Teachers' Appreciation of Benefits and Shortcomings of Online and Blended Higher STEM Education

This paper is devoted to identifying online teaching strategies appropriate for blended and face-to-face higher STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education. The study is inspired by the experience gained during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, which forced many higher education institutions worldwide to shift abruptly to distance education and try many new tools, teaching methods, and strategies. Some of these tools and strategies were abandoned as soon as the lockdown had been lifted and the institutions returned to their regular functioning, but some of them are bound to stay. Certainly, it would be beneficial to include the most valuable of the gained skills and competences in traditional on-campus and blended courses. The study is based on an online questionnaire, addressed to the STEM faculty of the University of Aveiro, Portugal (which is an example of an institution that used to provide face-to-face instruction), whose analysis permits to derive a number of important recommendations. The results are compared with our previous work, where the students' perspectives were analyzed, and similarities and discrepancies in appreciation of the involved parties are highlighted. This work extends the body of knowledge about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on STEM education by examining the challenges and opportunities faced by teachers. The recommendations derived contribute to improving the learning outcomes of online STEM education in many similar institutions.

Building a Digital Bridge Across Cultures and Continents: Exploring New Vistas in Virtual Collaboration

Virtual mobility was a fairly unexplored possibility to connect with overseas partners prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. The years 2020 and 2021 compelled the stakeholders in higher education to explore new vistas in virtual collaboration. This paper presents results of a virtual collaboration that connected Europe, Asia and Africa on cultural exchange, bringing 41 multidisciplinary students and 11 staff members together. The concept was developed as a part of the virtual Alumni Academy of University of Siegen, Germany Digitalisation 20+ on Blended Education by participants from universities in China, Egypt, North Macedonia and Sri Lanka. At the concluding stage of the first phase of the Academy, the participants were assigned to develop projects in different groups on concepts of digital teaching and learning. The students involved in the project selected different cultural themes at the launch and met virtually to prepare one presentation per group to be presented to a live audience six weeks later. Feedback from the students and the staff was gathered at different stages of the project to analyse their perspectives. The experience gathered during the project brought to light that such virtual collaboration is significant in promoting intercultural communication, understanding across borders and enhancing digital prowess. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Teachers' and students' perceptions and practices in promoting a sense of community for blended education

Blended learning is not a new concept, but has attracted increased interest among higher education institutions in preparing for future education. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many teachers have gained extensive experience with online and digital education. Yet, maintaining social engagement amongst and with students, while motivating them to actively participate in their learning, remains a momentous challenge for teachers working in a blended learning environment [1]. Poor social interactions cause a negative impact on the quality of blended learning [2], culminating in students feeling lonely, isolated, and losing motivation [3]. As such, a sense of community will be crucial, but may be difficult to achieve due to limited physical classroom time. This study addresses students' and teachers' viewpoints, and seeks to answer the question: What are the perceptions and practices of students and teachers regarding promoting a sense of community in a blended learning environment? A qualitative methodology is utilized, including non-participant observation, document analysis, and interviews for data collection and analysis. Firstly, the findings of this study enhance our understanding of teachers' perceptions, practices, and challenges for cultivating SoC. Secondly, this study provides information for professional development of teachers that carry out blended education. Finally, we hope this study can support higher education institutions in preparing and reshaping for the future. © 2022 SEFI 2022 - 50th Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education, Proceedings. All rights reserved.

Impact Prediction of Online Education During COVID-19 Using Machine Learning: A Case Study

