Exploring Teaching and Learning Experience during COVID-19 Pandemic in Engineering Education
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. COVID-19 Impacts on Education in Australia
3. Framework or Working Approach
4. Effectiveness of the Applied Approach
5. Globally Observed COVID-19 Challenges on Education
- ■
- The increase in online teaching is the major impact. The hybrid teaching mode was found more popular.
- ■
- Student enrolment is impacted although varied by region and income level. International travel restrictions impacted enrolment, but domestic enrolment increased.
- ■
- International students are affected even more than local disadvantaged groups.
- ■
- Despite university campus closure, most countries reported that academic and administrative staff employment and salaries were not impacted. Although some countries reported the opposite and private sector was impacted in delay or cut in salaries.
- ■
- Due to campus closures, many research activities have been suspended or delayed, or even terminated. Although an increase in research activity was observed in the medicine and relevant field.
- ■
- Observed reduction in maintenance and service work in on-campus, although increased expenses to expand the online infrastructure.
- ■
- The most concerning impact assessed by governments are students’ disruption of study or research or campus activity flowed by finance and physical and mental health.
- ■
- COVID-19 significantly reduced job opportunities which impacted transitioning tertiary level students to secure jobs.
- ■
- The national priority of various countries is to improve the infrastructure and availability of digital devices, teacher training, guideline, and tools for online and distance learning.
6. Findings and Recommendations
- Observation-1: Online or remote or cloud learning is highly dependent on support infrastructure, software tools, and internet bandwidth, and accessibility.
- Recommendation: A holistic national approach can be taken to improve the capacity building of all universities as well as infrastructure building at the national level.
- Observation-2: Academic staff, students, and parents all are confused to some level about the effectiveness of online teaching. Also, not all staff and students are prepared and familiar with the available tools for online teaching.
- Recommendation: Necessary training for staff development can be more effective, which can eventually translate the effectiveness of online tools to students.
- Observation-3: The unit structure, resources, assessments, and learning objectives are not clearly defined at the current stage that best suits the online teaching method.
- Recommendation: Act on innovative teaching or update the relevant policy at the course/discipline or university level to clearly define learning activity and assessments that meet the quality and accreditation needs.
- Observation-4: Lack of engagement develops anxiety and stress among students and that can impact on student performance.
- Recommendation: The effective virtual classroom, timely feedback, and flexible timetable for different student groups can keep all students engaged. More interaction among students and academics can be created with group activity which can improve engagement.
- Observation-5: The major challenges observed is the hands-on work or lab experiments, which is a key learning requirement for engineering students as well as important for accreditation.
- Recommendation: Mixed/blended mode of delivery can be the best option where either recorded lab videos with all guides and results can be shared online and in preferrable time complete the lab on campus in an intensive way. The other option can be translating it into a suitable simulation lab or developing labs using virtual reality (VR).
- Observation-6: There is a lack of uniformity in the online mode across universities and different ad-hoc approaches are currently in place. This will impact the learning quality in long run.
- Recommendation: A uniform and national/international guideline should be included in education policy which should be consulted for a global standard to practice.
7. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Darling-Hammond, L.; Rosso, J.; Austin, K.; Orcutt, S.; Martin, D. Session 1 How People Learn: Introduction to Learning Theory. Ph.D. Thesis, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA, 2001. [Google Scholar]
- Ross-Gordon, J.M. Research on Adult Learners: Supporting the Needs of a Student Population that Is No Longer Nontraditional. Assoc. Am. Coll. Univ. 2011, 13, 26–30. [Google Scholar]
- Jamalpur, B.; Chythanya, K.R.; Kumar, K.S. A comprehensive overview of online education–Impact on engineering students during COVID-19. Mater. Today Proc. 2021, in press. [CrossRef]
- Ruipérez-Valiente, J.A.; Gomez, M.; Martinez, P.; Kim, Y. Ideating and Developing a Visualization Dashboard to Support Teachers Using Educational Games in the Classroom. IEEE Access 2021, 9, 83467–83481. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Chai, H.; Priestley, M.; Tang, X.; Ravishankar, J. Implementation of Microgrid Virtual Laboratory in a Design Course in Electrical Engineering. In Proceedings of the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE), Takamatsu, Japan, 8–11 December 2020; pp. 509–515. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Qadir, J.; Al-Fuqaha, A. A Student Primer on How to Thrive in Engineering Education during and beyond COVID-19. Educ. Sci. 2020, 10, 236. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Grodotzki, J.; Ortelt, T.R.; Tekkaya, A.E. Remote and Virtual Labs for Engineering Education 4.0: Achievements of the ELLI project at the TU Dortmund University. Procedia Manuf. 2018, 26, 1349–1360. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Madurai Elavarasan, R.; Shafiullah, G.M.; Raju, K.; Mudgal, V.; Arif, M.T.; Jamal, T.; Subramanian, S.; Sriraja Balaguru, V.S.; Reddy, K.S.; Subramaniam, U. COVID-19: Impact analysis and recommendations for power sector operation. Appl. Energy 2020, 279, 115739. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- UNESCO. UNESCO COVID 19 Education Response, COVID-19: Reopening and Reimagining Universities, Survey on Higher Education through the UNESCO National Commissions; UNESCO: Paris, France, 2021; p. 37. Available online: https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse (accessed on 7 August 2021).
- Opriș, I.; Ionescu, C.S.; Costinaș, S.; Nistoran, D.E.G. Challenges and Opportunities to Overcome The Impact Of COVID-19 Pandemic on Power Engineering Education. TEM J. 2020, 9, 1687–1691. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Yuqi, L.; Ha, N. International Students’ Perspectives on e-Learning During COVID-19 in Higher Education in Australia: A Study of an Asian Student. Electron. J. E-Learn. 2021, 19, 241–251. [Google Scholar]
- Hogan, O.; Charles, M.B.; Kortt, M.A. Business education in Australia: COVID-19 and beyond. J. High. Educ. Policy Manag. 2021, 43, 559–575. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Australian Government Department of Health. Coronavirus (COVID-19) Case Numbers and Statistics. Available online: https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/coronavirus-covid-19-case-numbers-and-statistics#covid19-summary-statistics (accessed on 8 August 2021).
- Ramos-Pla, A.; del Arco, I.; Flores Alarcia, Ò. University Professor Training in Times of COVID-19: Analysis of Training Programs and Perception of Impact on Teaching Practices. Educ. Sci. 2021, 11, 684. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- del Arco, I.; Silva, P.; Flores, O. University Teaching in Times of Confinement: The Light and Shadows of Compulsory Online Learning. Sustainability 2021, 13, 375. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- del Arco, I.; Flores, Ò.; Ramos-Pla, A. Structural Model to Determine the Factors That Affect the Quality of Emergency Teaching, According to the Perception of the Student of the First University Courses. Sustainability 2021, 13, 2945. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Petchamé, J.; Iriondo, I.; Villegas, E.; Riu, D.; Fonseca, D. Comparing Face-to-Face, Emergency Remote Teaching and Smart Classroom: A Qualitative Exploratory Research Based on Students’ Experience during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Sustainability 2021, 13, 6625. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Baltà-Salvador, R.; Olmedo-Torre, N.; Peña, M.; Renta-Davids, A.-I. Academic and emotional effects of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic on engineering students. Educ. Inf. Technol. 2021, 26, 7407–7434. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Cifuentes-Faura, J.; Obor, D.O.; To, L.; Al-Naabi, I. Cross-cultural impacts of COVID-19 on higher education learning and teaching practices in Spain, Oman, Nigeria and Cambodia: A cross-cultural study. J. Univ. Teach. Learn. Pract. 2021, 18, 8. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- WHO. World Health Organization (WHO) Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. Available online: https://covid19.who.int/ (accessed on 8 August 2021).
