Abstract:

In modern society, engineers work in a complex professional environment that requires of them to continuously improve their knowledge, skills and competencies. The training of such specialists necessitates the introduction of innovative methods in education. These methods should develop students' skills based on a thorough understanding of engineering and scientific principles. The development of ICT in recent years provides great opportunities to improve existing teaching methods in higher education.

In this article we present the project "New Trends in "Electrical Engineering” Training in a Pandemic ", funded by the Research Fund at Plovdiv University. The main goal of the project is the implementation of innovative methods and tools in the "Electrical Engineering" training for engineering specialties in a pandemic.

Achieving the goal is carried out by performing the following tasks:
1. Development of a course "Electrical Engineering" in the performance support e-learning system DIPSEIL. This includes:
a. Development of educational technology for distance and/or blended training in "Electrical Engineering".
b. Equipment of a modern laboratory in electrical engineering: development of new laboratory setups for training in electrical engineering and purchase of new measuring instruments.
c. Development of multimedia training resources for the course "Electrical Engineering", namely:
• Multimedia resources related to the theory of each assignment in the course.
• Multimedia resources related to the methodology for simulations of electrical circuits by Multisim™.
• Video files demonstrating how to conduct laboratory exercises. Video files that serve as a guide for working with measuring equipment. Video files will also be available via QR code during face-to-face classes.
2. Pilot experiment with students and analysis of the obtained learning outcomes.

The research of the project is aimed at meeting the needs of the two target groups (students and teachers):
• Using innovative teaching methods, the students gain knowledge and experience regarding the design of electrical circuits and work with modern measuring equipment, which is a necessary prerequisite for their future implementation.
• The developed educational technology for distance and/or blended training in "Electrical Engineering" can be used by both teachers of electrical engineering and teachers of other engineering disciplines.

Keywords:

Electrical engineering, distance learning, blended learning, pandemic, QR code