Facilitating Remote Electrical and Computer Engineering Teaching: Seizing the Moment with Project RECET

RECET项目（远程电气和计算机工程教学）的总体目标是在完全在线的情况下帮助提供高质量的电气和计算机工程教育，并探索未来在线和面对面教学相结合的问题。在2019冠状病毒病大流行之前，电气和计算机工程（ECE）的在线和在线兼容教学技术并未在美国ECE部门广泛部署。随着欧洲经委会的教育工作者和学生在2020年和2021年期间对远程教育的经验越来越丰富，他们了解到面对面和在线教学之间的选择并不是非此即彼的命题。大多数教师和机构已经意识到，COVID要求他们做的事情应该至少成为新常态的一部分，以实现为学生提供最好的学习环境。他们还认识到与其他机构和行业积极分享课程内容的价值。RECET项目将帮助传播材料、战略和最佳实践，这些将对欧洲经委会共同体各级教育产生重大影响，并成为欧洲经委会教育事业短期和长期变革的引擎。在线基础设施、研讨会、教程和其他支持活动将由欧洲经委会部门负责人协会（ECEDHA）管理，这是一个中立的非营利组织，其成员包括大多数美国欧洲经委会部门。ECEDHA还与行业领导者保持密切的工作关系。RECET最初推出的范围将局限于模拟和数字电路入门课程，但该项目的一个关键目标是准备扩大到一个全面的活动，以支持欧洲经委会课程的全部广度，并可被其他工程学科采用。该团队假设，有一个庞大且不断增长的ECE讲师和实践工程师群体，他们看到了免费在线分享他们与所有ECE项目开发的相关课程内容的价值。该团队还假设，如果贡献的课程内容组织良好，由独立的中立组织（不单独隶属于任何一所大学或公司）提供支持，内容通过学院-工业联合过程进行标记，内容最小程度地烙印，并提供充分的培训和支持基础设施，那么大量机构将采用完全在线的ECE教学（包括实验室）。这种集体方法可以开始一种根本性的文化转变，在这种转变中，欧洲经委会项目更充分地利用来自工程教育界和工业界的循证研究，更直接地参与到欧洲经委会学生的学习中。这项研究的结果将帮助欧洲经委会各部门在全国范围内部署远程学习体验，这将提高学生的理解能力，并为他们在工业上的成功做好更好的准备。成功的努力有两个主要结果。一个是产品（在线内容集合），另一个是创建、维护、社会化和拥有产品的过程。如果工作成功，内容收集将与美国ECE生态系统中的所有ECE部门兼容，并邀请他们参与，并将确定将相同成功转化为其他工程学科的路线图。这一过程还将培养一种跨机构文化，在这种文化中，美国欧洲经委会的教职员工将在当地部门之外作为国家社区的成员工作。工程教育研究对欧洲经委会教育的影响也将增加。最后一个潜在的更广泛的影响是，一个成功的项目将确定一个路线图，将同样的成功转化为欧洲经委会以外的其他工程学科。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The overall goal of Project RECET (Remote Electrical and Computer Engineering Teaching) is to help provide quality ECE education when fully online, and explore issues associated with blended online and in-person instruction for the future. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, online and online compatible techniques for teaching Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) were not widely deployed across US ECE Departments. As ECE educators and students became more experienced with remote education during 2020 and 2021, they learned that the choice between face-to-face and online instruction is not an either-or proposition. Most instructors and institutions have come to realize that what COVID required them to do should become at least part of the new normal to realize the best possible learning environment for their students. They have also learned the value of actively sharing course content with other institutions and industry. Project RECET will help disseminate materials, strategies, and best practices that will have a significant impact on the ECE Community across all levels of education and be an engine for both short- and long-term change in the ECE education enterprise. Online infrastructure, workshops, tutorials, and other support activities will be managed by the ECE Department Heads Association (ECEDHA), a neutral non-profit organization whose members include most US ECE departments. ECEDHA also maintains close working relationships with industry leaders. The scope of the initial RECET roll out will be limited to introductory analog and digital circuits courses, but a key goal of the project is to prepare to scale up to a comprehensive activity that supports the complete breadth of the ECE curriculum and can be adopted by other engineering disciplines.The team hypothesizes that there is a large and growing cohort of ECE instructors and practicing engineers who see the value of freely sharing online relevant course content they have developed with all ECE programs. The team also hypothesizes that a significant number of institutions will adopt fully online ECE instruction--including labs--if contributed course content is well organized, supported by an independent neutral organization that is not solely affiliated with any one university or company, content is tagged through a joint academy-industry process, content is minimally branded, and adequate training and support infrastructure is provided. This collective approach can begin a fundamental cultural shift in which ECE programs more fully utilize the evidence-based research from the engineering education community and industry is more directly engaged in ECE student learning. The results from this study will help prepare ECE departments nationally to deploy remote learning experiences that will improve student understanding and better prepare them for success in industry. There are two principal outcomes expected of a successful effort. One is the product (an online content collection), and the other is the process by which the product will have been created, maintained, socialized, and owned. If the effort is successful, the content collection will be compatible with, and invite participation by, all ECE departments across the diverse US ECE ecosystem and will identify a roadmap for translating the same successes to other engineering disciplines. The process will also nurture a trans-institutional culture in which US ECE faculty members work as members of a national community beyond their local department. The impact of engineering education research on ECE education will also be increased. A final potential broader impact is that a successful project will identify a roadmap for translating the same successes to other engineering disciplines, beyond ECE.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.