Facilitating Engineering Students’ Creativity And Teamwork Ethos Using Smart Learning Platforms During Covid-19

Covid-19 has brought some revolutionary changes in Higher Education with a shift from traditional face-to-face teaching and learning to online or hybrid-based delivery. There is a strong emphasis on the integration of technology and smart platforms to deliver an effective teaching and learning environment that can withstand the unpredictable challenges of the ongoing pandemic. But many researchers have noted a lack of social interaction and motivation among students in an online setting. Also, with limited face-to-face interactions, many students had issues with collaboration and other group-based activities. Now with the availability of pre-recorded lecture videos and course materials in several universities, there is a noticeable drop in student engagement. To retain and boost students’ motivation in the current complex environment, there is an added pressure among educators to create teaching content by utilizing smart and innovative teaching approaches that are efficient and effective. Smart learning platforms might offer the potential solutions to address some of the issues with the changing landscape of teaching and learning due to the pandemic. Such platforms are versatile and therefore, can work seamlessly across in-person and virtual teaching and learning environments. They can provide an interactive platform to facilitate active learning and the quality of teamwork experience among students. The objective of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of some of the smart teaching-learning platforms used in the MSc Engineering Management programme in the School of Physics, Engineering and Technology at the University of York. A survey was conducted among the cohort from this programme in the Summer of 2021 to review their engagement and experiences with these platforms. Can such smart platforms facilitate creativity and improve teamwork ethos among students? The paper will discuss the findings of this study and also highlight if such approaches can transform the educational setting post Covid-19.