An Introductory BIM Course for Engineering Students

Building Information Modelling is being adopted worldwide and universities are thus expected to provide the market with new professionals with BIM knowledge and skills. However, introduction of this theme into the curriculum can be challenging to teaching staff. Having successful implementation examples can help carrying on this task. This paper presents the structure, syllabus, adopted tools and activities of an introductory BIM course offered to first-year engineering students. Implemented with only 2 credits, it covers BIM fundamental concepts and develops collaboration skills and abilities with BIM software tools. It was effectively deployed on big classes and successfully offered both in face-to-face and remote modes, adopting a practice focus. An innovative organization for student group projects was adopted, enabling student participation on several projects, performing a different role in each one. Perceived benefits to students' development are reported. The covid-19 pandemics impact is discussed. Future improvements in the course are suggested. Overall results achieved were considered very good. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

An Introductory BIM Course for Engineering Students

Building Information Modelling is being adopted worldwide and universities are thus expected to provide the market with new professionals with BIM knowledge and skills. However, introduction of this theme into the curriculum can be challenging to teaching staff. Having successful implementation examples can help carrying on this task. This paper presents the structure, syllabus, adopted tools and activities of an introductory BIM course offered to first-year engineering students. Implemented with only 2 credits, it covers BIM fundamental concepts and develops collaboration skills and abilities with BIM software tools. It was effectively deployed on big classes and successfully offered both in face-to-face and remote modes, adopting a practice focus. An innovative organization for student group projects was adopted, enabling student participation on several projects, performing a different role in each one. Perceived benefits to students’ development are reported. The covid-19 pandemics impact is discussed. Future improvements in the course are suggested. Overall results achieved were considered very good. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

The Impact of Accessing Mechanisms for Group Collaboration for Students in Higher Education

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the use of technology in classroom experience with group collaborative projects. Group collaboration and the skills absorbed at the time of collaboration is an essential part of a student’s higher educational journey, because it prepares students for workplace collaboration post-graduation [1]. Prior to graduating, an undergraduate student will encounter at least one group project that is classified as a required deliverable in at least one of their course curriculums. In all technology related curriculums, computer-mediated communication (CMC) is an essential part of an instructor’s course material deliverable process, the way instructors communicate with their students, and the way students communicate with their peers. The need for a shift in the way humans communicate with one another has increased tremendously within the past two years [2]. We evaluated how effective CMC tools can enhance student outcomes for group projects specifically in the Covid-19 era and how students adopt to creative ways to engage and apply technology for effective communication. We also analyzed human factors confronting the use of CMC tools in the context of social distance policies and collaborative projects. We concluded by examining implications of group collaboration projects mandated in institutions for student success in the pandemic era. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Enabling Hands-On Group Project work during COVID-19

COVID-19 has impacted delivery of the first-year engineering design curriculum throughout the post-secondary system. At Vancouver Island University (VIU), instruction of the first-year curriculum shifted to an entirely remote learning environment where students were not expected to be in physical contact at any point during the term. This presented a significant challenge to delivering its learning outcomes and activities, particularly hands-on, team-based project work. At VIU, students typically complete a cornerstone design project in the second term of their first-year of studies. Due to COVID-19, this project was modified to allow for completion within a virtual learning environment. Teams of three or four students were tasked to cooperatively create a rolling ball structure, built in isolation, but delivered and assembled at the University campus by the course instructor and its technician. This structure was required to form a path for a rolling ball, and interact with its neighbouring structures to create seamless track. Collectively, all team structures (a total of ten) formed a ring allowing for continuous ball movement once started. These pass-off points between each structure were determined collaboratively between both teams and individuals. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

DESIGN, MODELING, AND FABRICATION OF A VENTILATOR PROTOTYPE - A SUCCESSFUL STUDENT PROJECT STORY

In this work, we use a group project approach for a group of undergraduate students to design and develop a mechanical ventilator, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A student group project composed of a team of undergraduate students has successfully designed and fabricated a mechanical bag valve mask (BVM) ventilator prototype. It is lightweight with a single controller is driven, capable of volume adjustment, inexpensive, open-source, and designed for ease of fabrication, installation, and operation by the average user. The ventilator prototype also consists of 3D printed components and stored bought hardware. A finite element model was developed to analyze the deformation of the bag valve mask. Finally, the ventilator system is fully tested functioning properly. Copyright © 2021 by ASME.

Students Talk: The Experience of Advanced Technology Students at Two-Year Colleges during COVID-19

There have been many questions and concerns raised by educators about how advanced technology students will adapt to remote learning during the COVID era. What will technician students' academic engagement and persistence be like, and how will online learning affect their educational outcomes? What do technician students like about remote learning and what do they find challenging? What does online learning mean for hands-on applied and experiential learning, which are hallmarks of technical education programs? This paper explores pilot state-level survey data from advanced technology students at two-year colleges. Five primary areas covered in the survey include enrollment status, access to technology, experience using a Learning Management System and learning online, impact on applied and experiential learning, and students' background information. Key findings include decreased interaction between peers, increased reliance on instructors, and a significant decline in experiential learning such as labs, group projects, demonstrations, problem-based learning, and service-learning. The majority of students report feeling worried about making progress toward their degree, and about half worried about completing the semester. Two benefits students identified was having access to course materials all the time through the LMS and the flexibility of remote learning. Findings also show that technician students are quite diverse by way of age, partner status, having a family, race-ethnicity, employment status, and educational background. About one-third of students who responded are women. This paper concludes with several recommendations about the application of these research findings to address challenges technician students face learning online, including specific actions that instructors and programs can pursue to help retain students and provide support to facilitate completion of degree programs. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Hybrid and Online Peer Group Grading: Adding Assessment Efficiency While Maintaining Perceived Fairness

The rate of transition to online instruction in higher education was accelerated by the new reality of the global pandemic, COVID-19. As a result, faculty must adapt by being more efficient to manage more students with less resources and even less personal contact for the foreseeable future. Efficiency can be gained by using group assignments and peer group grading. Peer group grading reduces assessment time although students may be concerned about having their work graded fairly by other students. The peer group grading process and grades are analyzed against the instructor grades over a two-year period. Results demonstrate no significant difference in peer group grades and instructor grades for pre-COVID-19 hybrid and post-COVID-19 online courses. Student survey results also show that students perceive peer group grading as fair in both course formats. Therefore, instructors can feel confident about using peer group grading as a fair and time saving assessment tool. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Marketing Education Review is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)