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Technology-Enhanced Learning and Innovative Practices in Engineering Education

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Education and Approaches".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 11845

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Juan Quemada Vives

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Guest Editor

Telematics Engineering Department, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28031 Madrid, Spain
Interests: e-learning; online learning; MOOCs; cloud computing; web engineering

Prof. Dr. Aldo Gordillo

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Guest Editor

Computer Science Department, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28031 Madrid, Spain
Interests: educational technology; computer science education; learning objects; game-based learning; gamification; e-learning systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Enrique Barra Arias

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Guest Editor

Telematics Engineering Department, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28031 Madrid, Spain
Interests: technology-enhanced learning; educational games; video-based learning; video conferencing; social networks
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Advances made in recent years in the field of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) have created new opportunities for supporting and enhancing engineering education in many different ways. Today, a wide range of TEL systems and educational resources are being used in the engineering education domain in many different face-to-face and online settings, including e-learning authoring tools, digital libraries, learning object management systems, recommender systems, learning analytics systems, intelligent tutoring systems, educational and serious games, educational escape rooms, virtual and remote laboratories, and automated assessment systems. Furthermore, different learning and teaching approaches are being put into practice for supporting and improving engineering education, such as project-based learning, problem-based learning, adaptive learning, video-based learning, flipped classroom, peer-to-peer learning, challenge-based learning, and game-based learning. These TEL systems, educational resources, and approaches can bring several benefits when they are appropriately integrated and used in engineering courses, such as producing positive impacts on students’ learning, academic performance and engagement, reducing student dropout rates, providing universal and equal access to engineering education, creating and distributing high-quality learning objects in an effective and cost-effective way, reducing teachers’ workload, or enabling sustainable assessment.

This Special Issue aims to present research on innovative practices and state-of-the-art application of technology-enhanced learning in the engineering education field. Empirical case studies, experimental approaches, survey findings, new software tools, and literature reviews addressing a relevant topic are welcome. The topics relevant to this Special Issue include but are not limited to:

Innovative practices in engineering education;
Novel teaching and learning strategies for face-to-face or online settings;
Experiences of TEL applications in the context of engineering education;
Barriers hampering the adoption of TEL solutions or innovative practices in engineering education;
Authoring tools for educational resources;
Digital libraries, learning object repositories, and learning management systems;
TEL recommender systems;
Educational data mining and learning analytics in engineering education;
Automated assessment systems;
E-learning standards;
OER (open educational resources) and learning objects;
Intelligent tutoring systems and adaptive educational resources;
Game-based learning and gamification;
Educational escape rooms;
Virtual and remote laboratories;
AR/VR (augmented reality/virtual reality) educational resources.

Prof. Dr. Juan Quemada Vives
Prof. Dr. Aldo Gordillo
Prof. Dr. Enrique Barra Arias
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

engineering education
technology-enhanced learning
educational technology
e-learning
innovative practices
learning approaches
TEL systems

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 6510 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of COVID-19 on the Perception of Virtual Education in University Students in Ecuador; Technical and Methodological Principles at the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja

by Juan Carlos Torres-Díaz, Diana Rivera-Rogel, Ana María Beltrán-Flandoli and Lucy Andrade-Vargas

Sustainability 2022, 14(6), 3204; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14063204 - 09 Mar 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2104

Abstract

The confinement and migration from face-to-face to open access, online or blended/hybrid education modality caused because of the coronavirus crisis has forced a readaptation of education with enormous deficiencies at all levels. This work analyzes the viewpoint of a group of students from the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (Ecuador) regarding the current state of emergency from a descriptive and correlational quantitative methodological conception, based on the application of an instrument made up of six thematic blocks: socio-demographic situation, use of ICT, importance of ICT, methodology, didactic techniques, and study modality. The main results show that students are not yet convinced that a virtual modality is better than face-to-face. However, there are groups that value positively the use of ICTs mainly for recalling information, self-learning, and motivation. The techniques most valued by students are the traditional ones: teacher explanation and individual work. However, they give a low value to individualization as a methodological principle under which these techniques are based. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology-Enhanced Learning and Innovative Practices in Engineering Education)

