Comparison Study of Assessment Results for a Course Offered During and After Pandemic at the United

Comparison Study of Assessment Results for a Course Offered During and After Pandemic at the United Arab Emirates University

1Department of Electrical and Communication Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, F1 Building, PO Box 15551, Al Ain, UAE ***

Abstract - This paper compared the students’ attainment during and after the pandemic for the course of Special Topic in Power and Control Engineering at the department of Electrical and Communication Engineering, United Arab Emirates University. The course is an elective course. During the pandemic, the course was conducted using online teaching mode After the pandemic, the face-to-face teaching mode was used, and the sessions were recorded. The attainment of was evaluated based on the students’ grade. There was slightly decreasing of the performance after the pandemic. The questioners were distributed during and after the pandemic to evaluate the performance of the instructor and the course. The performance of the instructor increasing in the face-to-face sessions while the evaluation relating to the course remain the same in both teaching modes.

Key Words: Educationduringandafterpandemic,Course Assessment,ABETassessment,Onlineteaching,Face-to-face teaching,GradeDistribution

1.INTRODUCTION

Duringthepastthreeyearsworldwideexperiencedextreme changing in education due to before, during, and after pandemic. Before pandemic, majority relied on the traditionalface-to-faceteachingmode.Duringthepandemic, almostallacademicinstitutionshadbeenforcedtoconduct online teaching. Despite some pleas for supporting digital skills in the early of pandemic, as mentioned in [1-2], majorityagreedthattheonlinelearningwaseffective[3-6].

Itisinterestingtoknowthetrendofteachingmodeafterthe pandemic.Manyeducationalintuitionsselectedhybridmode [7-10]combiningbothace-to-facewithsomefeatureofthe onlineteachingmode.Studyin[11]reportedthattheyprefer small private online class rather than the massive open onlinecourses.Studyin[12]wasreportedthattheyreturn totheface-to-faceteachingmodeandtheperformanceofthe studentwasdecreasingduetonewadjustment.

Thisstudycomparedtheperformanceofthestudentsduring andafterthepandemicforthecourseofSpecial Topics in Power&ControlEngineeringintermofthestudents’grade and their opinion relating to the performance of the instructorandthecourse.Thestudyaimedtoshowthedata withoutdrawingaspecificconclusionrelatingtotwooffered

periods. This because it is very difficult to draw the valid conclusionbasedontwoofferingonly.Duringthepandemic, theonlinecoursewasconductedwhiletheface-to-facewith recording during the session was conducted after the pandemic.Theinstructorkeepstherecordingoftheface-tofacebasedontherecommendationfromstudentsthatitisa useful feature during the online teaching mode [13]. The recordings made the student easier to get the missing informationduringtheface-to-facesessions.

Thepaperisorganizedasfollows.Inthesectionofcourse description,wedescribethedetailofthecourse. Thestatical datawerepresentedinthesectionofResultandDiscussion. Finally, the conclusion was given in the section of Conclusion

2. COURSE DESCRIPTION

The study was conducted for the Special TopicsinControl andPowerEngineering(ELEC530)courseintheDepartment of Electrical Engineering at the United Arab Emirates University (UAE-U). The study was conducted during the pandemic(Spring2021)andafterthepandemic(Fall2022). DuringtheSpring,theteachingmodewasonline,whileinthe Fall,theteachingmodewasbacktoface-to-face.Thecourse wasdividedintotwosections:01and51,wherethesections comprisemaleandfemalestudents,respectively.Thedetail ofthenumberofstudentsforthetwoofferingsemestersis statedinTable1.

Table-1

The online teaching mode was conducted using the Blackboard system. The classes were held using the Blackboard’sCollaborativeUltra.Alllectureswererecorded sothestudentcouldeasilyaccessthepreviouslectures.The

assessments(thequizzesandtheexams)wereconductedin the Blackboard system. The assessments were equipped with the Respondus system (a proctoring system) and a Lockdownbrowsertoavoidcheating.TheRespondussystem requires face and ID identification. It raises a flag if it is identifiedasasuspiciousmovement.TheLockdownbrowser locksthestudents’browsersduringtheassessments.

