Abstract
Last March 2019, Philippines suffered the first wave of COVID-19 resulting in most, if not all, educational facilities seizing operations and swiftly shifting into the online learning environment most of us are familiar with. Currently, the Technological Institute of the Philippines Quezon City (T.I.P QC) has adapted to more flexible learning approaches as the threat of COVID-19 slowly dwindles away. With the standard learning approach shifting once again into the new normal, this study aims to explore the effects and impacts of the previous modality of learning, online format, on a graduating engineering student’s professional preparedness. COVID-19 has caused significant changes in how instructors impart knowledge and how students interact with Higher Education (HE). Different teaching and learning approaches have been adopted to account for social exclusion, learners' varied requirements, and the fact that they may live far from the HE classroom.Online learning is one such mode that was heavily adapted in the Philippines (Montemayor, 2020). In online classes, instructors instruct learners simultaneously in a digital classroom and synchronously online using video-conferencing tools. In this small-scale exploratory study, graduating students who took a six-week course through online classes are interviewed about their experiences and opinions. Despite communication difficulties between students who attended through various modalities, individuals did value the freedom it provided, according to the findings. The use of several aspects of video conferencing software and other digital tools was considered crucial to online learning’s effectiveness. A quantitative study was conducted using a unidimensional 4-point Likert scale questionnaire disseminated through a google form link. Respondents are limited to 26 Graduating Engineering Students of T.I.P. QC Campus. Survey results are further validated through the use of frequency, percentage, weighted mean, ANOVA, Standard Deviation, interpretation, and ranking.
Keywords COVID-19, Higher Education, Online Learning, Professional Preparedness, Graduating Students