Implementation of PjBL With Remote Lab Enhances the Professional Skills of Engineering Students

Abstract

<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Contribution:</i> This article describes one approach to foster technical skills (Digital Electronics) and professional skills (critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and collaboration) for Computer Engineering students in a fully remote way. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Background:</i> Engineering competencies development requires practical activities. Besides the technical skills, professional skills such as communication are necessary in the workplace. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Intended Outcomes:</i> When compared to face-to-face offering, the fully remote course must have no statistically relevant differences in terms of student performance. The course must also support the enhancement of professional skills (e.g., collaboration). <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Application Design:</i> This study presents a comparison of the face-to-face (one year) and the fully remote (two years) Digital Electronics lab offerings. A course organization framework is proposed with two blocks: 1) controlled experiments and 2) projects in groups of two students. The study investigates how Project-Based Learning and Peer Assessment are perceived by students in the fully remote offering. A total of 110 students participated in the years 2019 (face-to-face), 2020, and 2021 (fully remote). <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Findings:</i> Students in the second remote course offering (2021) presented a higher performance in their projects than face-to-face students (2019). Besides the student performance and technical skills development, it was observed that problem solving and collaboration, professional skills could be enhanced according to the students’ perceptions. However, the same did not occur for critical thinking or communication professional skills even with the Peer Assessment and project pitches. The main concern is the high workload for students.