The project focuses on the customization of the standard face to face materials for teaching technical subjects in the engineering field in such a way that it will meet the needs of the on-line education. The need emerged during the pandemic, where many higher institutions were called to change their teaching practices and update their training methods and materials. The challenge is still here especially for subjects that require physical contact with devices and hardware such as electronics and embedded systems programming. The engineering programmes of studies are focused on teaching students practical subjects using different physical devices. The common subjects for different engineering studies are electronics, microcontrollers and programming. Based on the analysis of engineering programmes of project partners, the electronics/microcontrollers/programming subjects make up about 60-90% of all practical subjects. The first goal of the project is the development, preparation and implementation of the online courses related to electronics, microcontrolers (e.g. AVR, ARM, PIC), board-based practice (like Arduino) and programming languages that are introduced together with physical equipment (e.g. C, C++, Python, VHDL, etc. ). The courses will be based on the open-source solutions and become available as Open Educational Resources (OER). These courses can be realized independently by students or supported by educators in the frame of on-line education. The courses will be prepared by the partner Universities and submitted to a common online platform (i.e. Moodle or relevant) to support local education needs and extend the didactic offer for students. To strengthen the online collaboration and language benefits the courses will be prepared in English allowing also future use of the materials for higher education students in Europe and beyond. The project also focuses on the development of a tutorial on how to organize the remote online learning for higher education students, especially how to choose and use the online platforms (like MS Teams, Zoom, Jitsi etc.), how to distribute didactic materials, how to support lectures using online courses, and how to introduce innovative methods of teaching and learning in online distance education. This tutorial will support educators who do not have experience with on-line platforms and generally on-line education. The project is addressed to academic staff and students. It is estimated that more than 260 students and 20 academic teachers will be directly involved in the ENGINE-learning intervention whereas additional teachers (approx. 200) and students (approx. 500) will be engaged in the context of dissemination and multiplier events. The project methodology includes 5 core phases: 1. Technical design 2. Pedagogical design 3. Teacher training 4. Pilot studies with students in Greece, Poland and Italy 5. Evaluation reports Innovative aspects of the project include: - The three of four intellectual outputs will focus on preparation of on-line courses on topics related with hardware, to support the online engineering education. - The educational materials can be used entirely outside laboratories. Thus, the material can be used to support distance learning, without the need for a physical laboratory, electronic components and extra costs. - The educational materials after the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) can be also used by students in combination with experimentation in real laboratories. Latest studies have shown that the complimentary use of virtual and real experimentation increases students’ performance in laboratories. - The project also innovates designing optimal interaction and personalised communication with students , simulators deployed to substitute the physical devices where it is possible and as a replacement for hands-on learning. The ENGINE project first will help Universities in systematizing and finalizing the good practises, which were started being developed during the COVID-19 emergency in the first semester of 2020. Second, ENGINE can be the starting point to develop new virtual and remote laboratories for computer science and electronics curricula. Interestingly, these remote resources can be helpful especially in case of a new lockdown. The goal is to create a rich collection of OERs that would be helpful for the target groups covering different learning needs in different settings. This material can be used by other universities as well during fully remote education and might lead to an adaptation of a mixed educational model of blended learning when conditions allow universities to combine face to face with online education.
The implementation of the ENGINE project aimed to achieve several objectives, including: - Adapting educational materials for distance learning by developing online courses in the fields of electronics, microcontrollers, and programming. - Creating a common online platform with educational courses for students that would be freely accessible (https://study.engined.eu/). - Expanding the current didactic offer of engineering subjects by complementing the courses developed by partners from different universities, creating a rich didactic offer of subjects in the fields of electronics, microcontrollers, and programming. - Supporting teachers in remote teaching by providing them with a tutorial on how to organize remote teaching of engineering subjects in an interesting and effective way. While this project primarily supported universities during the pandemic, its results will continue to benefit universities even after the pandemic, as online teaching methods have become an important part of blended teaching and learning. Furthermore, the prepared materials provide teachers with the flexibility to adapt their teaching methods to suit students with special needs, such as those unable to participate in standard classes due to health reasons.
The project aimed to customize the standard face-to-face materials and methods used for teaching technical subjects in the engineering field to meet the needs of online education. This need arose during the pandemic when many higher education institutions had to update their training methods and materials to adapt to changing circumstances. The challenge was particularly difficult for subjects that require physical use of devices and hardware, such as electronics and embedded systems programming. The ENGINE project focused on creating online courses related to electronics, microcontrollers, and programming languages. These courses were uploaded to a common online platform (https://study.engined.eu/) and extended the usual didactic offer for students. The courses were prepared in English, allowing for future use of the material for higher education students in Europe and beyond. Additionally, the project aimed to develop a tutorial on how to organize remote online learning for higher education students. This tutorial supports educators who lack experience with online platforms and in creating engaging digital content for practical subjects.