Redesign and Implementation of the Electromagnetism Course for Engineering Students Using the Backward Design Methodology
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
I think that the study requires more work to get published. However, the authors can consider the following issues for further improvement.
1. The research question is not clear. As a reader, I can understand the study employs the Backward Design (BD) Methodology. But why? Although I am not clear about the research question, below is an example of writing a research question.
i. Using the Backward Design (BD) Methodology, the study examines the effect of redesigning the Electromagnetism Course on student’s understanding. Again, this is an example for authors. Again, I cannot find a clear and meaningful research question in the current version.
2. Similarly, I have strong doubts about the novelty of the paper. I found the contribution is missing in the current version.
3. The reviews from lines 42 to 57 could be presented better. In addition, authors can consult other papers published in Sustainability Journal.
4. Why is the electromagnetism course considered in this study? Why not others? I believe that there could have justification.
Logical coherence is essential for an academic paper.
Also, please see the above comments and suggestions.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 1 Comments
Point 1: The research question is not clear. As a reader, I can understand the study employs the Backward Design (BD) Methodology. But why? Although I am not clear about the research question, below is an example of writing a research question.
- Using the Backward Design (BD) Methodology, the study examines the effect of redesigning the Electromagnetism Course on student’s understanding. Again, this is an example for authors. Again, I cannot find a clear and meaningful research question in the current version.
The two paragraphs below were included in the end of introduction to account for the motivation of the research carried out, as well as the problem question.
The motivation of this study was centered in the students that obtained low grades of electromagnetism students in Electrical Engineering, but we know that it is a general behavior in all careers that involve physics subjects, that is why, we look forward to offering our colleagues a redesigned course of electromagnetism to help raise student grades and learning outcomes.
The present study's novelty derives from the fact this methodology has been used in prestigious universities worldwide but has not yet been implemented in physics subjects belonging to engineering careers, that is why, this study examines the effect of redesigning the Electromagnetism Course on student’s understanding.
Point 2: Similarly, I have strong doubts about the novelty of the paper. I found the contribution is missing in the current version.
We detail in the introduction the novelty but also we included in the third paragraph of the introduction lines 53-68, but also de lines 110-121 and the relation of our work with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in “Quality Education” which is mentioned in abstract and conclusion in order to point out the contribution of this research.
Point 3: The reviews from lines 42 to 57 could be presented better. In addition, authors can consult other papers published in Sustainability Journal.
Response 1: The lines from 42 to 57 were modified and some papers published in Sustainability Journal were added.
[A1] Kamruzzaman, M.M.; Alanazi, S.; Alruwaili, M.; Alshammari, N.; Elaiwat, S.; Abu-Zanona, M.; Innab, N.; Mohammad Elzaghmouri, B.; Ahmed Alanazi, B. AI- and IoT-Assisted Sustainable Education Systems during Pandemics, such as COVID-19, for Smart Cities. Sustainability 2023, 15, 8354. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108354.
[A2] Chen, M.; Lv, C.;Wang, X.; Li, L.; Yang, P. A Critical Review of Studies on Coopetition in
Educational Settings. Sustainability 2023, 15, 8370. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108370.
[A3] Cuadrado-Gallego, J.J.; Gómez, J.; Tayebi, A.; Usero, L.; Hellín, C.J.; Valledor, A. LearningRlab: Educational R Package for Statistics in Computer Science Engineering. Sustainability 2023, 15,
- https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108246.
[A4] Versteijlen, M.;Wals, A.E.J. Developing Design Principles for Sustainability-Oriented Blended
Learning in Higher Education. Sustainability 2023, 15, 8150. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108150
[A5] Adams, T.; Jameel, S.M.; Goggins, J. Education for Sustainable Development: Mapping the SDGs to University Curricula. Sustainability 2023, 15, 8340. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108340.
[A6] Kanetaki, Z.; Stergiou, C.; Troussas, C.; Sgouropoulou, C. Development of an Innovative Learning Methodology Aiming to Optimise Learners’ Spatial Conception in an Online Mechanical CAD Module During COVID-19 Pandemic. In Novelties in Intelligent Digital Systems; IOS Press Ebooks: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2021; Volume 338, pp. 31–39.
[A7] Kanetaki, Z.; Stergiou, C.; Bekas, G.; Troussas, C.; Sgouropoulou, C. Data Mining for Improving Online Higher Education Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study in the Assessment of Engineering Students. In Novelties in Intelligent Digital Systems; IOS Press Ebooks: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2021; Volume 338, pp. 157–165.
