Preparing undergraduates for the post-pandemic workplace: Teams of education and engineering students teach engineering virtually

The study responds to the COVID-19-driven shift to online learning and the corresponding rise of virtual collaboration in education and engineering. Within the NSF-funded Ed+gineering project, engineering and education undergraduates had to pivot mid-semester from planning and teaching hands-on, face-to-face engineering lessons for elementary students to creating and delivering virtual lessons (asynchronous in two collaborations and synchronous via Zoom in one). Using Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) as a lens, the authors aim to understand how this environmental shift affected students’ personal factors—specifically perceived learning and affect—and related behaviors. The research question: How did a mid-semester assignment change from planning and teaching a face-to-face engineering lesson to developing and delivering an online engineering lesson influence collaborating education and engineering students' perceived learning and affective experiences?

The paper situates the work within literature on sustained growth of online learning and telework post-pandemic, emphasizing needs for high-quality virtual experiences in engineering and teacher education and for proficiency with ICT. Prior studies report challenges for engineering students with virtual teamwork and reduced peer interaction, while teacher education grappled with field experiences but found value in online settings. Theoretical grounding in Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) frames learning as reciprocal interactions among environmental, behavioral, and personal factors. SCT has been applied to virtual teams (e.g., best practices for communication, knowledge sharing, time use, team spirit; importance of context and personal factors in virtuality) and to college student experiences during COVID-19 (impacts on self-efficacy, engagement, motivations, and the mediating role of perceived usefulness and relatedness). Additional literature underscores: - the criticality of ICT competencies and adaptability (Hadgraft & Kolmos, Kolm et al.); - educators’ rising confidence with digital tools post-emergency remote teaching, alongside cautions to integrate technology critically; - the importance of collaboration skills across engineering and education; - the role of social presence, communication, and self-regulated learning in online settings. Prior work by the authors using SCT in Ed+gineering showed interdisciplinary partnerships fostered teamwork skills and that the move online reshaped team interactions, roles, and perceived success.

Design and context: Qualitative study embedded in the Ed+gineering project at a minority-serving university in the southeastern US. Undergraduate engineering and education students in paired, required courses collaborated to design and deliver engineering lessons to 4th–5th graders. Spring 2020’s abrupt transition online reshaped three collaborations (C1, C2, C3). - C1: Beginning education + beginning engineering students (19 teams). Original in-person 1-hour lesson to 5th graders shifted to an asynchronous interactive Google Slides lesson. Faculty provided a sample virtual lesson and template. - C2: Instructional technology (education) + electromechanical systems (engineering) with 5th graders in an afterschool club (18 teams). Original in-person robotics project shifted to synchronous Zoom sessions across 4–5 weeks; each participant received an individual Hummingbird robotics kit; college students guided 5th graders and often built their own robots. - C3: Fluid dynamics (engineering) + PK-6 science methods (education) (7 teams). Original in-person 1-hour lesson to 4th graders shifted to an asynchronous interactive Google Slides lesson tailored to class interests. Participants and data: End-of-semester written reflections and discipline-specific focus groups (moderated by non-instructors). Table 1: - C1 reflections: engineering (n=18), education (n=33); focus groups: engineering (1 group, n=5); education (2 groups, n=4 each). - C2 reflections: engineering (n=15), education (n=19); focus groups: engineering (2 groups, n=9 each), education (4 groups, n=5 each). - C3 reflections: engineering (n=23), education (n=11); focus groups: engineering (1 group, n=5), education (1 group, n=5). Data analysis: Content analysis following Rourke & Anderson (2004). Purpose: uncover how the assignment change influenced personal learning (perceived learning and affect). Built a codebook aligned with SCT factors: behavioral (student actions), environmental (external conditions including assignment change and faculty-provided resources), and personal (internal conditions: beliefs, perceptions, emotions, goals, confidence). The individual student was the unit of analysis. Coding reliability: the three lead authors co-coded a 10% subset, negotiated codes and exemplar quotes until 100% agreement on the scheme; then each lead author independently coded one collaboration’s remaining data using the finalized codebook.

