Evaluating the Efficiency of Online English Course for First-Year Engineering Students

Abstract

This research aims to prove the effectiveness of the distant course "Engineering. General introduction" developed for the first-year engineering students of the Institute of Aerospace Technologies on the Moodle platform and used as the main online learning tool during the quarantine, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The course comprises the following topics: Engineering, Robotics, Smart Materials, Technology, History of Flight, Igor Sikorsky. The students' activity in the course has been analyzed and compared with the survey results. To evaluate the students' (N=34) perceptions towards the course, its benefits and drawbacks, as well as the possibility of using additional educational technologies, we have designed the questionnaire which includes 12 closed and open questions. The results show that 73,5% students think that Moodle platform is a good decision to provide e-learning education, which is consistent with the students grading history: 46,1% of students had 60-80% progress; 53,9% coped at 80-100%. The interactive modules "Forum" and "Glossary" promote developing students' collaborative skills. The drawbacks mentioned by respondents are the problems with the Internet connection and lack of face-to-face communication. The conclusion is made to implement video conferencing tools in the learning process. Based on the research findings, the recommendations for educators regarding remote learning process optimization have been proposed.

Studying English Under Covid-19 Quarantine: Ukrainian and Indian Students’ Perspectives

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Teaching Pediatric Surgery in the Online Environment: Challenges and Opportunities

“…According to [17], students who used Moodle for self-directed learning are more successful than students who weren't asked to use it. The study [18] shows correlation between students' positive evaluation of Moodle course and high grades. Avramescu [19] believes that online learning platforms and technologies cannot replace face-to-face learning completely, but can significantly improve medical students' skills and knowledge thus making them better prepared for practice and develop self-directed autonomous learning.…”

Technical university students’ feedback on studying English online under the COVID-19

“…The issues of compatibility and readiness of students to study online, factors that motivate and hinder remote learning, strategies for the effective implementation of online learning at higher education institutions are of vital importance (Khalil Awan, 2021). Researchers focused on the evaluation of online courses (Lukianenko & Vadaska, 2020), psychological and operational aspects of online education (Gokuladas & Baby Sam, 2020), obstacles to effective learning online (Aslam, 2021;Chang, 2020;Dogar et al, 2020;Kimmel et al, 2020), supervision and evaluation of online learning experience (Adarkwah, 2021, p. 1, 2). Indeed, there are some important issues that are still uncovered by research.…”