TY - JOUR
T1 - Community Building through Technology in a Biological Systems Engineering Course
AU - Han, Heydi
AU - Palala, Hector
AU - Keshwani, Jennifer
AU - Keshwani, Deepak R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© American Society for Engineering Education, 2023.
PY - 2023/6/25
Y1 - 2023/6/25
N2 - Building meaningful relationships with peers is crucial for student success, as these connections not only benefit students inside a classroom but may also extend beyond college life. Students who build community in a classroom will likely share other classes and could become valuable friends during college or members of a professional network after graduation. While technology sometimes distracts students from having in-person interactions, it can be strategically integrated into the classroom to help students connect, build community, and develop teamwork skills. This study used technology tools to facilitate in-person and technology-based interactions within a group of sophomore students in a Biological Systems Engineering course. A series of activities to foster community building was designed for this course. All the activities were related to the content studied in class but had an element of community building. We created two instruments to collect data: A series of open-ended questions and a survey using a 5-point Likert scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Results showed that a significant group of participants expressed positive perceptions of community and teamwork. Moreover, students felt encouraged to participate in all the group activities, team projects, and assignments to achieve the academic goals for the semester. Students also felt in a safe environment to ask questions and to ask for the help needed to succeed. The perceptions of students related to community building, whether negative or positive, provided feedback to improve the course. Although students value in-person interactions over technology-based interactions, technology is a good ally to foster community and aid the learning process.
AB - Building meaningful relationships with peers is crucial for student success, as these connections not only benefit students inside a classroom but may also extend beyond college life. Students who build community in a classroom will likely share other classes and could become valuable friends during college or members of a professional network after graduation. While technology sometimes distracts students from having in-person interactions, it can be strategically integrated into the classroom to help students connect, build community, and develop teamwork skills. This study used technology tools to facilitate in-person and technology-based interactions within a group of sophomore students in a Biological Systems Engineering course. A series of activities to foster community building was designed for this course. All the activities were related to the content studied in class but had an element of community building. We created two instruments to collect data: A series of open-ended questions and a survey using a 5-point Likert scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Results showed that a significant group of participants expressed positive perceptions of community and teamwork. Moreover, students felt encouraged to participate in all the group activities, team projects, and assignments to achieve the academic goals for the semester. Students also felt in a safe environment to ask questions and to ask for the help needed to succeed. The perceptions of students related to community building, whether negative or positive, provided feedback to improve the course. Although students value in-person interactions over technology-based interactions, technology is a good ally to foster community and aid the learning process.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85172160309&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:85172160309
SN - 2153-5965
JO - ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings
JF - ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings
T2 - 2023 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition - The Harbor of Engineering: Education for 130 Years, ASEE 2023
Y2 - 25 June 2023 through 28 June 2023
ER -