Transactional Analysis Training for Improving Engineering Graduate Students' Abilities to Understand Different Personalities

Aspiring graduate students in science and technology generally lack formal training in understanding human behaviorandtraitsthatcanadverselyimpacttheir ability to perform and innovate at the highest level. Positive intelligence(PI)andTransactionalAnalysisaretwo practical methods in human psychology that millions of people have tested for self-growth. The author previously published the application of PI for enhancing engineering students (Tyagi, P., Positive Intelligence Education for Unleashing Student Potential.ASME2019InternationalMechanicalEngineering Congress and Exposition 2019, Volume 5: Engineering Education, V005T07A009). This paper focuses on training graduate students about the popular and practical transactional analysis science and assessing their competen ce inutilizingthisknowledgetodecipher their own and other people's. Transactional analysis was taught to students via Student presentation-based effective teaching (SPET) methodologydevelopedbytheauthor.Under this approach, graduate students enrolled in the MECH 500 Class were providedasetofquestionstoanswer by self-reading of the recommendedtextbook"IamOkayYouareOkay by Thomas Harris".Eachstudentindividuallyanswered the assignment questionsandthenworkedinthegroup to prepare a group presentation for the in-class discussion. Three group discussions were conducted to present different views aboutthe four types of transactions andunderlying human traits. Before transactionalanalysistraining, studentswerealso trained in Positiveintelligencepsychologytoolsforasimilar objective. Afterthediscussion, studentsweresurveyedaboutthedepth of theirunderstanding.Studentsalsoreflectedtheirviews on the utility of transactional analysis with respect to positive intelligence. Morethan 75% of students mention that they gain high competency in understanding, defining, and utilizing transactional analysis. This study presents insights for positively impacting graduatestudents' mindsets as they pursue anunpredictedcourseofresearchthatcansometimes become very challenging. © 2022 by ASME.

Online Learning in the post-pandemic era: Some Lessons Learnt from the Covid19 Pandemic Terms

In this paper we present some ideas of what we consider a model for online Engineering courses in the post pandemic era should include. As universities worldwide returned to the campuses after two long years of online teaching in some countries, some lessons or good practices could be taken for designing new models for online teaching in the coming years. Online education has shown its value during the pandemic terms and students and universities are now moving on new teaching models that could benefit from online education. In this work we present some perceptions of what a group of students in a Mexican private university think of their overall online experience during the pandemic terms and some ideas or suggestions that are given based on their own experience for universities to consider when designing new teaching models that include online education. © 2022 Owner/Author.

Understanding the Effectiveness of Online Engineering Education in the Time of COVID-19

This research paper describes a study of engineering students' perceptions of online classes in the time of COVID-19. In the engineering field, online classes were relatively uncommon prior to the pandemic due to the emphasis on field practice. The pandemic rapidly changed education in general to make online classes the norm-not as a means of assisting face-to-face classes but rather replacing them. The online mode of learning in engineering education holds tremendous promise for traditional and non-traditional students who wish to major in engineering. Therefore, this study explored how students evaluate online engineering classes to effectively implement them during the ongoing pandemic as well as in the post-pandemic era. Drawing from> the SERVQUAL model this paper determines which factors contributed to students' evaluation of the quality of online engineering classes and their perceptions of the benefits of such classes. Ultimately, 186 engineering students participated in this study. The results show that perceived suitability of the online format for teaching engineering courses was the strongest determinant of perceptions toward the quality and benefits of online engineering classes. In addition, how much the instructor knows about the course content and whether useful and accurate information is provided using appropriate multimedia on an e-learning site determine the perceived quality of online classes for students. The students also believed that instructors who showed more empathy generated more benefits for the class. Theoretical as well as practical implications are discussed in this paper. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.

The concerns and perceived challenges that students faced when traditional in-person engineering courses suddenly transitioned to remote learning

This research evaluates the impact of switching college engineering courses from in-person instruction to emergency remote learning among engineering students at a university in the Midwest. The study aimed to answer the question: What were the concerns and perceived challenges students faced when traditional in-person engineering courses suddenly transitioned to remote learning? The goal of this study is to uncover the challenges students were facing in engineering online courses and to understand students' concerns. Our findings can help improve teaching instruction to provide students with previously unavailable educational assistance for online engineering courses. We collected online survey responses during weeks 8 and 9 of the academic semester, shortly after the COVID-19 shutdown and emergency transition to remote learning in Spring 2020. The survey included two open-ended questions which inquired about students' feedback about moving the class online, and one two-item scale which assessed students' confidence in online engineering learning. Data analysis for the open-ended questions was guided by the theoretical framework - Social Cognitive Career Theory [1] that explores how context, person factors and social cognitions contribute to career goals, interests and actions. A phenomenological approach [2] was conducted to understand the experience of these students. Open coding and axial coding [2] methods were used to create initial categories then themes related to students' concerns and challenges. Data from the two-item scale was evaluated using descriptive statistics: means, standard deviations, and ranges. Four main themes with separate sub-categories emerged from the student responses: 1) Instructor's ability to teach course online (Instructional limitations, Seeking help, Increased Workload), 2) Student's ability to learn online (Time Management, Lower engagement and motivation, Harder to absorb material, Hard to focus, Worry about performance), 3) Difficulties outside of class (Technology issues), and 4) No concerns. Students seemed more concerned about their ability to learn the material (48% of responses) than the instructor's ability to teach the material (36% of responses). The instructional limitations or lack of instructional support (22% of responses) and time management (12% of responses) were among the major concerns in the sub-categories. The results from two-item scale indicated participants' s confidence in their ability to master their classroom knowledge was at an intermediate level via online instruction (6/10), and participants' confidence in the instructor's ability to teach knowledge in online classes is moderate to high (7/10). The results align with the open-ended question response in which students were somewhat more concerned about their ability to learn than the instructor's ability to teach. The themes and analysis will be a valuable tool to help institutions and instructors improve student learning experiences. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.