Point 4: Why is the electromagnetism course considered in this study? Why not others? I believe that there could have justification.
In the paragraph included at the end of the introduction regarding motivation, it is explained that the research work was carried out in the electromagnetism subject but it will be shared with other colleagues for its implementation in the physics subjects of the engineering faculty.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The authors of “Redesign and implementation of the Electromagnetism Course For Engineering Students Under The Backward Design Methodology” present a relevant topic, namely the BD adaptability in electromagnetism course. The document is well-written and presents a good structure. Despite my positive comments, some aspects should be reviewed before publication:
1. In the Introduction section:
a) you can briefly mention other learning strategies, e.g., PBL (project-based learning) applied to engineering students. You can refer to the following articles if you find them relevant: doi: 10.3390/su14084776; doi: 10.1016/j.ece.2020.09.001.
b) there is a need to present related studies that are in line with the current manuscript. What does the existing literature tells us?
c) Within the introduction, research gaps and scope identification are missing.
2. What is the method of the study? It is vague and at the beginning of the methodology section, the authors can clearly state the methodology (qual, quan, or mixed) and research model/design (e.g., survey, case study, phenomenology, experimental study, explanatory sequential mixed design, etc.).
3. Section 3.2 looks more like results of the study than theoretical part. Please review and relocate it in the appropriate section.
4. Findings of the study are too descriptive. Authors need to provide a discussion by comparing and contrasting the related literature. This section is too important to upgrade the manuscript from a descriptive study to a paper that contributes to the related literature with a critical stance.
Minor suggestions:
You have a written accord the people who appear in the images. Please review the consent statement of the journal.
I congratulate the research team, I suggest the revision of the paper according to the above mentioned, and after the revision I propose for acceptance the paper.
Moderate editing of English language
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 2 Comments
Point 1: In the Introduction section:
- a) You can briefly mention other learning strategies, e.g., PBL (project-based learning) applied to engineering students. You can refer to the following articles if you find them relevant: doi: 10.3390/su14084776; doi: 10.1016/j.ece.2020.09.001.
- b) There is a need to present related studies that are in line with the current manuscript. What does the existing literature tells us?
The authors have followed the recommendations (a and b), and we have included them in the third paragraph of the introduction (lines 53-68).
- c) Within the introduction, research gaps and scope identification are missing.
The two paragraphs below were included in the introduction to account for the motivation of the research carried out, as well as the problem question:
The motivation of this study was centered in the students that obtained low grades of electromagnetism students in Electrical Engineering, but we know that it is a general behavior in all careers that involve physics subjects, that is why, we look forward to offering our colleagues a redesigned course of electromagnetism to help raise student grades and learning outcomes.
The present study's novelty derives from the fact this methodology has been used in prestigious universities worldwide but has not yet been implemented in physics subjects belonging to engineering careers, that is why, this study examines the effect of redesigning the Electromagnetism Course on student’s understanding.
Point 2: What is the method of the study? It is vague and at the beginning of the methodology section, the authors can clearly state the methodology (qual, quan, or mixed) and research model/design (e.g., survey, case study, phenomenology, experimental study, explanatory sequential mixed design, etc.).
In section 2, the authors specify a case study research method, in addition to using Backward design as a pedagogical approach (lines 96–107).
Point 3: Section 3.2 looks more like results of the study than theoretical part. Please review and relocate it in the appropriate section.
Section 3.2 cannot be relocated because this section shows the implementation of Backward design in the electromagnetism course.
Point 4: Findings of the study are too descriptive. Authors need to provide a discussion by comparing and contrasting the related literature. This section is too important to upgrade the manuscript from a descriptive study to a paper that contributes to the related literature with a critical stance.
We are working on expanding our search for literature related to the methodology, in addition to the one carried out to write our introduction, using bibliometrics for this purpose to be much more accurate. But the results show in the first image what was mentioned in the paper, The universities of the United States are among those that have used this method the most, but the second image shows that the information related to BD applied to pedagogical experiences in physics topics such as electromagnetism is very little. For this reason, it was not possible to find a bibliography related to our work, most of it are related to other areas of knowledge, despite the use of methods as precise as bibliometrics.
Minor suggestions:
Point 4: You have a written accord the people who appear in the images. Please review the consent statement of the journal.
The student's faces are blurred in the new version of the article.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
This paper aims to identify to what level of learning it is possible to develop skills in engineering students. The bedtest of this research has been an electromagnetism undergraduate general physics course.
The article is points out interesting challenges in the field teaching methodologies by applying and evaluating Backward Design.
The level of English language is appropriate and the text content is overall comprehensive.
