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Investigating the Challenges of Engineering Students at the University of Tehran in Regard to Online Learning During COVID-19 Crisis: A Mixed Study

Document Type : scientific-research

Authors

1 , MSc student, School of Engineering Science, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

2 Associate Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering,University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

3 3 Assistant Professor, School of Engineering Science, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

During the pandemic of COVID-19, face to face class sessions, in education systems, have been suspended due to various recommendations of governments. To continue teaching and learning, universities have switched to online learning. In the past two years, implementation of online learning, despite its benefits for higher education, has had its drawbacks and students have faced to a variety of challenges. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the perceptions and opinions of undergraduate engineering students at the University of Tehran about the existing challenges, and their suggestions for making the online learning more efficient in engineering education. This research is performed using a mixed model. A conceptual research model was designed that categorized the main elements of effective online learning into three categories: learners, instructors, and content, and then based on this conceptual model, a questionnaire including Likert and open-ended questions was developed to determine the challenges facing engineering students in online learning in the Corona era. By distributing this questionnaire among incoming engineering students of Tehran University in 2019 and 2020 and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data, to two questions, "What have been the challenges of engineering students in online learning during the Corona era?" And "How has the quality of online engineering education been during the corona pandemic?", was answered. For analysis, qualitative data were coded and categorized using the thematic analysis method and using MAXQDA, and the frequency of each category and code was determined. Quantitative data were also analyzed by statistical analysis methods including descriptive statistics and t-test of independent groups in the SPSS, and then two sets of findings obtained from quantitative and qualitative data were summarized and combined. Based on the results, students' challenges during the pandemic were categorized into five groups: personal challenges, limited social interaction, technology problems, evaluation issues, and concerns about content and teaching methods. Students’ feedback is an important tool in assessing the quality of online courses but other stakeholders’ conceptions and feedbacks should be studied in future research as well.

Keywords

Article Title [Persian]

بررسی چالش‌ها و پیشنهادات دانش‌جویان مهندسی دانشگاه تهران در رابطه با یادگیری برخط در دوران بحران کرونا: پژوهش آمیخته

Authors [Persian]

  • سما قریشی 1
  • سید امید فاطمی 2
  • زهرا شاطرزاده یزدی 3

1 دانشجوی کارشناسی ارشد، دانشکده علوم مهندسی، پردیس فنی، دانشگاه تهران، تهران، ایران.

2 دانشیار، دانشکده مهندسی برق و کامپیوتر، پردیس فنی، دانشگاه تهران، تهران، ایران.

3 استادیار، دانشکده علوم مهندسی، دانشکده فنی، دانشگاه تهران، تهران، ایران

Abstract [Persian]

در طول همه گیری COVID-19، جلسات کلاس های حضوری در سیستم های آموزشی به دلیل توصیه های مختلف دولت ها به حالت تعلیق درآمده است. برای ادامه آموزش و یادگیری، دانشگاه ها به یادگیری آنلاین روی آورده اند. در دو سال گذشته، پیاده‌سازی آموزش آنلاین، علی‌رغم فوایدی که برای آموزش عالی داشته، دارای معایبی بوده و دانشجویان با چالش‌های مختلفی روبرو بوده‌اند. هدف اصلی این پژوهش، بررسی ادراکات و نظرات دانشجویان کارشناسی مهندسی دانشگاه تهران در مورد چالش‌های موجود و پیشنهادات آنان برای کارآمدتر کردن یادگیری آنلاین در آموزش مهندسی است. این تحقیق با استفاده از مدل ترکیبی انجام شده است. یک مدل تحقیق مفهومی طراحی شد که عناصر اصلی یادگیری آنلاین مؤثر را در سه دسته یادگیرندگان، مربیان و محتوا دسته بندی کرد و سپس بر اساس این مدل مفهومی، پرسشنامه ای شامل لیکرت و سؤالات باز برای تعیین چالش های پیش رو تهیه شد. دانشجویان مهندسی در یادگیری آنلاین در عصر کرونا. با توزیع این پرسشنامه در بین دانشجویان ورودی مهندسی دانشگاه تهران در سال‌های 1398 و 1399 و تجزیه و تحلیل داده‌های کمی و کیفی، به دو سؤال "چالش‌های دانشجویان مهندسی در یادگیری آنلاین در دوران کرونا چه بوده است؟" و "کیفیت آموزش آنلاین مهندسی در دوران شیوع کرونا چگونه بوده است؟"، پاسخ داده شد. برای تجزیه و تحلیل داده های کیفی با استفاده از روش تحلیل موضوعی و با استفاده از MAXQDA کدگذاری و دسته بندی شدند و فراوانی هر دسته و کد تعیین شد. داده‌های کمی نیز با روش‌های تحلیل آماری شامل آمار توصیفی و آزمون t گروه‌های مستقل در نرم‌افزار SPSS مورد تجزیه و تحلیل قرار گرفت و سپس دو مجموعه از یافته‌های حاصل از داده‌های کمی و کیفی خلاصه و ترکیب شدند. بر اساس نتایج، چالش‌های دانش‌آموزان در طول همه‌گیری به پنج گروه طبقه‌بندی شدند: چالش‌های شخصی، تعامل اجتماعی محدود، مشکلات فناوری، مسائل ارزیابی، و نگرانی‌ها در مورد محتوا و روش‌های تدریس. بازخورد دانش‌آموزان ابزار مهمی در ارزیابی کیفیت دوره‌های آنلاین است، اما نظرات و نظرات سایر ذینفعان نیز باید در تحقیقات آتی مورد مطالعه قرار گیرد.

Keywords [Persian]

  • آموزش مهندسی
  • یادگیری برخط
  • آموزش از راه دور اضطراری
  • چالش های دانشجویان
  • کووید 19
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Quarterly of Iranian Distance Education Journal
Volume 4, Issue 1
March 2022
Pages 111-125
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