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19 pages, 1534 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Online Problem-Based Learning to Increase Global Competencies for First-Year Undergraduate Students Majoring in Science and Engineering in Japan

by Eri Ota and Rie Murakami-Suzuki

Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 2988; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14052988 - 03 Mar 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2230

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to assess learning outcomes and the process of developing skill sets of online problem-based learning (PBL) for students majoring in science and engineering at a technical university in Japan. PBL course for first-year undergraduate students was organized with international students as teaching assistants (TAs) to find issues and solutions of the target countries. Due to the effects of COVID-19, the course was completely shifted online in the 2020 academic year. Topics selected by group members were all in line with sustainable development goals (SDGs). Three skill sets to be developed through this PBL course are global awareness, problem-solving and finding, and multicultural communication and understanding. A series of analyses on text mining and content analysis was conducted of essays and reports submitted by students registered for the course. This paper summarizes the structure and pedagogy of the course, research methods, research results and reasons for findings. Research results indicated that all three skill sets were well developed in students through this online PBL course by conducting a study of selected countries with group members, carefully listening to other groups’ presentations in the class, conducting data analysis and online interviews, and communicating with TAs in English. Based on the findings, efforts to maintain quality education in conducting online PBL are also discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology-Enhanced Learning and Innovative Practices in Engineering Education)

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18 pages, 3378 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Putting It All Together: Combining Learning Analytics Methods and Data Sources to Understand Students’ Approaches to Learning Programming

by Sonsoles López-Pernas, Mohammed Saqr and Olga Viberg

Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4825; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13094825 - 25 Apr 2021

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 3230

Abstract

Learning programming is a complex and challenging task for many students. It involves both understanding theoretical concepts and acquiring practical skills. Hence, analyzing learners’ data from online learning environments alone fails to capture the full breadth of students’ actions if part of their learning process takes place elsewhere. Moreover, existing studies on learning analytics applied to programming education have mainly relied on frequency analysis to classify students according to their approach to programming or to predict academic achievement. However, frequency analysis provides limited insights into the individual time-related characteristics of the learning process. The current study examines students’ strategies when learning programming, combining data from the learning management system and from an automated assessment tool used to support students while solving the programming assignments. The study included the data of 292 engineering students (228 men and 64 women, aged 20–26) from the two aforementioned sources. To gain an in-depth understanding of students’ learning process as well as of the types of learners, we used learning analytics methods that account for the temporal order of learning actions. Our results show that students have special preferences for specific learning resources when learning programming, namely, slides that support search, and copy and paste. We also found that videos are relatively less consumed by students, especially while working on programming assignments. Lastly, students resort to course forums to seek help only when they struggle. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology-Enhanced Learning and Innovative Practices in Engineering Education)

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Other

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21 pages, 37070 KiB

Open AccessSystematic Review

Mediation and Online Learning: Systematic Literature Mapping (2015–2020)

by Gioconda Riofrío-Calderón and María-Soledad Ramírez-Montoya

Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 2951; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14052951 - 03 Mar 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3411

Abstract

Mediation is a crucial element in the learning process, especially in a virtual environment, whether it corresponds to formal, non-formal, or informal education. This paper aims to expose the research on mediation and learning in virtual environments published between 2015 and 2020. A total of 299 articles were identified that address the topic of mediation and learning in virtual environments from different fields and approaches. The results that respond to the research questions are presented. The study was carried out with the Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus databases, and inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to obtain the articles under study. The Systematic Literature Mapping (SLM) method was used to answer questions raised for analysis. Information was extracted from the articles regarding the method used, the most cited articles, geographical distribution of the authors by country, the journals and impact factor, type of mediation, and finally, the trends and spaces where mediation takes place. The results show studies tending toward technological mediation and factors such as interaction, collaboration, communication, and discussion, among others. The practical implications are oriented to show the mediating factor from the pedagogical and technological perspectives and its contribution to achieve meaningful learning. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology-Enhanced Learning and Innovative Practices in Engineering Education)

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