E-learning in Engineering Education: Challenges and Solutions

Dear Colleagues,

The COVID-19 outbreak has moved traditional education to the online one. Although this move, the e-learning, is regarded as a positive development to avoiding total or partial interruption of studies, educators are facing many challenges to keep the standard of education similar to what it used to with the traditional educational system. Engineering education in one of the most educational system facing challenges imposed by the COVID-19 situation. Following the closing of engineering faculties, educators are struggling to find proficient ways to conduct properly engineering lessons and laboratories online. More specifically, it is difficult to certify that online learning can equip our future engineering graduates with the required and necessary skills, described below, to fit later on professionally in the industry.

1. Engineering problem solving, which means being able to effectively address a variety of problems, including open-ended problems, using the particular skills engendered in electrical and electronic engineering, and, if necessary, being able to extend these skills to achieve appropriate solutions creatively and innovatively;

2. Application of fundamental and specialist knowledge, i.e., applying knowledge of mathematics and the fundamentals of science and engineering to analyze and to design systems according to given specifications employing an appropriate mixture of acquired skills;

3. Engineering design, i.e., interpreting and analyzing a problem in order to design and apply appropriate design tools and processes either individually, or in support of other engineers, and to apply appropriate techniques for the acquisition and interpretation of data, exercise sound judgement and to communicate pertinent aspects of the work, or supply the appropriate documentation related to this work;

4. Investigations, experiments and data analysis, i.e., designing and applying a process to meet experimental needs, to analyze and interpret the acquired data and present the results with conclusions in such a way that it is clear and useful to others;

5. Engineering methods, skills and tools, including information technology, i.e., designing, modeling, and simulating systems and associated software where applicable according to specific needs, with due consideration of economics, business management, health and safety issues and ecology, either individually, or as a member of a team;

6. Professional and technical communication, i.e., communicating effectively across a broad spectrum of society, from superiors to lay people, in a clear and concise manner, either orally or in written or in other appropriate format;

7. Impact of engineering activity on society and the environment, i.e., being conscious of the impact of engineering in general on society and the environment, and the role of electrical and electronic technologies in shaping the services, processes and products, which can be provided for the benefit of that society and strive to reduce detrimental impacts on the environment;

8. Individual, team, and multidisciplinary working, i.e., working individually or in a team across disciplinary boundaries to apply electrical and electronic techniques to a variety of diverse projects, and to perform a leadership role either at the project or administrative level as required;

9. Independent learning ability, i.e., being able, In the rapidly changing and expanding field of electrical and electronic engineering, to equip themselves with the necessary skills to keep abreast of the field and understanding the need to do so, and thus also being able to participate in the activities of professional organizations and continued professional development to better serve societal needs in a professional manner;

10. Engineering professionalism, i.e., being aware of the demands and expectations of the engineering profession in general, and electrical and electronic engineering in particular, as this relates to behavior, knowing theirlimits of competence, making ethical decisions, and principles of leadership. 

In this Special Issue, we are particularly interested in authors identifying and reporting research on the critical issue of the impact of online teaching and learning on engineering education quality. For this Special Issue to be published in 2020, we invite manuscripts to be submitted for review on or before 15 November 2020. Manuscripts will be subject to the process of blind peer review coordinated by the Special Issue Guest Editor. If ten papers or more are published, the Special Issue will be made into a digital book and printed out on demand.

Prof. Dr. Eng. Khmaies Ouahada
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Remote teaching
• Delivery of laboratories and workshops online
• Online assessments
• Engineering project supervision
• Student–lecturer communication
• Students engagement
• Academic integrity and ethics
• Quality assurance of engineering standards
• Technical challenges