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Challenges with Online Teaching and Learnings for the Post-Pandemic Classroom

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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

ECE Division Technical Session 8: Effective Teaching and Learning in Post-Pandemic Classrooms and Other Curricular Innovations

Page Count

20

DOI

10.18260/1-2--40539

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/40539

Download Count

390

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Paper Authors

biography

Tyler Gamvrelis University of Toronto

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Tyler Gamvrelis is graduate student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of Toronto. His primary research activities lie within the domain of wireless communications, and range from resource allocation and market design to signal processing algorithms for multi-antenna systems.

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biography

Hamid Timorabadi University of Toronto

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Hamid Timorabadi received his BSc, MASc, and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto. He has worked as a project, design, and test engineer as well as a consultant to industry. His research interests include the application of digital signal processing in energy systems and computer networks. He also has deep interest in engineering education and the use of technology to advance the learning experience of undergraduate students.

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Abstract

At the start of 2020, safety concerns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic caused educational institutions around the world to rapidly transition to emergency remote learning (ERL). This has caused educators to rethink their course delivery strategies and re-examine their assumptions about what constitutes a good education. Although the research community has widely reported on remote learning—including its benefits, its challenges, and suggestions for the future—institutions have recently begun resuming in-person activities, which begs the question, what has changed? While previous work has compared remote learning during the pandemic to pre-ERL in-person learning, we expand on the findings of the community by examining student feedback obtained during post-ERL in-person learning. We begin by discussing the main challenges we faced during the year of online teaching, then present an analysis of survey data gathered for both remote and (post-ERL) in-person learning during the pandemic. Insights on synchronous and asynchronous learning are presented, including the benefits and drawbacks that are unique to each. We show that while students generally preferred synchronous learning over asynchronous, many of the key benefits of synchronous learning are only attainable in a physical setting. We discuss the reasons for this, as well as the reasons why students overwhelmingly desired an asynchronous learning option to augment their synchronous learning activities. Unlike many previous studies which solely rely on quantitative survey data, we draw our conclusions using a combination of quantitative data and written feedback from students, the latter of which allows us to better understand students' reasons for adopting certain learning strategies and preferences. Alongside these insights, we identify opportunities for improving student satisfaction and share actions we took to better support our students..

Gamvrelis, T., & Timorabadi, H. (2022, August), Challenges with Online Teaching and Learnings for the Post-Pandemic Classroom Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40539

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