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A Protocol to Follow-up with Students in Large-enrollment Courses

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Conference

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Location

Virtual Conference

Publication Date

July 26, 2021

Start Date

July 26, 2021

End Date

July 19, 2022

Conference Session

Tools to Enhance Student Learning of Undergraduate Engineering Content

Tagged Division

Educational Research and Methods

Page Count

6

DOI

10.18260/1-2--36603

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/36603

Download Count

358

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Paper Authors

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Matias Alonso Piña Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

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Engineering student from Chile.

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Isabel Hilliger P.E. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-5270-7655

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Isabel Hilliger is the Associate Director for Assessment and Evaluation at the Engineering Education Division in Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC). Isabel received a BEng and PhD in Engineering Sciences from UC, and an MA in Policy Organization, and Leadership Studies from Stanford Graduate School of Education. Her research theme is the use of methodologies and analytical tools for continuous curriculum improvement in Higher Education. She has created qualitative and quantitative instruments for outcome assessment in enginering education. She has also evaluated policy efforts towards engineering diversity and undergraduate research.

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Jorge A. Baier Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

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He is an associate professor in the Computer Science Department and Associate Dean for Engineering Education at the Engineering School in Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Jorge holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Toronto in Canada and a Master's Degree in Engineering Sciences from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. His research focuses on areas of automated reasoning in Artificial Intelligence; specifically, automated planning, search and knowledge representation. He is also interested in the development of teaching approaches and systems that promote the wellbeing of students.

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Constanza Melian Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chilev

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Constanza Melian is Assessment and Evaluation Coordinator for Division of Engineering Education at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
Constanza is sociologist, interested in issues of education, social inequality, poverty and gender gaps. Methodologically his interests and work is in survey design, construction of quantitative instruments, statistical data analysis and evaluation of social programs.

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Cristian Ruz Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

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Tomás Andrés González Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

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Abstract

In response to the covid-19 health crisis, many higher education institutions quickly moved to online education. As a result of that sudden switch, students faced unexpected difficulties, such as lack of a good quality internet connection, adequate equipment, and a good study environment. Additionally, several of them dealt with the effects of health and emotional situations faced by themselves or family members. Aware of those additional difficulties, some institutions promoted a flexible approach, suggesting teachers to increase communication with their students and make the necessary modifications to course evaluations and deadlines.

Teachers willing to approach their teaching in a more flexible manner need to make themselves aware of the needs of their students. In engineering massive courses, where student-teacher communication is usually burdened, gaining such an awareness is particularly difficult, requiring students to initiate communication. Unfortunately, in remote online settings, which may exacerbate social isolation, students may have less inclination to communicate with their teachers.

This work-in-progress paper describes a case of study in which we describe and evaluate a protocol designed to actively engage in communication with students either with lower-than-average academic performance or with missing/late assignments. Using soothing language, a member of the teaching staff contacts students (or replies to a request from a student), attempts to establish the causes of the low academic performance and proposes specific actions to be taken in response to students' needs. The protocol was implemented in an advanced programming course during the second term (Fall) of 2020, at a large school of engineering in Latin America. To evaluate the student's perceptions of this approach, we collect data from several sources, including general-purpose student evaluations and questionnaires designed to specifically evaluate the perceptions of this approach. By analyzing different sources of data, we aimed to identify advantages and opportunities for improvement and scaling this approach at a school level. Among the most important contributions, even though our protocol was designed and implemented during the pandemic, it could also be implemented face-to-face or with online systems.

Piña, M. A., & Hilliger, I., & Baier, J. A., & Melian, C., & Ruz, C., & González, T. A. (2021, July), A Protocol to Follow-up with Students in Large-enrollment Courses Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--36603

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