Overall: Students reported the shift to virtual delivery was effective for perceived learning and teaching of engineering, despite challenges. Two primary personal-factor themes emerged: (1) perceived learning due to lesson modifications and (2) affective responses. Perceived learning from making lesson modifications: - Skills for teaching online: Education students gained strategies and confidence to teach synchronously (via Zoom) and asynchronously (via interactive slides), learning to prompt critical thinking and provide detailed guidance without in-person presence. - Professional skills: Enhanced virtual communication and coordination (e.g., with parents/clients, peers), time management, and remote collaboration practices relevant to post-pandemic workplaces. - Educational technology: Proficiency with tools such as Google Slides (multimedia authoring, audio/video embedding), Bitmoji, Zoom features (screen share, whiteboard), MakeCode, and collaborative sketch boards; creation of screencasts/resources to support independent learning. - STEM content and pedagogy: Hands-on exploration—especially via individual Hummingbird kits in C2—improved coding and robotics understanding; practicing at home increased confidence and preparedness to teach; resources like sample lessons and templates supported lesson structure, though some students felt templates constrained creativity. - Missed opportunities: Asynchronous cohorts (C1/C3) lamented loss of face-to-face teaching practice, public speaking, classroom management, real-time feedback from children, and intensive in-person peer/faculty support; some C2 students believed in-person work could yield more advanced robots. Affective responses: - Preparation and delivery: Positive emotions linked to direct interactions with children (C2), witnessing elementary students’ successes and autonomy, and personal accomplishment; mixed/nervousness about recording videos and designing child-facing presentations; frustration with tech limitations (e.g., connectivity, difficulty demonstrating physical manipulation virtually) and disengagement in some elementary learners. - Faculty support: Students widely perceived strong, responsive faculty support (feedback, meetings, tech help, resources) without feelings of increased oversight; autonomy fostered responsibility, motivation, risk-taking, and confidence. SCT pathways: - Common pathways flowed from environmental changes (modality shift; new resources) to behavioral changes (lesson redesign, increased preparation, technology use) to personal outcomes (perceived learning, confidence, affect). - In synchronous C2, reciprocal pathways were prominent: real-time child responses (environment) affected undergraduates’ behaviors and emotions; students saw how their actions influenced their environment, enabling feedback loops absent in asynchronous C1/C3.

Findings address the research question by showing that the mid-semester shift to virtual delivery significantly shaped students’ perceived learning and affect, with modality playing a pivotal role in SCT pathways. Instructor decisions—especially the choice of synchronous versus asynchronous delivery and provision of resources—acted as environmental levers that triggered behavioral adaptations and personal outcomes. Disciplinary implications: - Education students: Gains directly aligned with professional needs—lesson planning for online contexts, engagement strategies, TPACK development, flexibility, and confidence to teach virtually. - Engineering students: Gains centered on virtual collaboration, communication with non-technical stakeholders, problem-solving under constraints, and additional practice with coding/robotics; some treated the adaptation itself as an engineering design challenge. Modality implications: - Asynchronous (C1/C3): Limited feedback loops; reduced opportunities to observe impact on children; fewer reciprocal SCT influences involving the environment were reported. - Synchronous (C2): Enabled reciprocal SCT influences; real-time feedback from children shaped instruction, bolstered affect and confidence, and expanded professional communication practice (including with parents) and context awareness (home environments, access). Educational significance: Carefully designed virtual, cross-disciplinary, audience-focused tasks can cultivate professional communication, technology integration, autonomy/responsibility, and reflective practice—competencies aligned with post-pandemic workplaces. Recommendations include designing for autonomy with accountability, authentic audiences, robust faculty support, and appropriate resources to maximize productive SCT pathways.

The pandemic-driven adaptation of Ed+gineering created authentic virtual collaboration and teaching experiences that helped undergraduates build professional skills and STEM knowledge applicable to post-pandemic workplaces. Students frequently reported learning more than expected; many perceived greater gains than anticipated from face-to-face delivery. Education students developed online pedagogy and TPACK; engineering students advanced virtual collaboration and communication with non-technical stakeholders, alongside technical practice (coding/robotics). Cross-disciplinary virtual team projects appear effective for building competencies in virtual collaboration and communication. The study contributes a nuanced SCT-based account of how instructor decisions shape environmental conditions that, in turn, drive behaviors and personal outcomes—highlighting modality as a powerful design lever. Future research should examine planned (non-emergency) interdisciplinary virtual collaborations to evaluate generalizability beyond the pandemic context and to further optimize assignment designs that cultivate durable professional skills.

- Context specificity: Conducted at a single institution within a long-standing NSF project with experienced instructors; one instructor’s expertise in instructional technology likely facilitated successful online transition. - Pandemic confounds: The unique stresses and circumstances of Spring 2020 may limit generalizability; factors outside the project likely influenced experiences. - Methodological scope: Qualitative design focusing on perceived learning and affect; SCT’s complexity precludes capturing all influences among factors; absence of direct performance measures or longitudinal outcomes. - Resource variability: Not all students had identical robotics kits in C2; differences impeded demonstration and may have affected participation and learning experiences. - Modality differences: Asynchronous cohorts lacked direct feedback from elementary students, limiting certain SCT pathways and potentially constraining learning opportunities compared to synchronous delivery.