The face-to-face teaching mode was a traditional teaching modeforthecoursebeforeandafterthepandemic.Itwas conducted in a classroom and equipped with smart classroom technology. After the pandemic, the instructor keepsrecordinghislecturebyusingtheCollaborativeUltra. The final examinations were conducted under the surveillanceoftwoproctorsandtheclass’sinstructor.

ThecoursecatalogueforELEC530canbefoundinUAE-U website, as the following: Topics in power and control engineeringarechosenbytheinstructoratthebeginningof the term and approved by the department council. It was decidedthatthecontentofthecoursewastheanalysisand designofdigitalcontrolsystems Thecontentwasmapped tothefollowingcourselearningoutcome(CLO):

CLO-1:Applyvarioustheoriesandmethodologiesrelatedto selectedpowerandcontrolsystems[1].

CLO-2:Designusingselectedcontemporarytechniquesfor powerandcontrolsystems[2]

CLO-3:Communicatemajorfindingsinthetopicsofpower andcontrolsystemsorallyandinwriting[3]

CLO-4:Discusscontemporarytopicsintheareaforpower andcontrolsystemsengineering[5].

The numbers inside the bracket were the program educationalobjectivesbasedontheABETguidance[?].The appliedprogrameducationalobjectivesare:

1. An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineeringproblemsbyapplyingprinciplesofengineering science,andmathematics.

2. An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of publichealth,safety,andwelfare,aswellasglobal,cultural, social,environmental,andeconomicfactors.

3. An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.

5. An ability to function effectively on a team whose memberstogetherprovideleadership,createacollaborative andinclusiveenvironment,establishgoals,plantasks,and meetobjectives.

TheCLO-1andCLO-2werefurthertobespecifiedwithinthe topics of digital control systems in the following learning objectives:

1. Understandingz-transform[CLO-1].

2. Write mathematical model for discreate systems [CLO-1].

3. Analyzestabilityfordigitalsystems[CLO-1]

4. Designcontrollerfordigitalsystemsusingdiscreate transferfunction[CLO-2].

5. Designcontrollerfordigitalsystemsusingdiscreate state-space[CLO-2].

For CLO-3 and CLO-4, the student was assigned a term projecttodiscussandpresentcontemporarytopicsrelating toapplicationofdigitalcontrolsystems.

AllCLOswereimplementedthroughoutthesemesterusing theweeklyscheduleofthecourseasdepictedinTable2.

Table -2:WeeklyScheduleoftheCourse.

Week Session content Assignments

Topic: Introduction to digitalcontrolsystems.

Week 1

Content: The rationale for using digital control; The structure of digital control system. Example of digital control

Topic 2: Discreate-Time Systems

-

Week 2

Content: Analog systems with piecewise constant inputs;Differenceequations; Thez-transform;Computeraideddesign.

Topic 2: Discreate-Time Systems.

HW1

Week 3

Content: z-Transform solution of difference equations; the time responseofadiscreate-time system; modified ztransform; frequency response of discreate-time systems;samplingtheorem.

HW2

Week 4

Topic 3: Modeling of DigitalControlSystems

Content: ADC model; DAC Model; transfer function of ZOH; Effect of the sampler onthetransferfunctionofa cascade; DAC, analog subsystem, and ADC Combination transfer function

Topic 3: Modeling of DigitalControlSystems

HW3 Quiz1

Week 11

Topic 6: State-Space Representation for Discreate Systems

Content: Review on Statespace representation for analog systems; Discreate state-spacerepresentation.

Topic 6: State-Space Representation for Discreate Systems

HW8 Quiz4

Week 12

Week 5

Content: Systems with transport lag; the closedloop transfer function; the closed-loop transfer function;analogdisturbance in digital systems; steadystate error and error constants; MATLAB Command.

Topic4:StabilityofDigital ControlSystems

HW4

Week 13

Content: Discreate statespace representation; Property of state-space models

Topic 7: State-Feedback Control

Content: Pole placement design; MATLAB implementation.

Topic 7: State-Feedback Control

HW9

HW10 Quiz5

Week 6

Content: Definitions of stability; Stable z-domain pole locations; stability conditions.

Topic4:StabilityofDigital ControlSystems

HW5 Quiz2

Week 14

Content: Observer design; MATLABimplementation.