The manuscript is well structured but some points need to be furtherly elaborated.
It is important for the readers to be aware of the research questions of this article right in the beginning. The authors are suggested to include in the last part of the introduction a specific paragraph in which they will state clearly their research questions in form of RQ1, RQ2, etc. Finally, in the conclusion section those research questions should be directly responded.
Lines 92-110: the tree stages announced gave been based on literature review. Would you consider a fourth stage consisting of an evaluation of the methodologies applied and even a fifth stage where course coordinators may go back to the previous course development and modify specific aspects revealed after the evaluation? This could be a very positive add-on to the existing literature from the authors point of view, as well as an outcome of this research, pointing out the sustainability of the methods applied.
A geometric scheme would be useful to readers for understanding the key points of the methodology applied. Authors may easily create schemes in any word processor software by selecting “smartArt”
The related research section builds a solid base for this article, with 37 articles cited. Nevertheless, 15 references out of 37 have been published before 2015. Authors are suggested to include most recent related studies, especially after the disruption in educational systems due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The authors are suggested to study the following papers dealing with engineering education methodologies, (among several others recently published)
Kanetaki, Z.; Stergiou, C.; Troussas, C.; Sgouropoulou, C. Development of an Innovative Learning Methodology Aiming to Optimise Learners’ Spatial Conception in an Online Mechanical CAD Module During COVID-19 Pandemic. In Novelties in Intelligent Digital Systems; IOS Press Ebooks: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2021; Volume 338, pp. 31–39.
Kanetaki, Z.; Stergiou, C.; Bekas, G.; Troussas, C.; Sgouropoulou, C. Data Mining for Improving Online Higher Education Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study in the Assessment of Engineering Students. In Novelties in Intelligent Digital Systems; IOS Press Ebooks: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2021; Volume 338, pp. 157–165.
In some figures (4,5,6), the caption text is too long. Caption text should be short and precise. Any additional explication should be placed and referenced in the main text followed.
Tables 9,10: why do you use italics?
Lines 307-308: a reference is needed for determining the low, medium and high Hake gain
An Abbreviations table would be useful after Conflicts of Interest, for CDIO, BD, MEN, PISA, IEEE, HOTS, since they are frequently met in the main text
Line 84: please eliminate fullstop after the word “knowledge”
Future work and the limitations of this research are missing at the moment. The authors are advised to include those two points in their conclusion section.
Special focus should be provided on the potential implications and benefit of the presented research for different stakeholder: researchers, instructors, policy makers, modules coordinators.
Finally, in the conclusion section the authors should explain the impact of this work in terms of sustainable learning processes, in order to point out the relation with the theme of this Special Issue.
Overall, the work addresses an interesting and timely topic, but specific issues need to be revised, in order to point out its significance.
Author Response
Point 1: It is important for the readers to be aware of the research questions of this article right in the beginning. The authors are suggested to include in the last part of the introduction a specific paragraph in which they will state clearly their research questions in form of RQ1, RQ2, etc. Finally, in the conclusion section those research questions should be directly responded.
The two paragraphs below were included in the introduction to account for the motivation of the research carried out, as well as the problem question.
The motivation of this study was centered in the students that obtained low grades of electromagnetism students in Electrical Engineering, but we know that it is a general behavior in all careers that involve physics subjects, that is why, we look forward to offering our colleagues a redesigned course of electromagnetism to help raise student grades and learning outcomes.
The present study's novelty derives from the fact this methodology has been used in prestigious universities worldwide but has not yet been implemented in physics subjects belonging to engineering careers, that is why, this study examines the effect of redesigning the Electromagnetism Course on student’s understanding
Point 2: Lines 92-110: the tree stages announced gave been based on literature review. Would you consider a fourth stage consisting of an evaluation of the methodologies applied and even a fifth stage where course coordinators may go back to the previous course development and modify specific aspects revealed after the evaluation? This could be a very positive add-on to the existing literature from the authors point of view, as well as an outcome of this research, pointing out the sustainability of the methods applied.
According to the Backward Design methodology, only three stages are used, adding one more stage would modify the methodology and there would be a need to justify such a modification to a highly substantiated and validated methodology. we pointing out the sustainability of the methodology in the abstract and included in the third paragraph of the introduction lines 53-68.
Point 3: A geometric scheme would be useful to readers for understanding the key points of the methodology applied. Authors may easily create schemes in any word processor software by selecting “smartArt”
According to the suggestion, the authors have included a new figure (Fig.2) in order to explain the fundamental steps of the methodology.
