Impact of virtual classes on the education of Industrial Engineering students of the Technological University of Panama during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

In education, the global health crisis caused by the Covid-19 represents the transformation of the traditional face-to-face educational system to an online educational system, which is an emerging technological leap but necessary for the continuity of professional preparation.  This research analyses the effects of virtual classes on students´ academic training, in order to provide recommendations and suggestions that contribute to the development of a new virtual teaching-learning methodology capable of providing the student with the knowledge required for academic growth.  A measurement tool was designed, based on a questionnaire made up of questions related to the degree of student satisfaction with online classes, measured by a Likert scale in which the degree of satisfaction of the respondent is known. The results indicate that online learning stands at a regular point, on which it is considered that virtual modality should be different from the traditional one. However, most of the students are moderately satisfied with online classes. In addition, this new modality is influenced by numerous factors that contribute to its development, such as the technological access of the students and the methodology of the professor, among others.