Exploring Self-directed Learning Among Engineering Undergraduates in the Extensive Online Instruction Environment During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about unprecedented academic disruptions to postsecondary education, including engineering education. A considerable decrease in student motivation became a major issue for online learning during the pandemic. This paper attempts to address these questions: How did the online instruction environment affect engineering students' motivation and self-directed learning? How did these changes, in turn, affect their learning outcomes? We used survey data collected from a large Canadian engineering school and conceptualized self-directed learning from a social cognitive perspective to address these questions. Our findings revealed that students' self-directed learning capabilities mediated the effects of learning environment factors on estimated grades and perceived gains in competency development;and student motivation had both direct and indirect effects on these learning outcomes. In their comments, students ascribed lack of motivation to multiple aspects of the online learning environment and felt that decreased motivation affected their learning. Our analysis demonstrated the significant role of student motivation in an online environment and suggested that the decrease in motivation became a major affective barrier to learning. Thus, the extensive online instruction during the pandemic offered both challenges and opportunities for producing self-directed learners. We recommend that engineering schools implement more interventions to help engineering students enhance their self-directed learning capabilities. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Losing the elearning safety net: Teaching an MBA class without an educational technician

The forced transition caused by the safety lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic imposed “emergency eLearning” on many university faculty members. This transition had many facets including moving away from face-to-face instruction to fully online and hybrid or blended forms of eLearning. For programs that were already leveraging blended teaching, using simultaneous synchronous and asynchronous teaching in the same classroom, the major change was the loss of an educational technician to operate and monitor the technology used for these hybrid teaching models. This paper outlines some of the changes required to navigate this transition and the positive and negative consequences associated with this forced move to eLearning. © 15th International Conference e-Learning, EL 2021 - Held at the 15th Multi-Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems, MCCSIS 2021. All rights reserved.

Emergency elearning during a pandemic: Tales of a forced transition

This paper explores the impact on faculty and students of the forced transition to eLearning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. A review of the literature on eLearning modalities and the issues involved in transitioning from face-to-face instruction is followed by a series of reports on the experiences of 10 faculty in making the change from traditional instruction to various modalities of eLearning. The methodology employed is an adaptation of the grounded theory approach used in sociology. The results indicate that the primary advantages to the transition to eLearning were the flexibility afforded both faculty and students and the ability to continue delivering quality instruction during the pandemic. The primary negatives were the difficulty in engaging students in the new delivery modalities and the significant challenges involved in proctoring exams. Prior experience with online and blended learning on the part of the faculty and students made the transition smoother. © 15th International Conference e-Learning, EL 2021 - Held at the 15th Multi-Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems, MCCSIS 2021. All rights reserved.

Aerosol generation during pulmonary function testing: Monitoring during different testing modalities

Rationale: Severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Countries entered lockdown, restricting medical activities to essential services. Pulmonary function tests (PFT) are crucial for management of lung diseases. With limited data regarding aerosol generation and the risk of disease transmission during PFTs, many laboratories closed. Our objective is to quantify aerosol generation during different PFT modalities. Methods: We measured aerosol particles in the 0.3-10.0 µm range with an Optical Particle Sizer (Model 3330;TSI Incorporated) and collected bioaerosols to detect respiratory pathogens during clinically indicated PFTs at a hospital-based laboratory during 2 time points in 2020. Results: We monitored 81 and 41 individual multi-modality PFT sessions in June/July and December, respectively. Slow vital capacity, forced vital capacity and diffusion capacity generated higher aerosol counts compared to pre- and post-test room levels although all modalities were lower than during talking or coughing. The aerosol sizes generated were primarily 2.5-10 µm. Oscillometry generated higher overall concentrations than room sampling, also primarily in the 2.5-10 µm aerosols. The bioaerosol filters revealed no respiratory viruses or bacteria. Conclusions: While PFT can generate aerosols, it is less than normal speech with the exception of PFT-induced coughing. Our findings suggest the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission is not increased and support the re-opening of PFT laboratories that adhere to universal masking, use of personal protective equipment and stringent infection control protocols. We strongly endorse adherence to public health guidelines in the operation of PFT laboratories.