ABSTRACT
Fluid Mechanics is a fundamental core course in mechanical engineering curricula that covers the motion of fluids (liquids and gases), internal flows (flows in pipes/ducts), external flows (flow around vehicles and aircraft, river flow, etc.), and flow vector fields which require higherorder math skills to master. We have taught the undergraduate fluid mechanics course in hybrid modality with active in-class learning before the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the COVID-19 pandemic required the instruction to move to the remote format in the middle of the Spring2020 semester, we have started a new open Courseware website and a new YouTube channel and hosted 200+ lecture videos totaling 45 hours of undergraduate fluid mechanics class and prerequisite differential equations content and continued the active learning exercises via synchronous remote sessions. This paper discusses how the transition was accomplished and how the synchronous remote sessions were handled for continued active learning exercises for 100+ students enrolled in the class in spring 2020 and beyond. We also distributed a survey on students and inquired about how the student perception and learning effectiveness of active remote learning exercises vs. active in-class exercises. The students overall appreciated the availability of lecture videos and preferred to watch the lecture videos directly from YouTube as opposed to the Learning Management system. The majority of students found the effort to be more for remote instruction, as they found more responsibility has been placed on them. As a result, around 80% of students either preferred in-class active learning or were not sure for the Spring2020 semester. The percentage of students preferring online instruction increased for the Summer 2020 and Fall2020 semesters. As an example, just slightly over 50 percent of the students preferred in-class instruction as of the Fall2020 semester. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021