Information and communication technologies in student learning in times of COVID-19 / Las tecnologías de información y comunicación en el aprendizaje del estudiante en tiempos de COVID-19

Las Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación (TIC) han sido herramientas vitales en la interacción humana de cara a la pandemia COVID-19, permitiendo la virtualidad de muchas actividades cotidianas que de otro modo configurarían un riesgo biológico inherente del contacto físico. Por ello, fue necesaria la adopción de TIC como elementos formadores no presenciales en la educación superior, permitiendo el desarrollo pedagógico y la interacción docente-estudiante desde los hogares. En esta investigación se buscó determinar la influencia de las TIC en el aprendizaje de 450 estudiantes universitarios del Perú, en el contexto de la pandemia COVID-19, En general, las TIC transmisivas obtuvieron mayores proporciones de accesibilidad (87%), usabilidad (81%) e influencia en el aprendizaje de los estudiantes (73%) en comparación a las interactivas (Figura 1), siendo las TIC activas las de menor percepción en las tres dimensiones. De acuerdo a los resultados obtenidos, se propone una relación positiva entre el aprendizaje del estudiante universitario y la adopción de herramientas TIC durante el período de pandemia COVID-19 (p=0,076). Los buscadores, las videconferencias, las páginas web, las plataformas académicas, los repositorios y los tutoriales multimedia, ejercen la mayor influencia positiva en el proceso educativo. No obstante, los estudiantes de las ciencias de la salud mostraron más aversión a establecer TIC en su aprendizaje, mientras que los alumnos de ingeniería mostraron mayor receptividad a su aplicación(AU)

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have been vital tools in human interaction in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing the virtuality of many daily activities that would otherwise configure an inherent biological risk of physical contact. For this reason, it was necessary to adopt ICT as non-face-to-face training elements in higher education, allowing pedagogical development and teacher-student interaction from home. This research sought to determine the influence of ICT on the learning of 450 Peruvian university students, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.In general, transmissive ICT obtained higher proportions of accessibility (87%), usability (81 %) and influence on student learning (73%) compared to interactive ones (Figure 1), with active ICT being the least perceived in all three dimensions. According to the results obtained, a positive relationship is proposed between university student learning and the adoption of ICT tools during the COVID-19 pandemic period (p = 0.076). Search engines, video conferences, web pages, academic platforms, repositories, and multimedia tutorials exert the greatest positive influence on the educational process. However, health science students showed more aversion to establishing ICT in their learning, while engineering students showed greater receptivity to its application(AU)

Virtual Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy highlighted the opportunity to impact early STEMM students career knowledge through narrative.

Due to COVID-19 precautions, the Vanderbilt University summer biomedical undergraduate research program, the Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy (VSSA), rapidly transitioned from offering an in-person training program to a virtual seminar format. Our program typically supports undergraduate development through research and/or clinical experience, meeting with individuals pursuing postgraduate training, and providing career development advice. Evidence supports the idea that summer programs transform undergraduates by clarifying their interest in research and encouraging those who haven't previously considered graduate studies. We were interested in exploring whether a virtual, synchronous program would increase participants' scientific identity and clarify postgraduate career planning. Rather than create a virtual research exposure, our 5-week "Virtual VSSA" program aimed to simulate the casual connections that would naturally be made with post-undergraduate trainees during a traditional summer program. In seminars, presenters discussed 1) their academic journey, explaining their motivations, goals, and reasons for pursuing a career in science as well as 2) a professional story that illustrated their training. Seminars included Vanderbilt University and Medical School faculty, M.D., MD/Ph.D., as well as Ph.D. students from diverse scientific and personal backgrounds. In addition, weekly informational sessions provided an overview of the nature of each degree program along with admissions advice. Through pre-and post-program surveys, we found that students who registered for this experience already strongly identified with the STEMM community (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine). However, participation in the Virtual VSSA increased their sense of belonging. We also uncovered a gap in participants' understanding of postgraduate pathways prior to participation and found that our program significantly increased their self-reported understanding of postgraduate programs. It also increased their understanding of why someone would pursue a Ph.D. or Ph.D./MD versus M.D. These changes did not uniformly impact participants' planned career paths. Overall, by providing personal, tangible stories of M.D., MD/Ph.D., and Ph.D. training, the Virtual VSSA program offered seminars that positively impacted students' sense of belonging with and connection to the STEMM disciplines.

Estimating the effect of timetabling decisions on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in medium-to-large engineering schools in Canada: an agent-based modelling study.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, universities transitioned to primarily online delivery, and it is important to understand what implications the transition back to in-person activities may have on spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the student population. The specific aim of our study was to provide insights into the effect of timetabling decisions on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in a population of undergraduate engineering students. METHODS: We developed an agent-based modelling simulation that used a Canadian first-year undergraduate engineering program with an enrolment of 180 students in 5 courses of 12.7 weeks in length. Each course involved 150 minutes of lectures and 110 minutes of tutorials or laboratories per week. We considered several online and in-person timetabling scenarios with different scheduling frequencies and section sizes, in combination with surveillance and testing interventions. The study was conducted from May 1 to Aug. 31, 2021. RESULTS: When timetabling interventions were applied, we found a reduction in the mean number of students who were infected and that a containment of widespread outbreaks could be achieved. Timetables with online lectures and small (1/6 class capacity) tutorial or laboratory sections reduced the mean number of students who were infected by 83% and reduced the risk of large outbreaks that occurred with in-person lectures. We also found that spread of SARS-CoV-2 was less sensitive to class size than to contact frequency when a biweekly timetable was implemented (i.e., alternating online and in-person sections on a biweekly basis). Including a contact-tracing policy and randomized testing to the timetabling interventions helped to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2 further. Vaccination coverage had the largest effect on reducing the number of students who were infected. INTERPRETATION: Our modelling showed that by taking advantage of timetabling opportunities and applying appropriate interventions (contact tracing, randomized testing and vaccination), SARS-CoV-2 infections may be averted and disruptions (case isolations) reduced. However, given the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants, transitions from online to in-person classes should proceed cautiously from small biweekly classes, for example, to manage risk.

Active learning-based STEM education for in-person and online learning.

The COVID-19 global pandemic has forced the higher education sector to transition to an uncharted remote-learning format. This offers an opportunity to adopt active learning, which increases students' performance compared to lectures, narrows achievement gaps for underrepresented students, and promotes equity and inclusivity, as the basis of STEM education.

Human factors and ergonomics in the context of COVID-19: Planning for concepts insertion in a productive systems discipline.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging companies worldwide and undergraduate courses need to consider this context within their disciplines, especially regarding human factors and ergonomics. For this, professors should plan how to insert this knowledge into the program content of their discipline. OBJECTIVE: This commentary aims to present how this insertion will be conducted in the second academic semester of 2020 in the discipline "Productive Systems" of the mechanical engineering undergraduate course offered by a Brazilian university. METHODS: This commentary is based on the authors' points of view and experiences. However, the presented discussion is based on institutional websites and international articles. RESULTS: It is possible to verify that human factors and ergonomic aspects related to the pandemic can be debated in several topics of the analyzed discipline. CONCLUSIONS: Besides presenting the planning of inserting these aspects, this commentary expands the debates on the subject.