Online Engineering Education Research Articles

Lab@Home: The Open University of Catalonia Hands-on Electronics Laboratory for Online Engineering Education

Practical experimentation is essential for electronics learning. As the acquisition of practical and professional competences in full online scenario is concerned, it is very relevant the use of technology that allows students to carry out hands-on experiments. This paper presents Lab@Home, the Open University of Catalonia (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, UOC, Barcelona, Spain) hands-on electronics laboratory, which allows online students to carry out practical experiments anywhere and anytime at a reduced cost and with good portability characteristics. Lab@Home features and students satisfaction are analyzed during six consecutive semesters in two different subjects by means of a self-administered questionnaire, showing the benefits of using Lab@Home in the acquisition of the subjects contents and gathering how could be improved students learning experience by using this kind of electronics laboratory.

Stress, frustration, boredom, and fatigue in online engineering education during the pandemic

Stress, frustration, boredom, and fatigue in online engineering education during the pandemic

Challenges of Online Higher Education in the Face of the Sustainability Objectives of the United Nations: Carbon Footprint, Accessibility and Social Inclusion

This article analyses three of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) gathered by the 2030 Agenda and adopted by the United Nations, and how online educational models may help to reach these goals. Specifically, the three goals discussed through this article are: (i) Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all (Goal 4); (ii) reduce inequality within and among countries (Goal 10); and (iii) take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (Goal 13). This work delves fundamentally into aspects related to online engineering education, such as the impact of the carbon footprint in online education, the reduction of geographical barriers and the social gap, and the complete online accessibility to the educational environment. Finally, this article presents the case of the International University of La Rioja with its 100% online methodology, and approximately 42,000 students distributed throughout the world. This institution is supported by tools that facilitate engineering training for people with reduced mobility and who are geographically dispersed, reducing the carbon footprint through remote training.

Fuzzy Logic for Refining the Evaluation of Learners’ Performance in Online Engineering Education

Intelligent tutoring systems have been widely used for optimizing the educational process by creating a student-centered learning environment. As a matter of fact, an integral part of intelligent tutoring systems is the evaluation of the learners’ performance. In traditional learning, the instructors calculate the grade of the students derived from the assessment units and other factors, such as the difficulty of the exercises or their effort, in order to produce the final students’ score in the course. However, in most cases, the evaluation of learners’ performance in intelligent tutoring systems takes place by calculating an average grade of students without taking into account the aforementioned factors. In view of the above, this paper presents a novel way for refining the evaluation of students’ performance using fuzzy logic. As a testbed for our research, we have designed and implemented an intelligent tutoring system holding social networking characteristic for teaching the engineering course of “Compilers”. More specifically, the system is responsible for acquiring information about students such as their grades, the kinds of misconceptions, the level of tests’ difficulty as well as their effort including their social interaction, i.e. participation in forums, making comments in posts and posting regarding the educational process. Taking these into consideration, fuzzy logic model diagnoses the accuracy of students’ grade and the system suggests that the instructor redefine students’ grade properly. Our system was evaluated using t-test and the results show high accuracy and objectivity in the evaluation of students’ performance.

Fuzzy Logic for Refining the Evaluation of Learners’ Performance in Online Engineering Education

Intelligent tutoring systems have been widely used for optimizing the educational process by creating a student-centered learning environment. As a matter of fact, an integral part of intelligent tutoring systems is the evaluation of the learners’ performance. In traditional learning, the instructors calculate the grade of the students derived from the assessment units and other factors, such as the difficulty of the exercises or their effort, in order to produce the final students’ score in the course. However, in most cases, the evaluation of learners’ performance in intelligent tutoring systems takes place by calculating an average grade of students without taking into account the aforementioned factors. In view of the above, this paper presents a novel way for refining the evaluation of students’ performance using fuzzy logic. As a testbed for our research, we have designed and implemented an intelligent tutoring system holding social networking characteristic for teaching the engineering course of “Compilers”. More specifically, the system is responsible for acquiring information about students such as their grades, the kinds of misconceptions, the level of tests’ difficulty as well as their effort including their social interaction, i.e. participation in forums, making comments in posts and posting regarding the educational process. Taking these into consideration, fuzzy logic model diagnoses the accuracy of students’ grade and the system suggests that the instructor redefine students’ grade properly. Our system was evaluated using t-test and the results show high accuracy and objectivity in the evaluation of students’ performance.

