Face-to-Face and On-line Physics Teaching on Engineering Courses: Strategy Effectiveness Measurements

摘要

Due to the recent global events, in this case, the Covid-19 pandemic, a new challenge arises at all levels. Higher education was one of the most affected areas. This communication presents the use of interactive simulation software in on-line Physics education. This resource is directed towards Engineering courses which are offered at Instituto Superior de Transportes e Comunicações (ISUTC) a private institution of higher education in Mozambique. In the field of Physics, it was necessary to move from face-to-face teaching to on-line teaching. This discipline is divided into two semesters as Physics I and Physics II, with their components, in theory, problems and laboratory. To implement the laboratory classes, a search on the web was done and a virtual lab model was selected, which made use of interactive simulation experiments. In the first semester, the laboratory experiments were selected based on the criteria that they exist in laboratory work in a face-to-face system. In the second semester it was possible to develop totally new laboratory experiments. The conventional Physics teaching laboratory, LabFis, was reinvented as a virtual laboratory. Using a platform of open access, the lab guides were prepared for the different experiments. The student is guided to use the simulations to get an effective learning. To measure the effectiveness of this strategy on the on-line system, an analysis was done of the assessment results of three groups of fifty students of different Engineering courses. A comparison was established from the results in Physics I and Physics II. The assessment results compared are of the year 2019, and the year 2020. The average of students' assessments is used as an indicator of effectiveness of the adopted strategy. In general, it was observed an improvement on this indicator. After an uncertain start, the students were motivated and they welcomed these changes. They adapted satisfactorily to the new paradigm.