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A Method of Pacing On-line Courses: Blending Asynchronous Assessments and Recorded Lectures with Synchronous Lectures

Abstract

In order to attract students to take UD courses who normally take courses during the summer at a school near their hometown, some professors have begun offering study-at-home and on-line courses during the summer through the University’s summer distributed learning program. The Engineering Management Department offers graduate courses using interactive Web Conferencing. However, there was no school of engineering undergraduate courses that were offered in an on-line mode. In the summer of 2004, Engineering Technology faculty developed a course in Engineering Economy that took advantage of the University’s Web Conferencing system. Since then, several courses have been delivered in a blended learning mode using a combination of synchronous and asynchronous modes. In 2006, Engineering Technology received a grant from Hewlett-Packard to develop a course that was delivered in the summer of 2007 that employed Tablet PCs and interactive software in an on-line environment. This paper discusses the structure for this course, some of the technology that was used and the results of this effort.

Introduction

Several papers have been written recently about blended or hybrid courses. Duemer1 discussed the use of online synchronous discussion groups in a traditional course to enhance community formation and professional identity development. Kim2 discussed a hybrid model that combined face-to-face meeting with significant on-line learning activities. Rosenkrantz3 also discussed a hybrid course that combined traditional classroom and on-line learning in an engineering economy course. Scott4 explored student satisfaction and cost savings of blended courses that have traditional and on-line components. Trippe5 compared faculty and student satisfaction and student performance for a fully asynchronous section of a course with a blended section of the same course that combined face-to-face meetings and on-line activities. Crofton6 discussed a blended course where 50% of the course was conducted face-to-face and the remainder was delivered using Elluminate software. The common thread among most of these blended courses is that they included some face-to-face component. The course that is the subject of this paper used no face-to-face component. The entire course was delivered entirely on-line using both asynchronous and synchronous components.

Asynchronous versus Synchronous or …?

Asynchronous Learning is defined as any learning event where interaction between individuals is delayed over time. This allows learners to participate according to their schedule, and be geographically separate from the instructor. Courses could be in the form of a correspondence course, web-based, or e-learning. Interaction can take the form of various technologies such as threaded discussions, chats, emails, etc. Synchronous Learning is any learning event where interaction between individuals happens simultaneously in real-time. This requires that learners attend class at its scheduled time. This could be held in a traditional classroom, or delivered via

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Edmonson, C. (2008, June), A Method Of Pacing On Line Courses: Blending Asynchronous Assessments And Recorded Lectures With Synchronous Lectures Paper presented at 2008 Annual Conference & Exposition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 10.18260/1-2--3745