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1. Project-Based Learning: Contrasting Experience Between Traditional Face-to-Face Instruction and Virtual Instruction

   Dofe, J.; Kurwadkar, S. (July 2021, 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference)

   null (Ed.)

   The Introduction to engineering (EGGN-100) is a project-based course offered every fall semester to first-year students with undecided engineering majors at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF). The primary objective of this course is to provide project-based learning (PBL) and introduce these students to major projects in Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, and Computer Engineering projects so that they can make an informed decision about their major. The PBL is an active learning method that aims to engage students in acquiring knowledge and skills through real-world experiences and well-planned project activities in engineering disciplines. The course comprises four team-based unique projects related to Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, and Computer Engineering. The project involves using a variety of engineering tools like AutoCAD, Multisim, and Arduino platforms. For the first time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the hands-on project-based EGGN-100 course was offered virtually. In this research, we document the learning experiences of students who attended EGGN-100 in a traditional face-to-face mode of instruction and students who participated in the same course in a virtual instruction mode. Surveys conducted during seemingly different modes of instruction show varying levels of satisfaction among students. Of the students who attended the course in traditional and instructional instruction mode, 69% and 90% responded that discipline-specific projects enabled them to make an informed decision, and PBL helped them choose their preferred major. Even the percentage of students who believed the PBL helped them make an informed decision about their major, they like to do more hands-on projects and prefer to attend the classes on campus. Students rated higher satisfaction in virtual instructional mode primarily due to the availability of video lectures, self-paced learning, and readily accessible project simulations. Learning by doing would have bought out the challenges and minor nuances of designing and executing an engineering project. Learning by watching is surficial and not necessarily exposes students to minor details that are critical. As such, the significance of this study is that maybe, after all, not all courses can be taught in a virtual environment, and some courses may be strictly taught in a traditional, hands-on instruction mode. We also study the socio-psychological impact of traditional and virtual learning experiences and report the remedies to cope with stress and loneliness in the online learning environment. 

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2. Assessing the Use of Virtual Reality Technology in Teaching Marine Ecological Concepts

   https://doi.org/10.15695/ jstem/v2i1.14  

   Duwan, Emily; Choi, Francis and (August 2019, Journal of STEM outreach)

   Virtual reality environments are becoming increasingly popular as educational tools, but it remains unclear when these environments enhance learning or when they are a distraction from the learning process. We compared two dif- ferent methods for teaching ecological concepts about the rocky intertidal zone by comparing an experimental (virtual) class with a control (traditional) type of class. We investigated whether cognitive (i.e., knowledge) and affective (i.e., attitudes, perceptions) outcomes are enhanced when students use lesson plans presented in a virtual reality environment compared with lesson plans facilitated via traditional methods. We also assessed the extent to which these attributes are enhanced when students create their own virtual tours as part of a field-based learning experience. The experimental group showed significantly higher maintenance of knowledge gain than the traditional group at the conclusion of the study, but there were no other significant differences among treatment groups. Feedback from teachers reported that students were more engaged, had better recall, and enjoyed the change from the traditional lecture style. Lack of statistically different scores measuring excitement suggests a need for improvement in the design and implementation of these virtual environments to maximize their appeal to students. However, our results suggest that virtual reality technologies provide an innovative alternative to standard lesson plans that can help improve knowledge retention about ecological concepts. 

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3. Browser-based simulation for novice-friendly classroom robotics

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2022.1031572  

   Stein, Gordon; Jean, Devin; Brady, Corey; Lédeczi, Ákos (January 2023, Frontiers in Computer Science)

   Robots are a popular and engaging educational tool for teaching computational thinking, but they often have significant costs and limitations for classroom use. Switching to a simulated environment can eliminate many of these difficulties. By also providing students with a block-based programming environment, the barrier to entry can be further reduced. This paper presents a networked virtual robotics platform designed to create an environment which is highly accessible for novice students and their teachers alike, along with components of a curriculum designed to teach computational thinking skills through robotics programming challenges, including autonomous challenges and in-class competitions. Students access this platform through an extension of the same web interface used for programming their robots, which allows students to collaborate on code and view a shared simulated virtual space. Previously, this virtual robotics platform was used only to facilitate distance education. This paper demonstrates its use in an in-person class during the Spring 2022 semester, illustrating the affordances of a virtual robotics environment for face-to-face learning contexts as well. Students' computational thinking skills were evaluated with assessments both before and after the class, along with surveys and interviews given to determine their opinions and outlooks regarding computer science. The results show that students had a significant improvement in both attitudes and aptitudes. 

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4. Impact of Video-Based Analysis-of-Practice Professional Learning: Comparing Online and Face-to-face Models

   Kowalski, S. M.; Belcastro, A.; Hvidsten, C.; Ollison, G.; Askinas, K.; De Vaul, R.; Roehrig, G. (September 2022, Annual Meeting for the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness)

   Video-based analysis of practice models have gained prominence in mathematics and science teacher education inservice professional learning. There is a growing body of evidence that these intensive professional learning (PL) models lead to positive impacts on teacher knowledge, classroom instructional practice, and student learning (Roth et al., 2018; Taylor et al., 2017), but they are expensive and difficult to sustain. An online version would have several benefits, allowing for greater reach to teachers and students across the country, but if online models were substantially less effective, then lower impacts would undercut the benefits of greater accessibility. We designed and studied a fully online version of the face-to-face Science Teachers Learning from Lesson Analysis (STeLLA) PL model (Roth, et al., 2011; Roth et al., 2018; Taylor et al., 2017). We conducted a quasi-experimental study comparing online STeLLA to face-to-face STeLLA. Although we found no significant difference in elementary student learning between the online and face-to-face versions ( p = .09), the effect size raises questions. Exploratory analyses suggest that the impact of online STeLLA on students is greater than the impact of a similar number of hours of traditional, face-to-face content deepening PL, but less than the impact of the full face-to-face STeLLA program. Differences in student populations, with higher percentages of students from racial and ethnic groups underserved by schools in the online STeLLA program, along with testing of the online STeLLA model during the pandemic, complicates interpretation of the findings. 

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5. On Moving a Face-to-Face Flipped Classroom to a Remote Setting

   Autar Kaw (May 2021, 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference)

   Starting in March 2020, the COVID19 pandemic instantly affected the education of 14 million higher education students in the USA. The switch to remote instruction caught instructors and students off guard – teachers had to change their techniques, approaches, and course content rapidly (called “panicgogy”), and students had to adjust to remote instruction in a hurry. Hoping that the pandemic would not last too long, most had expected to return to the regular class format at most by the Fall semester. That expectation was quickly squashed as the summer semester progressed. If one were teaching a face-to-face classroom in a flipped modality, it would be even more challenging to teach a flipped class in an online environment. In this paper, we present how the instructor overhauled a face-to-face flipped class in Numerical Methods to an online environment. This involved 1) rethinking the learning design of the course content via the learning management system, 2) using Microsoft forms as personal response systems, and YouTube for video lectures, 3) not only using break-out rooms for peer-to-peer learning but the “main room” for individual learning as well, 4) exploit the availability of two computers and multiple monitors to deliver and observe the synchronous part of the class, 5) use of discussion boards to streamline the flow of communication that would have otherwise been unwieldy for the instructor, TAs, and students alike, 6) changes made to assessment as it had to be carried online and within a proctoring software environment, 7) changes in the conducting of office hours. The above items will be discussed in the paper, and comparisons of face-to-face and online implementations will be made. The ultimate goal is to present a logic model for a typical lecture-based online flipped STEM classroom for efficient and effective implementation by other instructors. 

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