The influence of in-person and on-line modes of instruction on academic performance in engineering capstone design courses: a comparative study based on non-parametric statistics

The Covid-19 pandemic has compelled educational institutions to transit, wholly or partially, from the in-person mode of instruction to on-line. However, there is a paucity of information on the academic performance of students in engineering-based capstone design courses via the on-line mode of instruction as compared to in-person. Therefore, the focus of this comparative study was on the influence of in-person and on-line modes of instruction on students’ academic performance in capstone design projects in engineering. Descriptive and non-parametric (the Mann-Whitney and the Kruskal-Wallis) tests were carried out. The outcome of the Mann-Whitney U test with a p-value of 0.960 at a z-value of 0.052 and the Kruskal-Wallis test with a p-value of 0.744 at a z-value of 1.238 strongly indicates that the academic performance of engineering students in capstone design courses is not significantly different whether the mode is on-line or in-person. The use of blended on-line and in-person modes of instruction for capstone design courses is highly recommended in order to forestall possible future disruptions of Covid-19, other pandemics and natural disasters.