Online engineering tutorials: Investigation into tutors' use of technologies for learning

The transition to online teaching and learning brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates scholarship regarding the affordances and challenges inherent in this transition. A wealth of such scholarship has already been produced, most of which focuses on this transition from the perspective of students and/or lecturers. However, a relatively under-explored perspective has been the experiences of peer tutors with regard to online teaching and learning. This paper addresses this gap, by examining how peer tutors in a first-year introduction to engineering design module make use of technological resources to undertake their tutoring activities. Two teams of two tutors each were given a digital, pen-enabled device with which to conduct online tutorial sessions, which were recorded and observed. In addition, the tutors completed personalised questionnaires via email. The results of this study reveal that the tutors demonstrated high levels of professionalism and technological fluency, but that moments of struggle with the technologies still occurred. In addition, tutors also experienced challenges with regard to encouraging student interaction and participation in the online environment. There is a need for additional tutor training and development with regard to promoting student interaction, and strategies to make use of the various affordances offered by technology. Moreover, in a resource-constrained environment such as South Africa, where this research was conducted, tutors may experience additional needs over and above devices for tutoring, which higher education institutions will need to accommodate. © 2021 IEEE.

Addressing the need for online engineering labs for developing countries

Before the pandemic, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals included cutting learning poverty in half by 2030. The COVID-19 pandemic has had severe negative impact on education throughout the world and set back progress toward this goal. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education include laboratory experiences. Engineering and Technology program Accreditation Agencies deem labs critical to an engineer's education and require it in the criteria for international accreditation. While converting traditional instruction to virtual instruction posed a challenge to all, developing countries faced higher constraints of limited bandwidth, connectivity, and household access to technology. Once the access problems are resolved, universities still have the challenge of providing inclusive access to online laboratory experiments, particularly for engineering students. This paper presents current solutions for online Engineering laboratories and proposes an online lab management system and a federated lab model appropriate for developing countries that the Latin American and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions (LACCEI) is currently developing and piloting. © 2021 IEEE.

Strategies to Address Changes in Social Supports during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The pandemic of COVID-19 is disrupting engineering education globally, at all levels of education. While distance education is nothing new, the pandemic of COVID-19 forced instructors to rapidly move their courses online whether or not they had ever received prior training in online education. In particular, there is very little literature to guide instructors in supporting students in online engineering design or project-based courses. The purpose of this research is to examine engineering students' report of social support in their project and design-based courses at a large research university during the move to online instruction due to COVID-19 in the Spring 2020 semester and to provide recommendations for instructors teaching these types of courses online in the future. Our study is framed by social constructivism and social capital theory. We surveyed undergraduate engineering and engineering technology students (n=235) across undergraduate levels during the final week of the Spring 2019 semester. Survey questions included open-ended prompts about social supports and overall experience with the transition to online learning as well as name and resource generator questions focused on specific people and types of interactions that changed during the pandemic. We used qualitative content analysis of the open-ended responses along with comparisons of the name and resource generator to develop recommendations for instructors. Recommendations to increase students' social supports include: facilitating informal conversations between students and between students and the instructional team, grouping students located in the same time zones in teams, facilitating co-working sessions for students, establishing weekly structure, and utilizing some synchronous components (e.g., virtual office hours). © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Olympics on the Moon: A Challenge for Engineering Design

These activities were developed to be implemented fully online as part of an online engineering design summer camp due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Middle school students will discover how sport arenas, rules, and equipment would change if the Olympic Games were conducted on the Moon. During the sessions, students learn about framing an engineering design problem (a step of the engineering design process) in the Lunar Olympics context and are introduced to basic physics concepts. Students also use free online design and coding tools to help improve their engineering conceptions and design skills. The activities can easily be transformed for in-class or hybrid classroom use. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Development of a Low-Cost, Compact, and Portable Experimental Kit for Online Engineering Statics Course

Online education is expanding rapidly. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forced many universities to move from conventional, face-to-face instruction to hybrid or entirely online instruction. To overcome this unprecedented situation, instructors have modified course content and laboratories to be available virtually while trying to make them as interactive as possible. Virtual laboratories are either mostly pre-recorded experiments or involve controlling physical/virtual equipment through an online interface. None of these methods provide an adequate hands-on learning experience, which is essential for understanding fundamental engineering concepts. For online and distance learning programs, hands-on activities in a laboratory classroom setting are not always feasible, generating a strong push to develop low-cost, compact, and portable experimental toolboxes and kits that individual students can obtain. A group of faculty, students, and staff at the University of Indianapolis has developed an experimental toolbox that allows students to visualize engineering statics fundamentals. The experimental kit and a list of experiments complete with instructions will be made available to the students at the beginning of the course to perform the laboratory-style experiments at home. Students will be able to collect an experimental kit from campus with an appropriate deposit (each kit costs approximately $180 to $200 US). The university can also ship kits to students' addresses upon request with an additional delivery cost. Students can return the experimental kit at the end of the course and have their deposits returned. Performing laboratory style experiments at home using these kits will provide a valuable hands-on learning experience. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021