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In this research brief, we present our methods research on beginning to define engineering judgment. Judgment is critical to the field of engineering. However, when asked to define engineering judgment, engineers, including faculty, often cannot readily do so. Although judgment is a common term, it has been an elusive notion. This elusiveness may be due to the many conceptions of engineering judgment found in the literature. Unfortunately, given the lack of an agreed-upon, concrete definition for engineering judgment that integrates the various conceptions, its assessment relative to the formation of engineers has been limited. In this research brief, we describe our process to begin the development of an expert, consensus-driven definition for engineering judgment using the Delphi technique and the various conceptions for engineering judgment in the literature. A working or preliminary definition, which is being used to develop assessment and instructional materials for engineering judgment, is presented. 

In this study, flipped instruction in an undergraduate engineering course in the ‘COVID’ online, remote environment was conducted and compared to onsite flipped instruction (i.e. pre-COVID) to explore potential changes in student perceptions. Student perceptions were gathered via survey instruments and investigated further through instructor interviews. This analysis was done at three universities and made possible by extensive research with the flipped classroom at these three schools as part of a previous NSF-funded study between 2014 and 2016. Results gathered in the online remote setting suggest positive changes in student perceptions of flipped instruction compared to the onsite environment, including the decreased perception of the ‘load’ imposed by the flipped classroom and the ‘effort‘’ required. Some desirable outcomes remained unchanged in the remote setting. The recent and emerging literature has suggested the remote, online environment dictated by the pandemic may be beneficial for flipped teaching and learning. These and other findings from conducting flipped classrooms at three engineering schools in the online environment are presented, including perceptions of the classroom environment (via the College and University Environment Inventory), benefits and drawbacks identified, student motivation levels, and perceived learning.