- Estrada, J.G.; Prasolova-Førland, E. Running an XR lab in the context of COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons learned from a Norwegian university. Educ. Inf. Technol. 2022, 27, 773–789. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Rassudov, L.; Korunets, A. COVID-19 Pandemic Challenges for Engineering Education. In Proceedings of the 2020 XI International Conference on Electrical Power Drive Systems (ICEPDS), Saint Petersburg, Russia, 4–7 October 2020; pp. 1–3. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Seryakova, S.B.; Zhang, X.; Galustyan, O.V.; Askhadullina, N.N.; Pushkareva, T.V.; Zvonova, E.V. Application of Online Learning within Education of Future Engineers during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int. J. Eng. Pedagog. (IJEP) 2022, 12, 95–103. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Steed, A.; Ortega, F.R.; Williams, A.S.; Kruijff, E.; Stuerzlinger, W.; Batmaz, A.U.; Won, A.S.; Rosenberg, E.S.; Simeone, A.L.; Hayes, A. Evaluating immersive experiences during COVID-19 and beyond. Interactions 2020, 27, 62–67. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Khan, Z.H.; Abid, M.I. Distance learning in engineering education: Challenges and opportunities during COVID-19 pandemic crisis in Pakistan. Int. J. Electr. Eng. Educ. 2021, 0020720920988493. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Giorgio, M.; van’t Land, H. The Impact of COVID-19 on Global Higher Education. Int. High. Educ. 2020, 102, 7–9. [Google Scholar]
- Santos, H. COVID-19 Lockdown Effects on Student Grades of a University Engineering Course: A Psychometric Study. IEEE Trans. Educ. 2021, 1–9. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Pokhrel, S.; Chhetri, R. A literature review on impact of COVID-19 pandemic on teaching and learning. High. Educ. Future 2021, 8, 133–141. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Marques, B.; Silva, S.S.; Alves, J.; Araujo, T.; Dias, P.M.; Santos, B.S. A Conceptual Model and Taxonomy for Collaborative Augmented Reality. IEEE Trans. Vis. Comput. Graph. 2021, 1. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Toquero, C.M. Challenges and Opportunities for Higher Education amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Philippine Context. Pedagog. Res. 2020, 5, em0063. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Karahoca, D.; Zaripova, Z.F.; Bayanova, A.R.; Chikileva, L.S.; Lyalyaev, S.V.; Baoyun, X. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Students’ Opinions on Distance Education in Department of Engineering. Int. J. Eng. Pedagog. (IJEP) 2022, 12, 4–19. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Alismaiel, O.A.; Cifuentes-Faura, J.; Al-Rahmi, W.M. Social Media Technologies Used for Education: An Empirical Study on TAM Model During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Front. Educ. 2022, 7, 280. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Park, J.J.; Park, M.; Jackson, K.; Vanhoy, G. Remote Engineering Education Under COVID-19 Pandemic Environment. Int. J. Multidiscip. Perspect. High. Educ. 2020, 5, 160–166. Available online: https://ojed.org/jimphe (accessed on 13 August 2021). [CrossRef]
- Kanetaki, Z.; Stergiou, C.; Bekas, G.; Troussas, C.; Sgouropoulou, C. Analysis of Engineering Student Data in Online Higher Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int. J. Eng. Pedagog. (IJEP) 2021, 11, 27–49. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Crawford, J.; Cifuentes-Faura, J. Sustainability in Higher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review. Sustainability 2022, 14, 1879. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Yu, Y.; She, R.; Luo, S.; Xin, M.; Li, L.; Wang, S.; Ma, L.; Tao, F.; Zhang, J.; Zhao, J.; et al. Factors Influencing Depression and Mental Distress Related to COVID-19 Among University Students in China: Online Cross-sectional Mediation Study. J. Med. Internet Res. 2021, 8, e22705. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Satar, N.S.M.; Dastane, O.; Morshidi, A.H. E-learning Satisfaction during COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown: Analyzing Key Mediators. Int. J. Manag. Account. Econ. 2021, 8, 542–559. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Faura-Martínez, U.; Lafuente-Lechuga, M.; Cifuentes-Faura, J. Sustainability of the Spanish university system during the pandemic caused by COVID-19. Educ. Rev. 2021, 645–663. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sobral, S.R.; Jesus-Silva, N.; Cardoso, A.; Moreira, F. EU27 Higher Education Institutions and COVID-19, Year 2020. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 5963. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Focus Area, Country, [Reference] | COVID-19 Challenges | Actions Taken/Suggested |
---|---|---|
Stress among University students, China [36] | Online learning may elevate mental distress and depression symptoms (due to factors like; isolation, social distancing, and discrimination). | Necessary intervention is required to modify the factors to reduce distress and depression. |
Remote Engineering Education, USA [33] | Transitioning to remote learning in a very short time puts challenges to instructors and students. Lab-based courses are a real challenge Lack of face-to-face interaction developed negative emotions and anxiety among students | Providing a positive learning experience to students |
