Quantifying the Impact of Online Teaching of Fundamentals of Communication Systems on Students’ Achievements

Abstract

Teaching some courses offering basic theoretical knowledge to electrical engineering students, such as Fundamentals of Communication Systems, in a face-to-face setting is different from teaching them online (during the COVID19 pandemic). This is mainly due to the reduced student-instructor interaction during online sessions and the difficulty in demonstrating the operation of systems by simulation software packages while interacting with students. This paper quantifies how the delivery mode of an introductory theoretical course about the fundamentals of communication systems impacts the performance of electrical engineering students using outcome-based learning (OBL), where a variety of assessment tools are used to measure the performance of students. The results indicate a decline in the attainment of the majority of the course learning outcomes with a varying degree, which impacts the corresponding program learning outcomes. An exception to this is a course learning outcome related to the practical design of transmitters and receivers.