Lessons Learned: Making the “New Reality” More Real: Adjusting a Hands-on Curriculum for Remote Learning

This is a Lessons-Learned paper. During the past years the Mechanical Engineering program at XXXX has made numerous curricular changes that focus on cultivating a culture of "engineering with engineers" and developing strong engineering identities in their students. The four major changes in the curriculum include implementing an integrated electrical engineering and data acquisition (DAQ) course sequence, adding a vertically integrated design projects (VIDP) course sequence, modifying an existing design sequence, and adding real engineering into existing courses. Many of these changes rely on hands-on labs and on creating connections between students and industry. In the spring of 2020, the pandemic forced the program to offer all of its courses online and challenged the department to rethink how it could continue its strong hands-on, industry-focused program. Most courses were quickly flipped and online class time via Zoom focused on community building and small group discussions. New checks and activities helped to keep students engaged and provided regular feedback to instructors on student progress. Lab assignments were modified so that all lab work could be done remotely. This paper details these changes, describes successes and failures, and discusses lessons learned. A summary of the paper will be presented as a lightning-talk during the 2021 ASEE Annual Conference.