Education Commons^™

Adapting A Community Engagement Project In Engineering And Education To Remote Learning In The Era Of Covid-19, Maija A. Benitz, Li-Ling Yang

Engineering, Computing & Construction Management Faculty Publications

In the spring of 2020, our interdisciplinary community engagement project, bridging courses in engineering and education, was midway through completion when we abruptly transitioned to remote learning due to COVID-19. Remote learning poses unique challenges to community engaged courses that are often inherently interactive and social. We quickly pivoted our project, which originally sent undergraduates into fourth grade classrooms to teach about wind energy and engineering design. Student reflection papers illuminate challenges to skill development and negative socioemotional consequences. Our findings provide insight and suggestions for future implementations of community engagement projects in the era of remote learning.