A New Lens: Life and Learning at CECS in 2020

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by Willa Zhang

Hands-on and observational experiences learning is crucial to the College Engineering and Computer Science experience. On any given day of an academic year before 2020, students could be found in labs working on experiments, preparing for regional and national competitions, and designing solutions to problems big and small.

When COVID-19 struck last spring and the university pivoted to online learning, college faculty and staff were confronted with an entirely new set of challenges: How could they translate the hands-on lab experience into an online format? What resources and supplies would faculty need to transition from traditional instruction to virtual instruction?

“The spring semester was very tough,” said Houssam Toutanji, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science. “When we pivoted to online, we didn’t have much time to prepare. Our students were not ready for it.”

But ready or not, the college jumped into action and found solutions. One way to keep labs going in the summer was to hold them outside. One at a time, students arrived on campus to pick up their equipment and bring it outside. While working, they were required to adhere to COVID safety protocols – staying masked and socially distanced. Each piece of lab equipment was cleaned and sanitized before being returned.

In order to conduct labs indoors during the fall semester, the college made the decision to break up lab groups into smaller groups of students. A typical lab of 24 students became three groups of eight students. These smaller groups arrived on campus to conduct experiments in the lab, while their 16 classmates observed via video. In this way, students were able to have a safe mix of hands-on and observational experiences.

“It isn’t perfect, but we aren’t living in perfect times right now,” Toutanji said.

For certain labs, the college also provided kits for students to pick up from campus. Using money from the federal government’s CARES Act, CSUN purchased tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of lab kits for at-home experiments. These solutions allowed students to stay engaged in hands-on learning and on track with their majors.

Mobilizing Students and Faculty

All non-lab classes were moved online. One staff member who was crucial in this effort was Emil Henry. He is the college’s manager of technical services, and his unit, Information Systems, is responsible for all computer and engineering machine shop equipment across the college. That includes approximately 1,200 machines – from projectors and printers to desktop PCs and workstations, servers and supercomputers.

Henry’s team of 10 received one week’s notice from the university before the campus transitioned to primarily online. Moving quickly, the team organized training workshops to teach faculty how to connect their webcams and create home office set-ups. They coordinated equipment, ensuring that faculty and staff had access to everything from WiFi hotspots to laptop computers.

“I was in school a long time ago, but I know it’s a real struggle for the students and faculty. It’s not easy for them,” Henry said. His team continues to be at the ready to help solve the technical issues that inevitably arise.

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