A systemic approach to leveraging student engagement in collaborative learning to improve online engineering education

Online higher education is transformative and quite different from residential college education. Lacking effective and consistent pedagogical engagement has been criticised for a high drop-out rate in the online education in general. This study aims to find a solution to facilitate learning engagement in an online engineering education setting. By relying on the known knowledge in the pedagogies of engagement in college education, this paper proposes a systemic framework for promoting positive online students' learning engagement. Different from empirical studies of conducting hypothesis tests, we show a practical and model-driven approach to assessing and enhancing problem-based collaborative teaching/learning practices. The proposed framework is explored through both a pilot test and a confirming test. Rules of thumb are identified and generalised, which could be used to help students/instructors retune their collaborative practices in a proactive manner for retaining positive and effective learning engagement in an online engineering education setting.

A systemic approach to leveraging student engagement in collaborative learning to improve online engineering education

Online higher education is transformative and quite different from residential college education. Lacking effective and consistent pedagogical engagement has been criticised for a high drop-out rate in the online education in general. This study aims to find a solution to facilitate learning engagement in an online engineering education setting. By relying on the known knowledge in the pedagogies of engagement in college education, this paper proposes a systemic framework for promoting positive online students' learning engagement. Different from empirical studies of conducting hypothesis tests, we show a practical and model-driven approach to assessing and enhancing problem-based collaborative teaching/learning practices. The proposed framework is explored through both a pilot test and a confirming test. Rules of thumb are identified and generalised, which could be used to help students/instructors retune their collaborative practices in a proactive manner for retaining positive and effective learning engagement in an online engineering education setting.

Development of Online Engineering Education System using Webbased Computational Science Platform

Development of Online Engineering Education System using Webbased Computational Science Platform

Computational simulations as virtual laboratories for online engineering education: A case study in the field of thermoelectricity

ABSTRACTComputational simulations, which are also expert tools, can be used as virtual laboratories for supporting inquiry‐based learning in engineering education. However, little is known of what are effective ways to implement them, particularly for online learning. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of computational simulations for student understanding of thermoelectric devices in an advanced online course. Learning gains, instructional support effect, and student perceptions about the course were investigated. Students significantly increased their understanding of thermoelectric devices concepts; however, they did not master the associated learning objectives. The instructional support materials in the form of guided assignments and exam practice did not have an effect on student learning gains. Thus, further research is needed to investigate what are effective ways to support learning of advanced topics with computational tools. On the other hand, student perceptions about the simulations were overall positive. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 24:428–442, 2016; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21721

On-Line Engineering Education with Emphasis on Application of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom proposed the taxonomy of thinking skills. The thinking skills are defined at six levels, specified as Level 1 (Remembering), Level 2 (Understanding), Level 3 (Applying), Level 4 (Analysis), Level 5 (Evaluation) and Level 6 (Creating). The first three levels are generally classified as low order learning skills and next three levels are often referred as critical thinking/Higher order skills. American Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) [1] enlists that curriculum should be aligned to the specified Graduate Attributes. The alignment of Graduate Attributes mandates that the Teaching Learning Process be designed to be Outcome Based as enshrined in the objectives of Outcome Based Education (OBE). The Washington Accord [2] and other National Protocols like National Board of Accreditation (NBA) [3] have stressed the need for Outcome Based Education in Engineering spectrum. The OBE stipulates that the students after passing out from the selected programme, will be equipped with the outcomes stated for this programme. The OBE necessitates the implementation of all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy in the Teaching-Learning Process as applicable to Engineering education to achieve the resultant outcomes. The present System of teaching the courses using only the and method does not afford enough time to implement all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. At the maximum, only the first three levels can be implemented. The teachers are finding it difficult to apply next three levels due to the paucity of time. As a result of this, the students are being denied exposure to Critical Thinking/ Higher order skills, thus adversely impacting the important outcomes. It is imperative that the and method of teaching be complimented with On-line Engineering Education. The Online Engineering education coupled with Chalk and Talk method will allow the implementation of all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy in the Engineering curriculum thus fulfilling the objectives of OBE can be possible.

