Investigation of Technology-based Student Interaction for Social Learning in Online Courses

ABSTRACT

This work in progress research paper studied the use of technologies, platforms, and methods for interactions during the course and outside the course by the engineering students enrolled in the summer 2020 semester at a large Southwestern public research university. In March of 2020, this university migrated away from face-to-face teaching, like other institutions, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This migration resulted in the development of synchronous (remote) and asynchronous (fully online) courses that were offered to students through the remaining Spring and also the Summer semester of 2020. Previous studies have shown that student and faculty interaction along with student-student interaction have a net positive effect on student retention and learning. This study was designed to identify the tools-technology or platforms-and methods used for interaction in the summer 2020 courses. All students enrolled in engineering courses in summer 2020 were invited to take part in the survey. However, 315 students started the survey and only 93 respondents completed the survey fully. While there are useful data from the entire starter group, this study looked at the data generated by the 93 respondents who completed the survey. The student responses indicate that most faculty, whether teaching synchronously or asynchronously, supplemented their courses with some technology or platform that facilitated live interactions (Zoom, Google Meet, Blackboard Collaborate, Microsoft Teams). Even though the students were moderately satisfied with the technology/platforms and methods that were used, they showed a higher degree of satisfaction for courses that used active learning and other methods for student engagement. For social learning, the students used GroupMe, text messaging, or Zoom calls to interact with each other outside of class. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021