Track: Global Engineering Education (GEE)

Abstract

In response to COVID 19 Pandemic and to slow down its speed of public infection, all academic campuses in the United States and their branch campuses overseas had decided to shutdown the face to face or in-person on-campus classes and replace them temporarily with virtually online methods using the available group communication software systems including Zoom, WebEx, SKYPE, etc. Many articles have been presented, and research projects have been carried out to measure the effectiveness of these methods on student learning ability and their responses to these alternative methods.  However, no study has clearly assessed students' learning abilities under these methods and based on their cultural backgrounds and locations. 

This article intends to report the results of a comparative study of student learning in two undergraduate engineering courses in an institution in the United States and its international campus.  The article reports the influence of cultural elements and student learning habits in these environments.  It further reports on some modifications in the content and delivery methods which might be necessary to make an effective and positive impact on these learners.