Abstract
Contribution: This article discusses instructor decisions that support social capital development in an online, asynchronous, team-based introduction to electrical engineering course. Background: Online learning is changing how instructors and students interact with each other and course materials. There is a need to understand how to support students’ social capital development during online engineering courses. Research Questions: What aspects of an online, asynchronous, team-based, introductory electrical engineering course gave students instrumental and expressive social capital? What decisions did the instructor make to support the development of strong and weak social ties? Methodology: A case study approach was used to analyze interview data from the students, instructor, and graduate teaching assistant (TA) from an online course. Findings: The results indicate effective lecture delivery and a team-based format can provide students with instrumental social supports they need to meet learning objectives in an online asynchronous, introduction to electrical engineering course. To facilitate the development of expressive support and stronger ties, instructors should incorporate these goals in their course design decisions.
Highlights
The results indicate effective lecture delivery and a team-based format can provide students with instrumental social supports they need to meet learning objectives in an online asynchronous, introduction to electrical engineering course
The purpose of this study is to investigate ways to support students during online engineering courses through the development of social capital, which is described in the theoretical framework
Results show that students built social capital through weak ties, which consisted of infrequent, less intimate interactions with other members of the course that provided primarily instrumental support needed to achieve the learning objectives of the course
Summary
O VER the last several years, there have been many initiatives to increase online learning opportunities within engineering programs. While the COVID-19 pandemic and associated shift to emergency remote teaching has caused a heightened sense of urgency, online learning is not new to engineering higher education [1]. A study found that in 2002, of the 994 schools surveyed, two-thirds indicated that online learning was a part of their long-term strategic plan [2]. Online learning is changing how instructors and students interact with each other and course materials. There is a need to understand how to support students’ social capital development during online engineering courses. Research Questions: What aspects of an online, asynchronous, team-based, introductory electrical engineering course gave students instrumental and expressive social capital? What decisions did the instructor make to support the development of strong and weak social ties? Research Questions: What aspects of an online, asynchronous, team-based, introductory electrical engineering course gave students instrumental and expressive social capital? What decisions did the instructor make to support the development of strong and weak social ties?
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