The transition from traditional to online education is challenging and has many obstacles in various situations. Due to the Covid-19 situation, we use digital blended education from the traditional system. However, in some cases, it can harm our student's academic performance. In this research, we aim to identify the factors that impact the student's academic performance in online education. On the other hand, this study also finds the student Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) fluctuation using machine learning classifiers. To achieve this, we survey to gather data perspective of Bangladesh private university, and this data allows us to analyze and classify using machine learning techniques such as Logistic Regression (LR), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Gaussian Naive Bayes (GNB), Decision Tree (DT), and Random Forest (RF). This study finds Random Forest (RF) outperforms the other state-of-art classifiers. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Implementation of a Student-Teacher-Based Blended Curriculum for the Training of Medical Students for Nasopharyngeal Swab and Intramuscular Injection: Mixed Methods Pre-Post and Satisfaction Surveys.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic caused a major disruption in the health care sector with increased workload and the need for new staff to assist with screening and vaccination tasks. Within this context, teaching medical students to perform intramuscular injections and nasal swabs could help address workforce needs. Although several recent studies discuss medical students' role and integration in clinical activities during the pandemic, knowledge gaps exist concerning their role and potential benefit in designing and leading teaching activities during this period. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to prospectively assess the impact in terms of confidence, cognitive knowledge, and perceived satisfaction of a student-teacher-designed educational activity consisting of nasopharyngeal swabs and intramuscular injections for the training of second-year medical students in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland. METHODS: This was a mixed methods pre-post surveys and satisfaction survey study. Activities were designed using evidence-based teaching methodologies based on the SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely) criteria. All second-year medical students who did not participate in the activity's old format were recruited unless they explicitly stated that they wanted to opt out. Pre-post activity surveys were designed to assess perception of confidence and cognitive knowledge. An additional survey was designed to assess satisfaction in the mentioned activities. Instructional design was blended with a presession e-learning activity and a 2-hour practice session with simulators. RESULTS: Between December 13, 2021, and January 25, 2022, a total of 108 second-year medical students were recruited; 82 (75.9%) students participated in the preactivity survey and 73 (67.6%) in the postactivity survey. Students' confidence in performing intramuscular injections and nasal swabs significantly increased on a 5-point Likert scale for both procedures-from 3.31 (SD 1.23) and 3.59 (SD 1.13) before the activity to 4.45 (SD 0.62) and 4.32 (SD 0.76) after the activity (P<.001), respectively. Perceptions of cognitive knowledge acquisition also significantly increased for both activities. For the nasopharyngeal swab, knowledge acquisition concerning indications increased from 2.7 (SD 1.24) to 4.15 (SD 0.83), and for the intramuscular injection, knowledge acquisition concerning indications increased from 2.64 (SD 1.1) to 4.34 (SD 0.65) (P<.001). Knowledge of contraindications for both activities increased from 2.43 (SD 1.1) to 3.71 (SD 1.12) and from 2.49 (SD 1.13) to 4.19 (SD 0.63), respectively (P<.001). High satisfaction rates were reported for both activities. CONCLUSIONS: Student-teacher-based blended activities for training novice medical students in commonly performed procedural skills seem effective for increasing their confidence and cognitive knowledge and should be further integrated within a medical school curriculum. Blended learning instructional design increases students' satisfaction about clinical competency activities. Future research should elucidate the impact of student-teacher-designed and student-teacher-led educational activities.

Higher Education and Quality Assurance in Egypt: Pre and Post COVID19

This paper presents an overview of the higher education and quality assurance systems in the Arab Republic of Egypt. Egypt is known for its prosperous history in the field of education and higher education dating back to 5000 years ago. The system of higher education has undergone considerable changes and improvements since then. The introduction of the quality assurance system in 2000 and the establishment of the National Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Education (NAQAAE) in 2006 well attest that. This paper provides a descriptive account of the history, structure and main properties of the higher education system and quality assurance in pre and post COVID19 in the country. The data presented reveals abundant promise in the evolution of the higher education system in Egypt, especially in its ability to own an accreditation body that offers accreditation certificates at a national level. Moreover, Egypt is making thoughtful steps towards digitalization especially with the implementation of the blended education imposed due to the COVID19 pandemic.

Preparedness of Blended Education prior to SARS-COV-2 Pandemic via Google Classroom for the fifth Year Medical Students, Otolaryngology Rotation

Background: Generally, we use face-to-face manner as a main method for teaching while some flipped classroom applied online to get more achievement. The Department of Otolaryngology, Phramongkutklao College of Medicine(PCM) has introduced the online Google Classroom (GC) to the fifth-year medical students, in the academic year of 2019. The main purpose of the online GC may be applied to the flipped classroom for the fifth-year medical students. Due to the SARS-COV-2 pandemic situation at the time of this academic year, each rotation should get a different learning method. Therefore, it appeared that the second to the seventh rotation from total 8 rotations learned by blended education. Face to face manner of teaching was applied first then it was switched to online GC. After that, the eighth rotation came at the same time of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic, they were switched to the online GC only. It may be very hard if the online teaching has not been prepared before the time comes. The purpose of this study was to report the result of the application of GC and difference between group of the second to seventh rotation and the group of eighth rotations. How, the first rotation was not included in the study since they had opportunity to learn only face to face procedure. Methods: This is a descriptive prospective study by data collection from 86 medical students of the second to eighth rotations while the eighth rotation studied 100% online. The variable data, including a general information, satisfaction, and tools for accessing the GC were obtained from the questionnaires given to the second to the eighth rotation of the fifth-year medical students. Besides, the daily quiz (DQ) created and evaluated by the second-year residents were preformed and analyzed for the relationship with multiple choice question marks, slide quiz marks, objective structured clinical examination marks and practical marks. Moreover, the questionnaires regarding the comparison between the Google Classroom and the Moodle (MD) were also given to the sixth to eight rotations. Results: From evaluation (of the full mark of 5) of satisfaction and usage, it was found that the satisfaction was 4.7, difficulty to access was 3.2, suitability of DQ was 4.5 as well as the content of pedagogy, bedside teaching and OPD teaching conform with DQ was 4.5. Information through GC was useful by 4.2. Convenience to do SDL through GC was 4.5. Preferring to do SDL through GC was 4.5 and believe that GC could reduce paper consumption was 4.8. Comparison between GC and MD, there were 66.7% (26/39) of students who answered the evaluation with 96.1% preferred GC. Among these, 80.8% thought GC was easier to access, and 76.9% thought GC was more user friendly than MD. Correlation analysis by Pearson correlation, it was found that rotation was related to slide quiz (p = 0.010) and PBL marks (p < 0.001). Those who had more numbers of answering quizzes would gain higher quiz marks (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Using of the blended education to familiarize students, faculty and support staffs with learning management system are important since if 100% online teaching is needed. The change from face to face to online could be easily performed. Almost of student preferred Google Classroom to Moodle. © 2022 IEEE.

