July 14, 2020

Engineering, welding, nursing and dental assisting. These Delta College programs and more often involve hands-on training and lab learning.

In the time of COVID-19, many of those classes were reformatted for online teaching and faculty members, like Diane Lobsiger-Braden, have found success in using a variety of tools and methods to teach remotely.

This spring, Lobsiger-Braden, associate professor of engineering, taught Introduction to Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), a hands-on class that is introduces students to PLC and how it’s used in manufacturing processes.

The class met online twice a week in May and June. Lobsiger-Braden used Powerpoint, a whiteboard and other visual tools to teach. She also incorporated a simulation software program – Logics Pro – for her students to use to design programs that they would normally create in class.

“I wanted us to have as close to a face-to-face environment as possible,” said Lobsiger-Braden.

At the beginning of the class, Lobsiger-Braden surveyed her students about going online. She said many were concerned, but that changed by the end of the class.

“They unanimously agreed that they felt comfortable,” she said. “It was a very positive spring semester and I’m really happy to see how students did in the class.”

Lobsiger-Braden’s story is just one example of how Delta’s top-notch professors are successfully adapting to safe-distance teaching.

Watch this preview of Lobsiger-Braden teaching remotely.

Written by Leah Twilley, Communications Specialist.