2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Student Perceptions of Online Learning Effectiveness during the COVID-19 Quarantine

Presented at Multidisciplinary Engineering Division (MULTI) Technical Session 5

Limited studies exist examining the effect of the initial COVID-19 quarantine on engineering education, and those available tend to be limited to a single engineering discipline. This paper examines student perceptions of the learning experience in the emergency situation presented by the COVID-19 pandemic across four engineering disciplines. Student surveys were administered during the first and last week of the change from in-person to online instruction for 12 engineering classes, comprising five different instructors, at an undergraduate institution in the United States. A paired t-test analysis was performed to determine if pre- and post-survey mean results were significantly different for the whole group, and various genders, majors, and years of study. Results indicate that while some improvement in perception was shown, students maintained either an undecided or negative perception of the online educational environment. Significant difference between pre- and post-survey responses were seen with regards to the perception of grades, ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems, and ability to function effectively on a team, with the latter two learning outcomes scoring lowest in the pre-surveys. In addition to the survey analysis, lessons learned and recommendations for effective online education are discussed. As online education becomes more popular and in some cases more necessary, it is important to understand the impact on engineering education, particularly in situations of forced distance education. This study provides insight into the challenges that come with emergency online instruction and could drive decisions on priorities for in-person learning environments.

Authors

Dr. Shannon L. Isovitsch Parks, P.E. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8479-1756 University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown [biography]

Dr. Shannon Parks is a registered Professional Engineer with 20 years of broad-based experience in the water resources and environmental engineering fields. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University and a Masters of Science and doctoral degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. She has been teaching water resources and environmental engineering at University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown since 2016. Prior to joining University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Dr. Parks’ worked for over seven years at the Alcoa Technical Center focusing on development and commercialization of sustainable wastewater treatment and solid waste reuse technologies. She also served as a member of the Alcoa Foundation Board of Directors, providing environmental expertise to support the Foundation’s focus areas of Environment, Empowerment, and Education, as well as her experience with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for women. Prior to joining Alcoa, Dr. Parks worked for approximately seven years as a consultant to government agencies, municipalities, and industrial clients performing water resources engineering design and permitting. In addition to her corporate experience, Dr. Parks served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali, West Africa, supporting a local Non-Governmental Organization on water sanitation projects.
Dr. Kurt Klavuhn University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown
Dr. Tumkor Serdar Wentworth Institute of Technology [biography]

Serdar Tumkor is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Dr. Tumkor has more than 30 years of experience in education, having taught at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Istanbul Technical University.
He has been lecturing Manufacturing Processes, Machine Component Design, Engineering Design, Modeling and Simulation, and Computer-Aided Technical Drawing courses. He specialized in design and simulation tools for engineering education, CAD/CAM, and additive manufacturing applications for mechanical engineering.
Laura M. Wieserman University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown [biography]

Dr. Wieserman is an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. She received her PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA in 2016. Prior to working at the University, she was a Systems Engineer focusing on electronic design, RF analysis, antenna modeling, radar simulation, and renewable energy system design and management. Her current research interests include transient photovoltaic inverter modeling, micro-grid design, monitoring of advanced composite designs, and pedagogical methods and strategies.

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