2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Scholarly research indicates that classroom environment and conditions influence the degree of student learning, levels of engagement, and overall success in engineering education. In the wake of COVID-19, educational institutions transitioned to fully online delivery that disrupted traditional and effective channels of communication enacted in classroom contexts. For a substantial number of faculty members, this rapid transition to a fully remote instructional context marked the start a novel style of teaching and learning environment, a grand departure from the traditional, direct face-to-face setting. Such rapid and disruptive change required creative solutions to routinized instructional practices and compelling faculty to adjust and/or adopt various communication strategies to address challenges such as the lack of academic resources, and established campus practices that promote effective learning. Over the last two years, researchers have engaged in numerous studies to learn more about how this transition has impacted both teaching and learning in higher education. In this study, students enrolled two engineering courses in a public, minority-serving institution in Texas, were surveyed to understand their academic experiences during the period of remote instruction and provide valuable insight and assistance to identify pedagogical strengths as well as areas of opportunities for faculty members who are or will be offering online courses. The survey particularly focused on capturing various instructional and pedagogical supports and approaches such as course expectations, lecture format, assignments, office hours, and student accommodations. Results indicate that faculty members were effectively able to encourage students to contact them if they had questions regarding coursework and assignments. Similarly, a large percentage of students reported that their instructors were receptive to their learning needs. At a microlevel, however, the data revealed certain areas in which instructors can make efforts to enhance current communication and instructional practices. One was the consistency for faculty to effectively communicate course expectations, while half of the students were not able to remain engaged during lecture sessions due to the absence of faculty-student interaction.