INTERACTIVE COURSEWARE TO SUPPORT BLENDED LEARNING

Covid-19 has been a game-changer in engineering education at the higher education level. Even beyond the pandemic, blended learning is there to stay. The design, execution, and delivery of blended learning can be supported by a plethora of fast-developing educational technology. In this paper we share the experience of the evolution of one engineering course "Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence" from a rather traditional design strongly relying on face-to-face interaction to a fully blended technology-supported course. In particular, we share the experience of how an interactive courseware platform called "Nextbook", which allows students and teacher to directly interact on the course material, supported the design, implementation, and delivery. Student experiences measured using a questionnaire are supplemented with teacher experiences to present the following "lessons learnt": A well-chosen platform can help students find clear structure in a mix of types of material, and social annotation features make it possible to connect discussion and questions and answers directly to the course material. Further efforts are needed for engaging students to actively use the features of interactive courseware platforms. © 2022 SEFI 2022 - 50th Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education, Proceedings. All rights reserved.

Flipped teaching transition to online teaching by STEM educators during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 necessitated online teaching (OT) during the second half of the spring 2020 semester. The perceptions of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) faculty of OT at a two-year (2-YI) and a four-year (4-YI) institution were examined during this sudden switchover. One group of educators had received flipped teaching (FT) training (FTEs, n = 23), whereas the other group was practicing traditional teaching (TTEs, n = 18). There were two cohorts of FTEs: cohort 1 were implementing FT for the third time in their classrooms, and cohort 2 had started for the first time. The survey results suggested that FTEs were more confident with OT than TTEs (P < 0.05). It was interesting to note that 62.5% of the FTEs, whether they were from cohort 1 or cohort 2, chose an asynchronous approach, whereas 37.5% delivered synchronous OT during the sudden transition. It was found that FT experience helped cohort 1 adjust to OT compared with cohort 2. Overall, these results suggest that FTEs were confident and their resources for FT eased the transition to OT.NEW & NOTEWORTHY COVID-19 necessitated online teaching (OT). The perceptions of STEM faculty of OT at two-year and four-year institutions were examined. One group had received flipped teaching (FT) training (FTEs), whereas the others practiced traditional teaching (TTEs). Among two cohorts of FTEs, cohort 1 had been practicing FT but not cohort 2. FTEs were more confident with OT than TTEs. FT experience helped cohort 1 adjust to OT more than cohort 2. Overall, FT eased the transition to OT.

Virtual flipped teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced teaching to be shifted to an online platform. Since the flipped teaching (FT) model has been shown to engage students through active learning strategies and adapt both synchronous and asynchronous components, it was a convenient choice for educators familiar with this instructional method. This study tested the effectiveness of a virtual FT method during the pandemic in a graduate-level physiology course. Besides assessing knowledge gained in the virtual FT format, student surveys were used to measure student perception of their adjustment to the new FT format, their confidence in completing the course successfully, and the usefulness of assessments and assignments in the remote FT. Students reported that they adjusted well to the remote FT method (P < 0.001), and their confidence in completing the course in this teaching mode successfully improved from the beginning to the end of the semester (P < 0.05). Students expressed a positive response to the synchronous computerized exams (90.32%) and the formative group (93.51%) and individual (80.65%) assessments. Both collaborative activities (93.55%) and in-class discussions (96.77%) were found to be effective. The course evaluations and the overall semester scores were comparable to the previous semesters of face-to-face FT. Overall, students' perceptions and performance suggested that they embraced the virtual FT method and the tested teaching method maintained the same strong outcome as before. Thus, this study presents a promising new instructional method in the teaching of future physiology courses.

Flipped teaching eased the transition from face-to-face teaching to online instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rice University canceled classes for the week of March 9-13, 2020 and shifted all instruction to online only following spring break. For the second half of the semester, animal physiology was taught exclusively over Zoom. Here we describe how a flipped teaching format that was used before the pandemic eased the transition from face-to-face teaching to online instruction. The preclass preparation resources and the active learning materials that were already in place for flipped teaching were helpful in the transition to solely online teaching. Therefore, the focus during the transition was to reconfigure active learning and examinations from the face-to-face format to the online platform. Instead of small group discussions in the classroom, teams interacted in Zoom Breakout Rooms. Rather than taking exams in-person during scheduled class time, students submitted exams online. Additionally, students prerecorded their project presentations instead of presenting them "live" during the last week of classes. Overall, students felt that the class smoothly transitioned to a remote only format. These and other changes to the instructional methods will be implemented during the Spring 2021 semester when the course is taught fully online.

Benefits behind barriers in physiology education.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced academics to switch to online teaching whether they were prepared or not. The speed and enthusiasm with which educators embraced online teaching suggest that challenges change the perspective for the better. The teaching challenges with the current coronavirus situation mimic the poliovirus attack Dr. Arthur C. Guyton encountered. Dr. Guyton was forced to switch his career from becoming a cardiovascular surgeon to a physiology educator and a researcher. His immense contributions to the field of physiology is an example of how challenges can bring benefits. Flipped teaching has been gaining attention among educators because of its ability to engage students in learning. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed educators to adopt this instructional design based on its conduciveness to technology, as well as its blend of both asynchronous and synchronous components of online teaching. Just like Dr. Guyton's enormous impact on medical education and research in spite of the challenges he faced, we must be creative during this pandemic through innovative teaching methods, which will serve as a gift for the future of physiology education.