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Delivery and Assessment of Teaching Statics over the Internet to Community College Students

Kurt Gramoll, Wes Hines, and Mary Kocak

Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Oklahoma College of Engineering, University of Tennessee Mechanical Eng. Technology, Pellissippi State Technical Community College

Abstract This paper presents the methods and results of delivering a basic Statics course to Pellissippi State Technical Community College (PSTCC) students located in Knoxville, Tennessee over the Internet. All aspects of the course, including textbook, lectures, class meetings, student discussions, homework and tests were conducted through the Internet. The online course material included animations, simulations, narrations, and graphics. Homework and tests were also conducted over the Internet. For comparison purposes, a traditional Statics class was conducted by the same instructors (the authors) at PSTCC using traditional delivery methods with on- campus lectures and office hours. The two classes covered the same material at the same rate, and students took the same multiple choice tests and final exam. Both classes had access to identical course content on the Internet as well as a standard print textbook. Comparison of the test results of the two classes shows that the online delivery of basic engineering content through the Internet provides as good, if not better, education than traditional delivery methods. In summary, the online class students performed better on the exams by over a half-grade level.

Introduction There has been a tremendous interest and need in using technology and computer networks to enhance engineering education and to provide learning opportunities to students at a distance. It has been assumed that technology has the potential through 3D animation, simulations, user interaction, user tracking, video, and audio to increase both the learning efficiency (learn faster or learn more) of the student and the teaching efficiency of the instructor (teach faster or teach more). However, it is also known that technology has not had a great track record in implementation [1]. This could be due to a large number of reasons, such as lack of good electronic engineering media, institutional reluctance to implement technology, instructor's lack of desire to change, and the initial high cost of development and implementation. In addition to these issues, there is a shortage of studies on showing how electronic media and the Internet can improve learning and teaching efficiencies. One the other hand, there are individual classes that have been developed and implemented that has shown that distance engineering education can work [2].

Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education

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Hines, W., & Kocak, M., & Gramoll, K. (2005, June), Delivery And Assessment Of Teaching Statics Over The Internet To Community College Students Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--15255