Virtual Dissection Activities as a Strategy for Blended Synchronous Learning in the New Normal

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought severe disruption to the classroom learning, with much of the learning being carried over to the virtual environment. However, for courses with heavy hands-on active and collaborative elements, such activities cannot be easily replaced by pure online teleconference mode of instruction. In this pilot study, we report on a virtual dissection activity that was developed and implemented in an undergraduate year 1 engineering course in thermodynamics and energy systems using a blended synchronous learning environment. Through the analysis of the video capture, worksheet on the online collaborative board, post-activity survey, and observation by the researchers who are not part of the course, we have distilled the affordance and challenges of implementation in this pilot study. In particular, we recognize that the use of virtual dissection activity and virtual collaborative environment are useful for both the on-site and online students to sustain their social and cognitive presence.