A Comparative Study on Teaching Methodologies Applied in Engineering and Manufacturing Process Subjects during the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 and 2021

Abstract

Specific disciplines in engineering, such as manufacturing processes, require students in their academic stage to pay special attention, given the possible changes that may affect the acquisition of competencies. In an environment of uncertainty, such as a global pandemic, teaching must adapt without losing the effective delivery of content to students. The health and safety measures applied during the first months of the pandemic led to a different type of teaching to that which had customarily been applied, such as synchronous and asynchronous methodologies defined by the university’s governing bodies, where face-to-face and online methodologies coexisted in the same academic year. All of this avoided interrupting the academic year. This paper studies the results achieved in this uncertain environment, extends them and compares them with the following year, where only the face-to-face methodology was applied to the students enrolled in Manufacturing Processes 2 at the Centro Universitario de Mérida within the Bachelor’s Degree in Design Engineering and New Product Development (Grado en Ingeniería en Diseño y Desarrollo de Nuevos Productos -GIDIDP-). An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to the data obtained to locate the significant differences between the samples taken in the first year with online and face-to-face teaching methodologies and those taken in the second year with an exclusively face-to-face methodology. When comparing the results, maintaining face-to-face teaching proved essential, as it contributes towards achieving better marks or maintaining the level. However, online methodologies also help as an additional tool to acquire other knowledge and specific skills in these technical engineering subjects, specifically those dealing with the manufacturing processes addressed in this study.