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Session 3557

MSQA ON-LINE: AN INITIAL ASSESSMENT

Lori S. Cook, Lawrence S. Aft Southern Polytechnic State University Department of Industrial Engineering Technology Marietta, GA 30060

ABSTRACT

Southern Polytechnic State University’s (SPSU) mission includes providing educational experiences to all of the citizens of Georgia. The Internet provides a mechanism for providing these educational experiences to all qualified students regardless of geographic location and ability to be in a specified location at a specified time. Beginning in the fall of 1997, SPSU began offering its Master of Science with a major in Quality Assurance on the Internet. As a pilot program within the University System of Georgia, the process was viewed as an opportunity to evaluate and assess the Internet as a medium for delivering a complete degree program via distance learning. The following paper discusses a variety of issues including program administration, curriculum development, and initial student/faculty reaction.

INTRODUCTION

The role of teaching is the transfer of knowledge and to date the most common form of learning was through apprenticeship. This one-on-one training is too labor intensive for the educational needs of modern society. The demand for higher education requires new instructional models to serve students at a reasonable cost. Traditional models of one instructor teaching a class of 30 students, a set number of times per week, for a set number of weeks, is too expensive to meet the increased demand. The modern University has evolved into an institution, which controls all aspects of learning. Faculty members have become accustomed to dictating what will be taught, how it will be taught, and where it will be taught. Students must travel to the campus to learn. Fundamentally there is a need to shift from a teacher-centered environment to a learner-centered environment. A major challenge to the education profession is letting go of the assumption that educators are the receptacle of knowledge in today’s world.

It is widely believed that the Internet may become the dominant medium of information transmission. It would be logical to conclude that the Internet may be the mechanism by which Drucker’s prophecy is realized. In order to test this hypothesis, SPSU’s Master of Science degree with a major in Quality Assurance (MSQA) was authorized in July of 1997 by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia to serve as the Pilot Internet Degree Program for the entire Georgia system. The program began Internet operation during the fall quarter of 1997. The following paper discusses a variety of issues including program administration, curriculum development, and initial student/faculty reaction.

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Cook, L. S., & Aft, L. S. (1998, June), Msqa On Line: An Initial Assessment Paper presented at 1998 Annual Conference, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/1-2--7296