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Case Study of Multi-Course Project-Based Learning and Online Assessment in Electrical Engineering Courses during COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Amith Khandakar

    (Department of Electrical Engineering, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar)

  • Muhammad E. H. Chowdhury

    (Department of Electrical Engineering, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar)

  • Md. Saifuddin Khalid

    (Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark)

  • Nizar Zorba

    (Department of Electrical Engineering, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar)

Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an urgent need to move to online teaching and develop innovative teaching techniques to ensure that student learning outcomes (SOs) were fulfilled. This paper tries to answer the important question of whether an established teaching strategy through a multi-course project-based learning (MPL) approach, along with online assessment techniques, helps in the effective achievement of SOs in a senior-level electrical engineering (EE) course. The authors have developed a course project for attaining the objectives of a senior and a capstone course, where students are registered at the same time. In addition, the course conducts assessments online. The paper reports the effect of the two approaches on the attainment of the SOs of the two courses, along with testing the programming and problem-solving abilities of the students. It is known that the MPL approach enhances the critical thinking capacity of students, which is also a major outcome of Sustainable Development Education (ESD). It was ensured that the project that was used to test the fulfillment of a series of SOs were concentrated on soft engineering and project management skills. The difficulty of adopting the MPL method for the senior-level courses is in the scheduling of the course materials to help the student advance to the final project while also aligning the project towards fulfilling the learning outcomes of the individual course. The study also provides the students with feedback on online assessment techniques incorporated within the MPL. Besides this, the effect of the innovative teaching approaches was compared with the same senior course taught using conventional methods in an earlier semester. Based on the feedback from teachers and students from a previously conducted case study, it was concluded that the MPL approach had supported the student learning. The results of the statistical analysis (Chi-square, two-tailed T statistics and hypothesis testing using a z-test) show that an MPL approach and online assessment improved the attainment of the SOs despite the constraints posed by the pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Amith Khandakar & Muhammad E. H. Chowdhury & Md. Saifuddin Khalid & Nizar Zorba, 2022. "Case Study of Multi-Course Project-Based Learning and Online Assessment in Electrical Engineering Courses during COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-18, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:5056-:d:800047
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rodrigo Lozano & Maria Barreiro-Gen & Francisco J. Lozano & Kaisu Sammalisto, 2019. "Teaching Sustainability in European Higher Education Institutions: Assessing the Connections between Competences and Pedagogical Approaches," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-17, March.
    2. -, 2020. "Education in the time of COVID-19," Coediciones, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 45905 edited by Eclac.
    3. repec:ecr:col016:45905 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Szopiński, Tomasz & Bachnik, Katarzyna, 2022. "Student evaluation of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
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    Cited by:

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    2. Victor Takashi Hayashi & Reginaldo Arakaki & Felipe Valencia de Almeida & Wilson Vicente Ruggiero, 2023. "The Development of Sustainable Engineering with PjBL during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-23, March.
    3. Dongdong Zhang & Cunhao Rong & Hui Hwang Goh & Hui Liu & Xiang Li & Hongyu Zhu & Thomas Wu, 2023. "Reform of Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Teaching and the Curriculum System in the Context of the Energy Internet," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-37, March.
    4. Diana Guaya & Miguel Ángel Meneses & Ximena Jaramillo-Fierro & Eduardo Valarezo, 2023. "Augmented Reality: An Emergent Technology for Students’ Learning Motivation for Chemical Engineering Laboratories during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-20, March.

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