An Exploration of EFL Teachers' Challenges and Strategies during the Pandemic: A Case of Emergency Blended Synchronous Education

With the lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions had to make swift educational decisions such as emergency blended synchronous education without thoroughly scrutinizing its effects. This study explores the experiences of a group of seven EFL teachers of a blended learning model during the pandemic in Northern Cyprus higher education. The study adopted a qualitative design by interviewing seven teachers on their experiences during the pandemic by particularly focusing on a blended instructional mode of education over the fall academic semester in 2020. The results of the study reveal that the study participants employed various strategies to cope with the challenges ascribed to the blended mode of delivery. The findings of the study offer some implications for second language teachers and the use of technology in second language education.

Perceptions of distance learning among Al-Qunfudhah medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess perceptions among undergraduate medical students toward distance learning and its effects on their academic performance during the COVID-19 pandemic at Al-Qunfudhah College of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, KSA. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students at Al-Qunfudhah College of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, KSA, during the 2020-2021 academic year. Data were collected through a predesigned, well-structured online survey from (1st March to 31th May 2021). Results: A sample of 223 undergraduates responded to an online survey, with a response rate of 74.3%; female students represented 54.3%. Blended education was preferred by most students (73.1%). Moreover, 72.2% of students perceived that distance learning saved their time, and approximately two-thirds (61.4%) were stimulated by the availability of lecture recordings. Approximately 59% and 54% reported that distance learning was more comfortable and improved their technology skills, respectively. Poor communication (66%) and network problems (61.4%) were the most common challenges in distance learning. Nonetheless, a substantial increase (P = 0.001) in students' grade point averages was observed with distance learning. Conclusion: Most medical students preferred blended education combining the advantages of both traditional and distance learning strategies. The availability of educational materials, improvements in students' technological skills and time saving were the most perceived benefits of distance learning among students. However, the main obstacles were internet problems, poor communication and deprivation from real clinical practice. Despite the improvement in students' grade point averages during distance learning compared with traditional learning, blended education was recommended by the majority or participants.

Opinions of postgraduate students in Northern Cyprus towards distant education during COVID-19 pandemic

In this research, the "case study" model was used to determine the views of university students in Northern Cyprus on distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic process. The population of this research consists of students studying in the districts of Nicosia, Famagusta, Girne and Lefke in Northern Cyprus. The study group was used as an easily accessible case sample and 20 students were studied in the study group. As a data collection tool in this study, a semi-structured interview form consisting of 6 open-ended questions was used, developed by the researchers regarding the views of higher education students in Northern Cyprus on distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic process. In the study, "content analysis" was used in the evaluation of the data. The collected data were organized within the framework of themes and concepts and presented in the findings. According to the results of the research, it has been determined that the online teaching of the courses during the pandemic process has various advantages and disadvantages that the students have some difficulties while using the online education system and some suggestions have been developed to make the system more useful by eliminating the disadvantages and difficulties. © 2022 Birlesik Dunya Yenilik Arastirma ve Yayincilik Merkezi. All rights reserved.

Effects of Covid-19 on the Online Library and Information Science Degree at the University of León (Spain)

The Degree in Library Science and Documentation of the University of León started during the 1990–1991 academic year. This first curriculum suffered from a strong presence of subjects from the humanities, with a low fraction of experimental work in many subjects because of its inclusion within the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. The first years attracted large numbers of students. However, the subsequent decrease in the number of students pursuing the degree drove us to initiate a change toward blended and online modalities. The Librarianship and Documentation Area of the University of León (ULe) already has a long history in blended teaching, starting with the Degree in Librarianship and Documentation, which has used the platform aul@unileon since the 2006–2007 academic year;the Degree of Information and Documentation has used the blended modality since the 2010–2011 academic year, and it has been offered in the distance learning modality since the 2014–2015 academic year. These new technologies have been fully introduced into university education and have facilitated the teaching–learning process through the use of interactive programs via the Internet. The main objective of this column is to determine and study the kind of multimedia tools used by professors of the Bachelor of Information and Documentation at the University of León during the teaching–learning process and in virtual teaching before the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to report which new tools were introduced by the university for this reason. We study the student–teacher and student–student interactions to help promote communication and participatory learning through chats, forums, email, hangouts, Skype, Meet, videoconferences, etc. To carry out this study, two types of methodology were applied: satisfaction surveys implemented by the Quality Office of the ULe to determine the degree of satisfaction of students and teachers, and a study of annual reports.

