RAPID: Investigating Effects of the Disruptive Shift to Online Courses on Identity Formation and Self-Efficacy of Students and Faculty in a First-Year Engineering Course

该项目将收集所需的时间敏感数据，以调查新冠肺炎导致的快速转向在线教学的影响。该项目以以项目为基础的一年级工程设计课程的学生为重点。虽然它在减缓病毒感染方面是有效的，但突然转向在线教学也将对本科生的体验和学习产生重大影响。成功的在线课程通常是在几个月或几年的时间里开发出来的，得到了教学设计师或该机构其他专家的大力支持。在这种情况下，在线课程的开发必须在几周内完成，而且各机构在将面授课程转换为在线课程时，没有能力向所有教职员工提供帮助。包括实践经验的课程，如设计课程，要有效地在网上授课，是一个特别棘手的挑战。在第一年的课程中，高质量的教学是至关重要的，因为学生开始形成他们作为工程师的身份，并对自己的工程能力建立信心。了解快速转向在线课程对学生在基于项目的工程课程中的体验的影响，可以从根本上改变管理人员、教育工作者和行业准备和适应一年级学生独特需求的方式。这项工作的发现将提供洞察力，可以指导关于工程教育未来的明智决策。三个研究问题将指导调查：1.学生的自我效能感信念和同一性在这一过渡时期如何演变？2.自我效能感信念和教师的经验在这一过渡时期如何演变？3.前两个问题的结果是取决于个体差异还是中介技术的使用？为了回答这些问题，该项目将使用混合方法方法，包括定性访谈、调查、从学习管理系统进行数据挖掘和自然语言处理。研究计划将分为两个阶段：1)现场数据收集和分析；2)对收集的数据进行分析。这一分析将使研究团队能够探索这种突然转变对未来课程提供、教师行为和信念以及学生坚持不懈的影响，特别是对来自代表性不足群体的一年级工程专业学生的留住。它还可以提供关于如何改进实验室、设计和其他需要学生动手操作的课程的在线版本的见解。这一快速奖项是由本科教育部门(教育和人力资源局)的改善本科STEM教育项目，使用冠状病毒援助、救济和经济安全(CARE)法案的资金颁发的。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will gather time-sensitive data needed to investigate the impact of the rapid shift to online instruction due to COVID-19. The project focuses on students in a project-based first-year engineering design course. Although it is effective in slowing viral infections, the sudden change to online instruction will also have a significant impact on undergraduate student experiences and learning. Successful online courses typically are developed over months or years, with substantial support from instructional designers or other specialists at the institution. In this case, the development of online courses had to be accomplished within weeks, and institutions did not have the capacity to scale assistance to all faculty as they converted their in-person courses to online courses. Courses that include hands-on experiences, such as design courses, are a particularly thorny challenge to effectively deliver online. High-quality instruction is critical in first-year courses, where students begin to form their identities as engineers and develop confidence in their engineering abilities. Understanding the effects that the rapid shift to online courses has on student experiences in project-based engineering courses could fundamentally change the way administrators, educators, and industry prepare for and adapt to the unique needs of first-year students. The findings of this work will provide insights that can guide informed decisions about the future of engineering education. Three research questions will guide the investigations: 1. How do the self-efficacy beliefs and identity of students evolve during this transitional period? 2. How do the self-efficacy beliefs and the experiences of instructors evolve during this transitional period? 3. Are the results of the first two questions conditioned upon individual differences or the use of mediating technologies? To answer these questions, the project will use a mixed methods approach that features qualitative interviews, surveys, data mining from learning management systems, and natural language processing. The research plan will be broken into two phases: 1) in-situ data collection and analysis; and 2) analysis of the collected data. The analysis will enable the research team to explore the implications of this sudden shift on future course offerings, instructor behaviors and beliefs, and student persistence, particularly the retention of first-year engineering students from underrepresented groups. It can also provide insights about how to improve online versions of laboratory, design, and other courses that require students to do hands-on work. This RAPID award is made by the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program in the Division of Undergraduate Education (Education and Human Resources Directorate), using funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.