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Features of Continuity and Change through COVID-19 in an Undergraduate Engineering Program

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Conference

2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Minneapolis, MN

Publication Date

August 23, 2022

Start Date

June 26, 2022

End Date

June 29, 2022

Conference Session

Design in Engineering Division Poster Session

Page Count

17

DOI

10.18260/1-2--41501

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/41501

Download Count

174

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Paper Authors

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Robert Nagel James Madison University

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Melissa Aleman James Madison University

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Dr. Melissa Aleman (Ph.D. University of Iowa) is Professor of Communication Studies at James Madison University and has published research using qualitative interviewing, ethnographic and rhetorical methods to examine communication in diverse cultural contexts ranging from multicultural families to engineering education and makerspaces. She has advised undergraduate and graduate students in autoethnographic, ethnographic, and qualitative interview projects on a wide-range of topics, has taught research methods at the introductory, advanced, and graduate levels, and has trained research assistants in diverse forms of data collection and analysis.

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Kelly Sadel

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Abstract

How does online learning at a residential college impact community building? During the Covid-19 pandemic, qualitative focus group interview data were collected at a large mid-Atlantic university with each undergraduate engineering student cohort. Students adapted relationships with peers and professors to respond to the ongoing dynamic conditions of collegiate and regional Covid-19 requirements and experiences. This qualitative research study investigates the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on the community and relational aspects of an undergraduate making and engineering design centered engineering program in the United States. The qualitative data illustrate trends in inner-cohort relationships, qualities of the engineering department, and how students developed and maintained relationships throughout the pandemic. This paper offers implications and strategies for building and maintaining community in learning environments that are experiencing rapid and dynamic shifts. The themes and patterns can provide unique insight into the aspects of community important to students’ lived experiences during the portion of the pandemic when online and hybrid learning were most prevalent.

Nagel, R., & Aleman, M., & Sadel, K. (2022, August), Features of Continuity and Change through COVID-19 in an Undergraduate Engineering Program Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41501

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