Modes and Implications of International Online Engineering Ethics Education: Reflections on the Experiences of Several Universities

Considering China's need to strengthen/for strengthingengineering ethics education and the rapid development of online education, this paper introduces the current status of online engineering education in several foreign countriesanalyzes the modes of online engineering ethics education adopted by universities such as the University of Nebraska, Indiana University, Virginia Tech, and Deakin Universit andpoints out that their basic format involves the use of independent modules and discussion forums and their main characteristic is the emphasis on active learning, self-directedness, and interaction, and evaluates the effectiveness of such education. These foreign experiences have implications for Chinese engineering ethics education: China should strengthen engineering ethics education, promote innovative teaching methods including the shift from teacher-centeredness to learner-centeredness, consider postgraduate and continuing education as the first target of online engineering education, use discussion as a major educational strategy, provide support at the university level, and train teachers and students before class starts. All these measure can be used as references to facilitate universities in China in using online education as a new means to promote engineering ethics education.

Developing Cultural Competencies through Transnational Learning Experiences in Active Online Learning Environments

In todayâ??s world cultural competency becomes more and more important in order to act successfully in the modern economy. Nevertheless it is often difficult to engage students in immersive international experiences that develop inter-cultural awareness. Especially undergraduate engineering students have to deal with packed curricula with little or no room for languages and an often unforgiving structure that puts them a year out of course sequences if they do travel for a study abroad. In this paper, we examine how an online engineering education can be a transformational factor in this challenge. We present a joint online engineering course designed and implemented by the University of Virginia (UVa) and the TU Dortmund University (TU) with students from both countries. In addition to the course concept itself we explain our findings on student interaction throughout the course.

Implementing a new approach for the design of an e‐learning platform in engineering education

ABSTRACTModern corporations, institutions, universities and schools consider e‐education as a way of educating larger groups of students in less time and of reducing the use of various resources. Since setting up a web‐system for e‐education requires a significant amount of time, as well as the necessity of having a computer and other resources, the assessment of the goals and desired effects of the online system should be made in the preparation phase. It is important to highlight that only putting course contents on the web, without using appropriate pedagogical models and principles, without appropriate means of communication between participants and instructors and without the use of modern information technologies to present the learning content is not enough to fulfil educational goals. It should be noted that, after the substantial initial investment and excitement about the possibilities of e‐education, many sources of difficulty and dissatisfaction regarding online learning have emerged. Most e‐learning studies propose possible improvements in course material, with little attempt to explore the learners' dimension, context, pedagogical considerations or technology aspects. In this article, we have analysed the aspects that need to be considered when designing an e‐learning platform for engineering education and we have proposed a methodology, based on the Quality Function Deployment approach, useful for the preparation phase of distance learning systems. Finally, we have explained the impact of new information technologies (Web3D technologies) on online engineering education and highlighted how these tools have been implemented in the e‐learning platforms for mechanical engineering that we have developed.© 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 22:708–727, 2014; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21564

Guest Editorial: The Many Facets of Remote Laboratories in Online Engineering Education

The nine papers in this special issue focus on the many facets of remote laboratories in online engineering education.

Online Engineering Education: Learning Anywhere, Anytime

The emergence of worldwide communications networks and powerful computer technologies has redefined the concept of distance learning and the delivery of engineering education content. This article discusses the Sloan Consortium’s quest for quality, scale, and breadth in online learning, the impact on both continuing education of graduate engineers as well as degree-seeking engineering students, and the future of engineering colleges and schools as worldwide providers of engineering education.