TY - JOUR
T1 - The alteration in learning attitude of Engineering students due to instruction modality change caused by COVID-19 social environmental restrictions
AU - Zhang, Yang
AU - Granda-Marulanda, Nelson A.
AU - Ritenour, Andrew
AU - Ahsan, A. M.M.Nazmul
AU - Sezer, Hayri
AU - Ferguson, Chip W.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© American Society for Engineering Education, 2021
PY - 2021/7/26
Y1 - 2021/7/26
N2 - Given the ongoing and unprecedented situation that COVID-19 has brought to higher education, and like many other Engineering Schools and Colleges across the U.S., during the Fall term of 2020, the College of Engineering and Technology (CET) at Western Carolina University (WCU) modified their traditional method of instruction, from a face-to-face method to a broadly defined hybrid and online instruction (both synchronous and asynchronous) methods. The engineering students at WCU, a regional comprehensive institution with a high first generation population, have chosen this institution because of the high level of interaction and individualized attention offered in the small-size classes during traditional face-to-face instruction. This change in instructional methodology brought challenges that affected both students and faculty. The modality change, along with combined social and environmental factors caused by the pandemic restrictions, has limited the activities among students such as social interaction, facilities availabilities, etc. An observational questionnaire was conducted to better the understanding of the aforementioned influence. This effect is studied by observing the students' attitude towards learning in the different modalities of instruction during the Fall 2020 term. The survey of 26 questions with some open-ended opportunities was distributed to 775 students in the CET. In this paper, the survey analysis was conducted based on how the students responded to those questions. The results present the difference in the attitude of students among different class standings. Additionally, this paper provides some suggestions to help to motivate the students in the circumstance of the pandemic restrictions.
AB - Given the ongoing and unprecedented situation that COVID-19 has brought to higher education, and like many other Engineering Schools and Colleges across the U.S., during the Fall term of 2020, the College of Engineering and Technology (CET) at Western Carolina University (WCU) modified their traditional method of instruction, from a face-to-face method to a broadly defined hybrid and online instruction (both synchronous and asynchronous) methods. The engineering students at WCU, a regional comprehensive institution with a high first generation population, have chosen this institution because of the high level of interaction and individualized attention offered in the small-size classes during traditional face-to-face instruction. This change in instructional methodology brought challenges that affected both students and faculty. The modality change, along with combined social and environmental factors caused by the pandemic restrictions, has limited the activities among students such as social interaction, facilities availabilities, etc. An observational questionnaire was conducted to better the understanding of the aforementioned influence. This effect is studied by observing the students' attitude towards learning in the different modalities of instruction during the Fall 2020 term. The survey of 26 questions with some open-ended opportunities was distributed to 775 students in the CET. In this paper, the survey analysis was conducted based on how the students responded to those questions. The results present the difference in the attitude of students among different class standings. Additionally, this paper provides some suggestions to help to motivate the students in the circumstance of the pandemic restrictions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124504163&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:85124504163
SN - 2153-5965
JO - ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings
JF - ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings
T2 - 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference, ASEE 2021
Y2 - 26 July 2021 through 29 July 2021
ER -