Exploring Romanian Engineering Students’ Perceptions of Covid-19 Emergency e-Learning Situation. A Mixed-Method Case Study

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic is the most disturbing event in the lifetime of most of our planet’s citizens. The lockdown measures directly impacted many areas of our lives, including the educational sector, because locking down countries meant implicitly locking down the educational system. Moreover, what was first considered a temporary solution for an extraordinary situation began to look more and more like a medium to long-term general rule. Nevertheless, the questions are: are we all ready to move the entire educational process online and fully understand the challenges and implications for all stakeholders involved? This two-part research aims to provide some answers to these questions by identifying and analyzing the perceptions of Romanian engineering students enrolled at “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi (TUIASI) regarding the changes registered in the past year once the emergency e-learning situation started. The first part of the research was conducted between April and May 2020 through an online survey among 134 engineering students. It aimed at identifying the students’ perception of the online learning systems provided by their university, considering the significant speed with which changes were imposed. In addition, this research phase focused on students’ access to resources and knowledge to use and integrate online learning into their study routine. The second part of the research was carried out after almost a year of e-learning between March and April 2021 and consisted of six online focus groups with 36 students and aimed at identifying the main advantages and challenges students experience throughout the online educational process. The research revealed that although students are digital natives, they still have difficulties harnessing e-learning’s advantages and integrating them into their study routine. Another significant aspect refers to the changing role of the professor perceived not only as an instructor but as a mentor during a time of crisis. The study results can offer higher education institutions insight and valuable information that can be used in designing and implementing online and hybrid activities and classes that better fit the students’ needs and expectations in terms of e-learning.

Engineering Students’ Perception on Self-Efficacy in Pre and Post Pandemic Phase

“…Particularly with regard to students in higher education, research reports that the pandemic had an impact on several dimensions of students' lives, including their lifestyle, interpersonal competences, behaviors, emotions, feelings, and educational experiences [19,[30][31][32]. Studies from different parts of the globe indicate some common issues experienced by students, such as a decrease in motivation due to social aspects and especially a lack of communication and interactions with teachers and peers [33][34][35][36]. In a systematic literature review carried out at the beginning of the pandemic crisis in 2020 on The Impact of Social Isolation and Loneliness on the Mental Health of Children and Adolescents in the Context of COVID-19, the authors found 83 articles that addressed this topic [37].…”

Effectiveness of using E-learning systems during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: Experiences and perceptions analysis of engineering students

“…The results show that the new method of the proposed form can provide close scores compared to the paper-based model by a deviation of 0.6%. Another recent study by Alexa et al ( 2022 ) investigates the relationship between using the E-learning features and engineering students. The research surveys 134 engineering students and reveals that regardless the engineering students know much better the technologies than other filed, the students are still facing difficulties in accommodating E-learning advantages and including them in their study routine.…”

Development of an intelligent system based on metaverse learning for students with disabilities

“…Arif ( 2021 ) described the use of virtual reality in teaching in engineering, in which a connection assessment unit was planned for a cave automatic virtual environment-based system, called “Projection VR” and installed at the NED University Virtual Reality Center. Alexa et al (2022 ) assessed the spread of changes, access, and integration of new technologies in online learning during the coronavirus-2019 pandemic in 134 engineering students at the Technical University of Lasi. In their study, 80.6% of students reported having resources to study in virtual classrooms and the ability to work in virtual platforms.…”