Abstract
AbstractUnited Arab Emirates University (UAEU), located in the city of AL Ain, is a well-established institution since 1976. The department of Architectural Engineering within the College of Engineering is ABET credited. The Graduating Projects (GP) are part of this curriculum. In pre-pandemic conditions, the students had regular weekly meetings with several faculty based on the project needs. During COVID-19 pandemic, the full program went into online mode. During this change, the students, faculty, and staff had to adapt to new teaching methods in a noticeably short time. This research aims to find and highlight the lessons learned during this change to the GP. The methodology starts with the analysis of two main case studies. Case study A started in fall of 2019 and ended in the spring of 2020 (partially developed in face-to-face mode (in person, on the campus) and partially online mode). Case Study B started in the fall of 2020 and ended in the spring of 2021 (online mode). The case study analysis describes the project’s main objectives and the steps taken by the students to achieve these objectives. The methodology follows the tool analysis. Since the tool used is innovative and complex, in addition to the program, the process of learning, application, and outcomes is crucial. The pandemic’s impact on students’ psychology and productivity is the following step that helps understand how the changes in society and the extensive use of virtual tools helped the students cooperate with the situation. The results showed an improvement in the student’s skills in using advanced tools to achieve the project goal. This research is an attempt in understanding how the pandemic impacted GP work. The outcomes of this study might improve the GP program in the AE Department by integrating a hybrid approach with face-to-face meetings and online training for students to achieve the project targets with more advanced tools.
Publisher
Springer Nature Singapore
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