Are the Technological Tools used in Virtual and Hybrid Classrooms Still Useful in a Fully In-Person Setting? An Assessment of the Effectiveness of the Technological Tools in Enhancing the Pedagogy in the New Normal

Mousumi Roy; Manish Roy

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Civil Engineering Division - The New Normal: Enduring Technology Improvements in the Classroom
Page Count: 17
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41405
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41405
Download Count: 309

Paper Authors

biography

Mousumi Roy University of Connecticut

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Dr. Mousumi Roy is an Assistant Professor in Residence in Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Connecticut. Her research interest includes Engineering Education and Humanitarian Engineering. Professor Roy earned her Doctoral degree from Columbia University, NY and has a PE license in Civil Engineering. In the past, she has taught at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD and at Penn State University in Scranton, PA amongst others. Before joining academia, she worked for over 15 years in many reputed consulting firms such as Weidlinger Associates, BA&C, and WBCM in MA, NJ, and MD respectively. Her work experience included analysis, design, and construction supervision of buildings, bridges, and other structures.

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Manish Roy University of Connecticut

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Manish Roy is an Assistant Professor in Residence in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Connecticut. He obtained his Bachelor of Engineering degree in Civil Engineering (Hons.) at Jadavpur University in India. He obtained his MS and Doctoral degree in Civil Engineering at the West Virginia University and the University of Connecticut, respectively. He worked for nine years in the industry as an engineer/manager in India and Bangladesh before starting his graduate study in the US. He started his career as a faculty member in 2019 at the University of Connecticut. His research interests lie in the field of concrete technology with a focus on finite element modeling of ultra high performance concrete. He is also interested in educational research. He is presently working on redesigning the Soil Mechanics course, which incorporates inclusive teaching practices considering the experience and needs of neurodivergent learners. This project is a part of an NSF-funded IUSE/PFE:RED grant.

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Abstract

The development and advancement of technology during the COVID-19 pandemic have been a major contributor to the innovation in pedagogy. Teaching in virtual or hybrid classrooms brought challenges as well as opportunities, particularly for classes with large student enrollment. Many educators quickly learned to use the appropriate instructional technology to be able to not only teach in remote or hybrid mode, but also to keep the students engaged in the process.

Keeping in mind the social distancing rules as prescribed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and personal preferences of both the students and the instructors alike, several large Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) courses at the University of Connecticut were offered either remotely or in a hybrid setting during the academic year (AY) 2020-21. This transition was feasible with the financial as well as instructional support from the university. This paper discusses three such courses taught by the authors: Applied Mechanics I and Soil Mechanics in Fall 2020, and Mechanics of Materials in Spring 2021. All these courses had large enrollment (over 100) and were taken primarily by upper-class students to fulfil the requirements of their majors. Several changes were made in the course delivery, method of student engagement, and assessment techniques to adjust for remote as well as hybrid teaching modes. To verify the effectiveness of those changes, both mid-semester surveys and annual student surveys were conducted in all three courses and the results are shared in this paper.

With the availability of vaccines and by enforcing the mask mandate, most of the CEE courses were offered in person in the Fall of 2021. During this new normal, two of the large civil engineering courses (Principles of Construction I and Soil Mechanics) were taught by the authors in person. Based on the lessons learned during the pandemic (AY 2020-21), some of the virtual instructional tools were used in these in-person courses to improve student engagement. The purpose of this paper is to describe those instructional tools and their effectiveness in improving the pedagogy as well as the students’ learning using the data collected during the mid-semester and annual student surveys.

Citation
Format

Roy, M., & Roy, M. (2022, August), Are the Technological Tools used in Virtual and Hybrid Classrooms Still Useful in a Fully In-Person Setting? An Assessment of the Effectiveness of the Technological Tools in Enhancing the Pedagogy in the New Normal Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41405

TY - CPAPER
AB - The development and advancement of technology during the COVID-19 pandemic have been a major contributor to the innovation in pedagogy. Teaching in virtual or hybrid classrooms brought challenges as well as opportunities, particularly for classes with large student enrollment. Many educators quickly learned to use the appropriate instructional technology to be able to not only teach in remote or hybrid mode, but also to keep the students engaged in the process.

Keeping in mind the social distancing rules as prescribed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and personal preferences of both the students and the instructors alike, several large Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) courses at the University of Connecticut were offered either remotely or in a hybrid setting during the academic year (AY) 2020-21. This transition was feasible with the financial as well as instructional support from the university. This paper discusses three such courses taught by the authors: Applied Mechanics I and Soil Mechanics in Fall 2020, and Mechanics of Materials in Spring 2021. All these courses had large enrollment (over 100) and were taken primarily by upper-class students to fulfil the requirements of their majors. Several changes were made in the course delivery, method of student engagement, and assessment techniques to adjust for remote as well as hybrid teaching modes. To verify the effectiveness of those changes, both mid-semester surveys and annual student surveys were conducted in all three courses and the results are shared in this paper.

With the availability of vaccines and by enforcing the mask mandate, most of the CEE courses were offered in person in the Fall of 2021. During this new normal, two of the large civil engineering courses (Principles of Construction I and Soil Mechanics) were taught by the authors in person. Based on the lessons learned during the pandemic (AY 2020-21), some of the virtual instructional tools were used in these in-person courses to improve student engagement. The purpose of this paper is to describe those instructional tools and their effectiveness in improving the pedagogy as well as the students’ learning using the data collected during the mid-semester and annual student surveys.

AU - Mousumi Roy
AU - Manish Roy
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Are the Technological Tools used in Virtual and Hybrid Classrooms Still Useful in a Fully In-Person Setting? An Assessment of the Effectiveness of the Technological Tools in Enhancing the Pedagogy in the New Normal
UR - https://peer.asee.org/41405
DO - 10.18260/1-2--41405
ER -