The shift to online and blended learning at an engineering school: Feedback and results

ISAE-Supmeca is a French engineering school located in the north of the great Paris area. It has been engaged since decades in active learning, especially problem-and project-based learning. During the last ten years, ISAE-Supmeca has gained experience in leading or participating in several French and European educational research projects. This led to the set-up of an Educational Innovation Unit, at the interface of teachers and learners. Among other tasks and in collaboration with teachers, this unit coordinates and participates in several educational research projects, maps issues encountered in the learning process, assists teachers and proposes new educational tools. As well as all scientific and technical higher education institutions, ISAE-Supmeca has been impacted by the covid-19 pandemic situation. The experience of problem-and project-based learning helped the institution and its actors to quickly adapt to a full remote education (online), then to a partly remote education (blended for some modules), but it was not without any issues. So, a follow-up with surveys and analysis took place in order to map the main issues, the solutions adopted and the evolution of the situation. The main goal of this data collection and analysis is to formalize feedback, extract results and then have grounds to better implement the mid-or long-term adaptations, i.e. carry out a three-phase work: reaction, analysis and action. All ISAE-Supmeca teachers and learners were asked several times for feedback on their experience during the pandemic period and their participation made this analysis and this paper possible. © 2021 IEEE.

Impact of Blended Learning on Engineering Student Attendance Post COVID-19

This paper aims at exploring the impact of applying a blended learning approach on the classroom attendance of engineering students post COVID-19. In this study, an interactive e-learning teaching approach, including synchronous online teaching delivery, was used as an alternative option in addition to regular face-to-face teaching. This approach was offered to all students attending two engineering modules, whether being still stranded off-campus or couldn't participate face-to-face for any reason. The major research question of this study is: given that engineering modules can be delivered effectively and interactively online, how will this affect student face-to-face attendance in the classroom? All students who attended the modules were asked to complete a quantitative survey where they could give their views on the quality of the tuition they had received and their opinions on the effectiveness of the online delivery. Evaluative data was obtained from a variety of means to provide a coherent case study. The paper presents comments and feedback from the students and some proposed implications for engineering student attendance when alternative online module delivery is an option. The outcomes of this study could help to inform pedagogies for future engineering education. © 2021 IEEE.

SUSTAINABLE BLENDED TEACHING PRACTICES: LESSONS LEARNED FROM INSTRUCTOR PERSPECTIVES

The higher education (HE) sector has undergone drastic changes due to the preventive measures needed to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic since March 2020. As a result, most traditional classroom teaching had to move to synchronous or asynchronous online instruction. In the post-Covid-19 era, institutions will, at least partially, go back to teaching in person, and blended teaching (BT) practices will conceivably become the true norm. Although BT practices have been employed and researched extensively over the past two decades, a deeper or more extensive blending of courses will still be a major switch for many teachers and students. More than ever, it is vital for instructors not just to understand how to blend but also to understand the evolution of BT practices and the choices made to arrive at sustainable practices that positively impact the learning experience. In this article, the authors aim to elaborate on the contexts which stimulate or provide a catalyst for the use and subsequent growth of sustainable BT practices in HE. A mixed approach of inductive and deductive thematic analysis is used to analyze 26 interviews of instructors, considered either as pioneers or experienced BT adopters in six HE institutions across Europe (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, UK). This preliminary analysis revealed that the identified over-arching themes, the drivers and enablers that promote BT, are dynamic in nature and vary in diverse contexts. This study can give insights into BT adoption and help instructors and institutions improve planning or (re)design of courses into successful and sustainable BT practices. © 2021 Virtual Simulation Innovation Workshop, SIW 2021. All rights reserved.

The COVID-19 paradox of online collaborative education: when you cannot physically meet, you need more social interactions.

Collaborative learning is a teaching method that brings together students to discuss a topic important for a given course or curriculum and solve a related problem or create a product. By doing this, learners create knowledge together and gain 21st -century skills such as communication, critical thinking, decision making, leadership and conflict management. Universities had to close their campuses and turn their education fully online in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which created a forced step in the evolution of the digitalisation of collaborative teaching. How did TU Delft face this challenge? How did the students experience the online version of collaborative learning? How did distant learning affect their motivation? This article presents four student team projects investigating these questions from the collaborative learning perspective. One of the significant findings of these projects is the lack of socio-emotional interactions during online collaborative work. We present a few guidelines on how to enable these interactions when designing online or blended collaborative education.