Conference Agenda

In response to COVID-19, education witnessed a rapid shift to online and virtual platforms, our previous research raised questions about the efficacy of these methods for hands-on practice and active learning experiences - crucial elements of engineering education. Emergent solutions like online laboratories and virtual field trips have led to the rise of a hybrid learning era in the post-pandemic context. This change necessitates a reassessment of active learning in hybrid/online engineering education. In this study, we examine recent literature on online and virtual education during and post-COVID-19 to redefine and reevaluate strategies for engaging students actively. We propose using VOSViewer to analyze the occurrence of keywords in post-COVID-19 literature to define a visualization between the interests in research and the content of key papers in situating active learning for hybrid/online education. We analyze the evolution of active learning theory, outline its characteristics in the new era, and propose a literature review focusing on how digital technology can synergize with learning approaches to foster active learning. We also address concerns related to hands-on practice and active learning and discuss innovations developed to mitigate these challenges. Our goal is to provide fresh insights and stimulate further research on enhancing active learning within hybrid/online engineering education in the post-pandemic era.

Generation Z students have grown up with ICT (information and communication technology) and are therefore used to being online more or less simultaneously on different types of media. Universities have different kinds of Learning Management Systems (LMS) with different possibilities for engagement. In the Electrical Engineering B. Eng. program at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) we use a system called Learn. It has features for setting up individual study plans as well as common plans. Features such as surveys, quizzes, peer reviews are built in. We are interested in the students' use of the LMS, their engagement and the relation to their achievement in the examination. The research questions we would like to answer are: How much do the students use Learn? What kind of materials do the students prefer? Is there any correlation between the use of materials on Learn and the grade? Is there any correlation between the score in quizzes and the grade? In this paper, we would like to describe and compare how much students use the materials in two different courses on the 2^nd semester Digital Electronics and Programming (id 62734) and on the 4^th semester Digital Design (id 62711). To answer these questions, we use data from Learn. And we conduct two qualitative surveys, one about students' motivation, (Sekala, A et. al, 2023) and the other one as a part of the final course-evaluations in spring 2023.

The pandemic has accelerated the trend towards online and hybrid learning with many educational institutes pivoting their education to online learning environments and has subsequently transformed societal expectations. There have been many benefits associated with these changes (e.g., multi-dimensional interactions, flexibility and deep learning). As we move into more online education due to changing needs and demands from students, how best to adapt our education for multi-modal learning environments can be a challenge. Getting our education ready for a multi-modal age is bringing about disruptive changes forcing us to rethink what we teach and how we teach it. Thus, the objective of this paper is to present a framework that will allow for the evaluation of curriculums and enable educators to create sustainable, flexible educational environments relevant for multi-modal learning environments while remaining at the forefront of educational needs. In this paper, we present the 5-phase approach that we used to assess our programme and redesign our curriculum. The five phases include: Inventory, Analysis, Evaluation, Design and Implementation. We will present the highlights from our experience and the challenges we have had to overcome. The framework that we present is applicable to different computer science, spatial and data engineering programmes that require a mix of theoretical and hands-on practicals.

At the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, a new cross-campus statistics course for approximately 1000 engineering students was planned for the fall of 2020. Due to the pandemic, digital learning resources were developed to allow students to work from home or campus, individually or collaboratively. These resources include short learning videos, automatically graded exercise sets, and Jupyter Notebooks for Python coding. Since 2020, digital learning resources have been essential for teaching statistics to engineering students across three campuses, and remotely. To help students navigate digital resources, on-campus activities, and assessments, each week of the semester was structured according to specific learning paths. However, asking the students to watch videos and work on exercises before on-campus or digital lectures is no guarantee that they will do so. For this study, we use video and assessment statistics, along with survey results, to determine to what extent the proposed learning paths were followed and the perceived usefulness of the various elements that make up a learning path. In surveys, the engineering students at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology report great satisfaction with videos and digital assignments (along with scaffolding exercises) in the statistics course. By utilising digital user statistics, we observe patterns of engagement with digital resources that are closely tied to the proposed learning paths.