Kit domiciliar para execução de atividades de laboratório: impacto na formação prática do engenheiro durante a pandemia

Abstract

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the imposition of social distancing, face-to-face classes in all Educational Institutions were suspended. With this occurrence, practical laboratory classes in engineering courses were directly affected. Without the possibility of in person classes and in order to minimize the impact on students' training, the Institute of Systems Engineering and Information Technologies at UNIFEI developed a kit of Practical Activities to replace the face-to-face laboratory. This kit was used by students in their homes during Remote Learning. The objective of the present study is to analyze the effectiveness of using a home kit as a substitute for practical classes in the Electronic Engineering course at the Federal University of Itajubá. This is a quantitative, exploratory and cross-sectional study and data analysis was presented through graphs and tables. To this end, data collection was carried out online, through a questionnaire sent to students who took the ELTA10 or ELTA10A discipline. This questionnaire sought to find out sociodemographic aspects and understand students' perceptions of their experience during the pandemic. As a result, it can be seen that the use of the kit was beneficial and well accepted by the students, bringing unforeseen benefits such as motivation during a period of isolation and also encouraging them to carry out activities beyond those requested in the class itineraries. It is concluded, therefore, that the use of the Laboratory kit allowed manual skills to be performed in an isolated environment, mitigating possible negative impacts on the student's professional training. The knowledge through practice and manipulation of the kit was able to help in understanding the theoretical concepts, therefore bringing a positive result with the adoption of this new methodology. The kit provided students with an asynchronous environment to learn to study in an active and interactive way, even in an adverse pandemic situation.