Project’s NSF Page
Investigators
Nathaniel Hunsu, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor of Engineering Education
Dominik May, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor of Engineering Education
Beshoy Morkos, Ph.D. - Associate Professor
Andrew Jackson, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor
Fred Beyette – Professor in UGA’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Grant Details
Funder: NSF: Division of Engineering Education and Centers
Amount: $300,000
Award number: 2032802
Start and end date: August 2020 – July 2024
Abstract
The COVID-19 global health crisis has forced educators to rapidly shift to online instruction methods. While this effort is already difficult for faculty, it is particularly challenging for instructors who have designed a portion of their curricula with hands-on laboratory instruction, as in the case for many STEM courses. To offer the effective education in-person instruction affords, it is important to maintain the same educational and curricular value of laboratories while taking advantage of benefits that online education and online experimentation tools offer. This project will leverage the development and deployment of online labs and integrated online instruction modules to investigate the impact of using an exclusively online instructional mode for a fundamental electrical and computer engineering laboratory course. To reach this goal, the project will answer the following three research questions: A) How do faculty experience a top-down mandated, time-constrained, and rapid transition to exclusively online-based laboratory modules in engineering courses along the continuum of resistance towards the wholesale embrace of educational technologies? B) How does exclusively online laboratory instruction and online experimentation impact students? learning experiences in terms of engagement, investigated through self-regulation and motivation? C) What user experience factors influence the success of introducing exclusively online experimentation activities into engineering courses and curricula?
Publications
May, D., Morkos, B., Jackson, A., Hunsu, N., Ingalls, A., & Beyette Jr., F. R. (accepted). Rapid Transition of Traditionally Hands-On Labs to Online Instruction in Engineering Courses. European Journal of Engineering Education (EJEE).
May, D., Morkos, B., Jackson, A., Beyette, F. R., Hunsu, N., Walther, J., & Ingalls, A. (2021, July). Switching from Hands-on Labs to Exclusively Online Experimentation in Electrical and Computer Engineering Courses. In 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access.