Abstract:

During the Covid-19 pandemic, faculties faced numerous challenges and issues when all institutions around the globe ceased teaching on campuses and moved to online tutoring. The deanship of e-learning and distance education at King Abdulaziz University offered hundreds of workshops for all faculty members and students to train them on the use of the learning management system (Blackboard) which is adopted by the university. Educational departments and their members had to find additional teaching methods and solutions appropriate to such situations. This paper developed a framework of emergency remote teaching for a Software Engineering lab. The framework was intended to keep students engaged, motivated, and make pedagogical gains. The objective of this lab is to provide a methodological approach to developing computer systems, including all phases of system planning, analysis, and design. For responsiveness to online teaching during a crisis, this research has redesigned the course lab based on the developed framework. The framework was developed by adopting the instructions included in the Quality Matters (QM) Emergency Remote Instruction (ERI) Checklist, the online engagement framework for higher education and Moree’s three types of interactions for online learning. The emergency remote teaching framework (ERTF) for higher education identifies eleven design elements of emergency remote teaching. This research tested the impact of this redesigned lab by distributing a questionnaire to students who were enrolled in the course. The study outcomes found that the developed framework has improved the student’s engagement and made them more enthusiastic and active during lab time. The author proposes that the framework provides a guide for academics and researchers when designing an effective online course. Finally, the paper provides recommendations on how the framework might be used when moving suddenly to online teaching.

Keywords:

Emergency Remote Teaching, online learning Engagement, Software Engineering, gamification.