaluation of social programs.
In response to the covid-19 health crisis, many higher education institutions quickly moved to online education. As a result of that sudden switch, students faced unexpected difficulties, such as lack of a good quality internet connection, adequate equipment, and a good study environment. Additionally, several of them dealt with the effects of health and emotional situations faced by themselves or family members. Aware of those additional difficulties, some institutions promoted a flexible approach, suggesting teachers to increase communication with their students and make the necessary modifications to course evaluations and deadlines.
Teachers willing to approach their teaching in a more flexible manner need to make themselves aware of the needs of their students. In engineering massive courses, where student-teacher communication is usually burdened, gaining such an awareness is particularly difficult, requiring students to initiate communication. Unfortunately, in remote online settings, which may exacerbate social isolation, students may have less inclination to communicate with their teachers.
This work-in-progress paper describes a case of study in which we describe and evaluate a protocol designed to actively engage in communication with students either with lower-than-average academic performance or with missing/late assignments. Using soothing language, a member of the teaching staff contacts students (or replies to a request from a student), attempts to establish the causes of the low academic performance and proposes specific actions to be taken in response to students' needs. The protocol was implemented in an advanced programming course during the second term (Fall) of 2020, at a large school of engineering in Latin America. To evaluate the student's perceptions of this approach, we collect data from several sources, including general-purpose student evaluations and questionnaires designed to specifically evaluate the perceptions of this approach. By analyzing different sources of data, we aimed to identify advantages and opportunities for improvement and scaling this approach at a school level. Among the most important contributions, even though our protocol was designed and implemented during the pandemic, it could also be implemented face-to-face or with online systems.
Piña, M. A., & Hilliger, I., & Baier, J. A., & Melian, C., & Ruz, C., & González, T. A. (2021, July), A Protocol to Follow-up with Students in Large-enrollment Courses Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--36603
ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2021 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015