Morgantown, West Virginia
March 24, 2023
March 24, 2023
March 25, 2023
9
10.18260/1-2--44926
https://strategy.asee.org/44926
122
Grace is a senior Computer Science major and pursuing a Master's in Software Engineering at the University of Detroit Mercy. She has professional experience with autonomous systems within the automotive industry. Her areas of interest include artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and machine learning.
Nate is a Senior Computer Science and future graduate student in the Master's of Software Engineering program at the University of Detroit Mercy. He has ~1 year of professional experience at automotive suppliers and strives to work for an OEM post-graduation. His areas of interest include autonomous vehicles, embedded systems, and artificial intelligence.
Nathan is a computer science student in his fourth year at the University of Detroit Mercy pursuing a master's in software engineering.
Nassif Rayess is Professor and Chair of Mechanical Engineering at University of Detroit Mercy. He was part of the efforts to introduce entrepreneurially minded learning to the University as part of the KEEN Network and Engineering Unleashed.
The idea of a remote co-op in engineering is an artifact of the recent pandemic. In 2020, large proportions of engineering students at XXXX were forced to switch their co-ops to either an online or a hybrid model. This upended a century old tradition of having students experience industrial and professional practice by working alongside and learning from practicing engineers. The curriculum, requiring three co-op semesters as a condition for graduation, left the faculty and students little choice but to embark on this forced experiment. While this sudden shift was first met with concerns that this experience might cause a major loss of positive experiences, a qualitative and quantitative study of engineering co-op students reveal a more nuanced picture. In this study, over fifty students ranging from sophomores with one co-op to senior and recent graduates with three co-ops were given a survey to reflect on their experience. This paper presents the results of this study relating demographic factors to the level of satisfaction and sense of fulfillment and belonging experienced by the students on co-op. In particular, students were asked to reflect on the quality of their assignments and on their ability to learn and make meaningful contributions. They were also asked to reflect on their ability to make personal connections and to function and hone their teamwork skills. The study also included numerous interviews of students who had both in-person as well as remote co-ops to capture thoughts and feelings that could not be captured in the self-reporting survey. The paper concludes with a discussion and a possible map of the type (learning styles, personality traits, field of study, etc.) of student that could manage or even thrive in a remote (hybrid or online) co-op and which type requires in-person face-to-face work environment in order to find success and satisfaction.
Hanna, G., & Ibegbu, N., & Sherman, A., & Boyar, N., & Garay, N., & Rayess, N. E. (2023, March), An Evaluation of Remote Co-op Assignments on Engineering Students Paper presented at 2023 ASEE North Central Section Conference, Morgantown, West Virginia. 10.18260/1-2--44926
ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2023 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015