Engineering Education, Moscow, Russia [22] | Engineering education is forced to change as fast as ever before. Operating hardware or lab-based work was not possible. | Adopts legal norms, getting familiar with the novel means, improve the workplace to improve learning outcomes. Implementation of digital twin concept. |
Engineering Education, Pakistan [25] | Engineering education impacted to implement of the theory in lab work Transforming all face-to-face learning activities to online mode. Adapting to online mode is challenging for academics and students | Designing course targeting for online teaching The virtual classroom can create an environment for interaction University should provide the necessary infrastructure, training, and policy guideline for standards of online teaching |
Education system, Bhutan [28] | Accessibility to the internet and online resources Affordability of online resources Lack of supervision or guidance Authentic assessment and timely feedback Suitable place for online study | Online teaching or classroom Recorded video Proper training is required for teaching staff The right policy is required for online infrastructure and staff development for effective pedagogy |
Higher education, Philippines [30] | University and teaching staff are not prepared for online learning | Strengthening the educational planning and health measures in universities can provide an opportunity to continue online learning |
E-learning for international students, Australia [11] | E-learners/online students are likely to feel isolated, disconnected, and emotional instability in the online/virtual learning environment. The satisfaction level of e-learning and e-practice can affect the learning experience/sociocultural conflict of international students in Australia. | Increase conversation with online and international students to maintain quality education under the online method. Further research is required to evaluate the online learning and practice and design online courses considering the special needs of international students (for situations like COVID-19 lockdown). |
Factors of e-learning satisfaction, Malaysia [37] | Student’s willingness to online study is facilitated by online learning stress, IT facility, skill, and cost which also dictate online learning satisfaction. | Development of efficient and effective IT guidelines. Providing adequate training on online learning and enhancing learning management systems. |
Sustainability of the online education system, Spain [38] | Students were not prepared and found online courses difficult to follow. They felt that their academic performance lowered, moreover households required additional funding for home ICT equipment, which was not an affordable option for all | Higher education institutions must ensure inclusive, equitable, and quality education with sustainable activities. |
Academic Training, Spain [14] | Academic training demand increased for online teaching, digital tools, online assessment and design of online courses. The key challenges observed are lack of time for adapting and complexity of online evaluation. | Facilitate continuous training program and developing collaboration among academics for improvement of online teaching. |
Higher education institutions, EU27 [39] | Lack of pedagogical knowledge to transform from traditional mode to distance mode dependence on teaching platforms, technology, and the relationship between student, teacher, and other staffs. | Change or update pedagogical strategy and rethink the processes and adapt with the new normal condition. |
Student’s role in online engineering education, Global [6] | Biggest challenge is to figure out an effective way of completing lab work in online mode. The shift to digital or online learning is creating a new form of social division, particularly for disadvantaged and less-privileged students. Changes in education method on an ad-hoc basis creates more inequality. | Virtual labs, and simulations can serve the pedagogical needs although they cannot be a replacement of hands-on experience with real devices. Extra attention is required to maintain access to facilities such as the library. University and government can develop a policy for the education system during and beyond COVID-19. |
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. |
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Arif, M.T.; Shafiullah, G. Exploring Teaching and Learning Experience during COVID-19 Pandemic in Engineering Education. Sustainability 2022, 14, 7501. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127501
Arif MT, Shafiullah G. Exploring Teaching and Learning Experience during COVID-19 Pandemic in Engineering Education. Sustainability. 2022; 14(12):7501. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127501
Chicago/Turabian StyleArif, Mohammad Taufiqul, and GM Shafiullah. 2022. "Exploring Teaching and Learning Experience during COVID-19 Pandemic in Engineering Education" Sustainability 14, no. 12: 7501. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127501
APA StyleArif, M. T., & Shafiullah, G. (2022). Exploring Teaching and Learning Experience during COVID-19 Pandemic in Engineering Education. Sustainability, 14(12), 7501. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127501