Point 4: The related research section builds a solid base for this article, with 37 articles cited. Nevertheless, 15 references out of 37 have been published before 2015. Authors are suggested to include most recent related studies, especially after the disruption in educational systems due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Suggested references were included, as well as other updated references.
[A1] Kamruzzaman, M.M.; Alanazi, S.; Alruwaili, M.; Alshammari, N.; Elaiwat, S.; Abu-Zanona, M.; Innab, N.; Mohammad Elzaghmouri, B.; Ahmed Alanazi, B. AI- and IoT-Assisted Sustainable Education Systems during Pandemics, such as COVID-19, for Smart Cities. Sustainability 2023, 15, 8354. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108354.
[A2] Chen, M.; Lv, C.;Wang, X.; Li, L.; Yang, P. A Critical Review of Studies on Coopetition in
Educational Settings. Sustainability 2023, 15, 8370. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108370.
[A3] Cuadrado-Gallego, J.J.; Gómez, J.; Tayebi, A.; Usero, L.; Hellín, C.J.; Valledor, A. LearningRlab: Educational R Package for Statistics in Computer Science Engineering. Sustainability 2023, 15,
- https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108246.
[A4] Versteijlen, M.;Wals, A.E.J. Developing Design Principles for Sustainability-Oriented Blended
Learning in Higher Education. Sustainability 2023, 15, 8150. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108150
[A5] Adams, T.; Jameel, S.M.; Goggins, J. Education for Sustainable Development: Mapping the SDGs to University Curricula. Sustainability 2023, 15, 8340. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108340.
[A6] Kanetaki, Z.; Stergiou, C.; Troussas, C.; Sgouropoulou, C. Development of an Innovative Learning Methodology Aiming to Optimise Learners’ Spatial Conception in an Online Mechanical CAD Module During COVID-19 Pandemic. In Novelties in Intelligent Digital Systems; IOS Press Ebooks: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2021; Volume 338, pp. 31–39.
[A7] Kanetaki, Z.; Stergiou, C.; Bekas, G.; Troussas, C.; Sgouropoulou, C. Data Mining for Improving Online Higher Education Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study in the Assessment of Engineering Students. In Novelties in Intelligent Digital Systems; IOS Press Ebooks: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2021; Volume 338, pp. 157–165.
Point 5: In some figures (4,5,6), the caption text is too long. Caption text should be short and precise. Any additional explication should be placed and referenced in the main text followed.
Caption text was reduced in every figure
Point 6: Tables 9,10: why do you use italics?
The information in the tables was changed from italics vertion.
Point 7: Lines 307-308: a reference is needed for determining the low, medium and high Hake gain
For this purpose, reference [44] was included, which explains the details of the Hake index
Point 8: An Abbreviations table would be useful after Conflicts of Interest, for CDIO, BD, MEN, PISA, IEEE, HOTS, since they are frequently met in the main text
Abbreviations section were included.
Point 9: Line 84: please eliminate fullstop after the word “knowledge”
Full stop was eliminated.
Point 10: Future work and the limitations of this research are missing at the moment. The authors are advised to include those two points in their conclusion section.
Point 11: Special focus should be provided on the potential implications and benefit of the presented research for different stakeholder: researchers, instructors, policy makers, modules coordinators.
We hope to extend the Backward Design methodology to other physics subjects, as well as to the subjects of the electronic engineering professional cycle, specializing teacher into in research for education. We found difficulties to planning a course using Backward Design Methodology, to planning the subject with a strengthened alignment between learning and student work. Normally, teachers start from the contents towards the learning results, while using Backward Design, the objectives come first.
Point 12: Finally, in the conclusion section the authors should explain the impact of this work in terms of sustainable learning processes, in order to point out the relation with the theme of this Special Issue.
Our work is in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in “Quality Education” which is mentioned in abstract and conclusion.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Accepted.
Accepted.
Author Response
We really appreciate all your valuable contributions to our work.
With regards,
Authors
Reviewer 2 Report
Thanks for revising the manuscript based on the suggestions provided in the first round.
n/a
Author Response
We try to cover all aspects requested by the reviewer and gain experience in the process.
We want to thank all the comments made that helped to improve our paper.
Reviewer 3 Report
The authors have responded to all reviewers' comments. One lest minor issue before final acceptance: Please reduce the size of your abstract, try to limit the abstract in 250-270 words. Well done!
Author Response
We reduced the abstract in the first sentence considering that the effect of active learning is extensive explained along the paper. Thus, Only 261 words remains in the abstract.
We want to thank all the comments made that helped to improve our paper.
