Student support, confidence, workload, and video resources in a new civil engineering graphics course

Abstract

Through the development of a new course focused on spatial analysis and civil engineering drawings and design, several systems were used for learning management, student response, and video content to improve the educational experience of students and provided feedback to the instructor regarding the performance of the course. The features primarily used in the course were the BlackBoard Learning Management System (LMS), TopHat audience response system, Panopto video platform, and LinkedIn Learning resources. These tools proved a means of moving from traditional paper-based assignments to electronically submitted drawings and assignments. Lab demonstrations were carried out live but also recorded and provided for future review. A weekly status survey was completed that provided an indication of student workload in the course, the usefulness of video resources, and student confidence in the subject matter. Assignments were customized such that students received individualized questions that were mostly automatically graded. A drawing comparison tool was used to provide graphical feedback on submitted design drawings. A discussion forum was introduced to provide both peer to peer support and instructor support for the computer lab component of the course. The application of these learning technologies provided many benefits both to the students and instructor of the course. For example, students often benefitted from just-in-time assistance on labs while the instructor benefitted from discovering which aspects of the course students were having difficulty with and which aspects of the course contributed significantly to the workload.