Innovations in Remote Teaching of Engineering Design Teams

Area of Science:

• Engineering Education
• Health Innovation
• Remote Learning

Background:

• The Engineering Innovation in Health program at the University of Washington is a yearlong course sequence for senior undergraduate and graduate students.
• Students collaborate in interdisciplinary teams with health professionals to address unmet clinical needs.
• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a shift from in-person to remote instruction for these team- and project-based courses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To share innovative teaching strategies developed for a remote, team-based engineering design course environment.
• To evaluate the impact of the shift to remote learning on student productivity and project outcomes.
• To assess the effectiveness of remote teaching strategies in the context of engineering capstone design.

Main Methods:

• Implemented innovative teaching strategies tailored for a remote course environment.
• Collected and compared survey data from students before (in-person) and during (remote) the pandemic.
• Analyzed productivity and overall project outcomes based on survey results.

Main Results:

• Preliminary results indicate that overall project outcomes and productivity remained comparable to or, in some instances, exceeded pre-pandemic levels.
• The implemented remote teaching strategies were effective in facilitating student learning and project completion.
• These findings suggest that remote learning can be a viable alternative for engineering design courses, even when hands-on experiences are limited.

Conclusions:

• Innovative remote teaching strategies can successfully support team-based engineering design courses.
• The shift to remote learning during the pandemic did not negatively impact, and in some cases improved, student productivity and project outcomes.
• These strategies offer valuable insights for adapting engineering education in both remote and hybrid contexts beyond the pandemic.