Week 15 Topic:Project

Week 16

Week 7

Content: Stability determination; Jury Test; Nyquistcriterion

Week 8 Topic: -

Quiz4

Content:Midterm

Topic 5: Digital Control Design

Week 9

Content: ReviewonAnalog Control Design using RootLocus;z-domainrootlocus; z domain digital control design.

Topic 5: Digital Control Design

HW6 Quiz3

HW11

Content:Quiz6

Topic:Review

Content:-

TheCLOsweremeasuredquantitativelybasedonstudents’ performances in the course through the designed assessmenttools.TheseassessmenttoolsareshowninTable 3.

Table-3:Assessmenttoolsanditspercentage contribution.

Week 10

Content: Digital implementation of analog controller design; Direct zdomain digital controller design; Finite settling time design.

HW7

3. Results and Discussions

The learning process results were evaluated by observing thegradeattainmentintheoffering.Theuniversityadopts the grading system as depicted in Table 4. There are 12 letters of grade, and it is ranging from A (excellent) to F

(fail). To simplify the analysis for analysis, the grades are groupedintofiveonly,i.e.,A,B,C,D,andF.Inthisgroup,the AandA-gradesaresimplydefinedasA,anditisappliedto theothergrade.

Table-4:Thegradingsystem.

Table-5:Gradedistributionforthecourseduringand afterpandemic.

Academic Year (Section)

Grade obtained: number of student (percentage)

Spring2021(01) A:20(64%),B:10(33%),C:0(0%), D:1(3%),F:0(0%)

Spring2021(51) A:25(61%),B:11(28%),C:3(8%),

D:1(3%),F:0(0%)

Spring 2021 A: 45 (63%), B: 21 (30%), C: 3 (4%),

D: 2 (3%), F:0 (0%)

Fall2022(01)

A:10(47%),B:7(33%),C:4(20%), D:0(0%),F:0(0%)

Fall2022(51) A:22(64%),B:6(18%),C:3(9%), D:3(9%),F:0(0%)

Fall 2022 A: 32 (58%), B: 13 (24%), C: 7 (13%), D: 3 (5%), F: 0 (0%)

TheresultsofthetwoyearsofferingarepresentedinTable5. From the table, there was decreasing of student’s performanceswhentheclasswentforface-to-facemode The percentages of student who got grades of A and B were dropped.

Aside from assessment for the attainment course to its obtaininggrades,thequestionerwasconductedtostudythe studentopinionsregardingthecourseanditsinstructorin eachoffering.Therearetwotollsforthispurpose,whichare thecoursecomparativeanalysisandinstructorcomparative analysis.Thestudentsfillthequestionersbeforetheytake thefinalexams.Theresultofthequestionersisdepictedin Table6and7.Thescorewasbasedontherangeof1(very unsatisfied)to5(excellent).InTable6.Thestudentsshowed the increasing satisfaction for the performance of the instructor during the face-to-face session. However, the rating of the course was equal for both teaching mode as depictedinTable7.

AttainmentresultintermofCLOforthecourseinFall2022 wasshowninTable8.TheattainmentresultforSpring2021 wasnotavailableastheCLOshasbeenmodifiedbetween The two offering. The targeted rating was 7. All CLOs has beenmetexpectforCLO2,whereitevaluateddesignaspect ofthecourse.Itseemsthatthestudentwasverycapableto analyzeratherthantodesign.Intheanalyzingprocess,the studentabletofollowthesystematicwaytogetthesolution. However,thestudentwasstruggleinthedesignquestions where it was requiring a rather heuristic way to get the answer. The instructor concluded that the level of understandingforthenecessaryconceptswasnotsatisfied.

1.Applyvarioustheoriesand methodologiesrelatedtoselectedpower andcontrolsystems

2.Designusingselectedcontemporary techniquesforpowerandcontrolsystems

3.Communicatemajorfindingsinthe topicsofpowerandcontrolsystemsorally andinwriting

4.Discusscontemporarytopicsinthearea forpowerandcontrolsystemsengineering

4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMEDATIONS

The comparison study to evaluate the performance of the students for ELEC530 during and after the pandemic was conducted.Intermofgrade,theperformanceofthestudents was higher during the pandemic time where the teaching modewasonlineteaching.Incontrary,thestudentsshowed the performance of the instructor after the pandemic was higher wheretheteaching wasface-to-face.Intermof the course,thestudentratedtheonlineandface-to-faceteaching modewasequal.

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