Abstract

The introduction of distance education over several decades ago appropriately created and provided opportunities to those interested in pursuing education at their own pace. Distance education over time took several distinctions, including online learning, learning on-demand, etc. The high-speed internet and the introduction of interactive software significantly improved online learning. They attracted several educational and academic institutions around the world to utilize these mediums to deliver educational and learning materials on demand. These delivery methods have proven to be cost-effective and significantly attractive to academic and technical institutions interested in expanding their markets and allowing applicants from a distance to pursue education and improve their technical skills.

With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, online education using digital interactive software became a norm and many education institutions encouraged their instructional teams to learn and adopt an institution-recommended system medium to deliver their lectures from the traditional face-to-face or in-person to synchronous or asynchronous methods. Texas A&M University campuses, including College Station and the campus located in Qatar (Middle East), followed the recommended delivery method in March 2020. 

Texas A&M University formally started delivering in-person degree programs in its Qatar campus in the fall of 2002.  This campus is located in Hamed Bin Khalifa Campus (formerly known as Education City). Since its inception, it has been offering four ABET-accredited engineering degree programs in chemical, electrical, mechanical, and petroleum engineering. By May 2023, over 1,300 completed and received undergraduate degrees in these four disciplines. The campus has historically and consistently been well regarded for its quality education and innovative approaches to teaching and learning methods in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA Region). 

An empirical study has been conducted at Texas A&M University in Qatar and Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, in two undergraduate courses taught on these two campuses. This article is intended to the results of this study and also report on the observations of students' participation and academic performance during remote in-class (synchronous) and face-to-face learning.