Abstract:

The pandemic associated with COVID-19 has had an unforeseen impact on the undergoing teaching & learning processes. The compulsory online and distant classes affected significantly both teachers and students alike. Such effect became more evident in areas with substantial applied content, like those related to the automotive engineering degree. This study focuses on the attitudes and the perceptions of automotive engineering students in a survey conducted by lecturers and the students to their peers. Aspects like student and teacher participation, workload of online and after-classes, dedicated assessment needs, were analysed and discussed with the students in different focus groups. This study allowed identifying some critical situations related to the online class model and assessment. These results aimed at contributing to the development and the design of dedicated methodologies for online classes and assessment, as these are expected to be required in the near-future due to the possibility of additional lockdowns related to the current pandemic context.

Keywords:

Online learning, COVID-19, engineering education, automotive engineering