A hybrid online-education strategy for delivering engineering and technology courses

Distance Learners in Higher Education: Institutional Responses for Quality Outcomes edited by Chere Campbell Gibson. Atwood Publishing, Madison, Wisconsin. 1998, 156 pages. ISBN 1-891859-23-4. In Distance Learners in Higher Education: Institutional Responses for Quality Outcomes, Chere Campbell Gibson and her colleagues explore a variety of topics related distance learners. The contributors are primarily seasoned professionals who hold positions related distance education, academic technology, or the fields of adult, continuing, or vocational education at universities in the United States and Canada. Instead of presenting a to book about distance education, they focus on their experiences and research findings as educators and relate this information distance learners in higher education. In addition, the reader is pointed resources about distance education in the final chapter through a useful list of books, journals, newsletters, and World Wide Web sites regarding distance education. The title suggests that two questions will be answered in this text: Who are distance learners in higher education, and what can higher education institutions do provide quality education at a distance? The first question is answered in Chapter 1. From an analysis of the existing literature, Thompson informs us that distance learners are likely be older, female, employed on a full-time basis, and married. However, she couches this description in the caveat that the profile even for an individual learner . . .must be [understood as] tentative and dynamic (p. 19) and that the distance education population as a whole is heterogeneous. This profile could imply that distance education has had a greater impact on four-year colleges and universities than it has had on community colleges (where students already tend be older, female, and employed on a full-time basis). Distance education provides an avenue for the nontraditional student enroll in the institutions, thus changing the profile of their student body. For senior institutions, this change in student population brings the forefront a question that community colleges have been grappling with for years: How do we serve the educational needs of those students who have work, family, and community responsibilities that compete with learning for their time, energy, and attention? This new question for the senior institutions is reflected in Gibson's observation in Chapter 7: Distance education has had an impact on enrollment in higher education courses, by serving pursuing postsecondary education, . . . husbands [whose] wives work, . . . older persons (beyond the traditional age of 21) enrolled in degree programs, and men and women alike considering recareering in their 30s and 40s (p. 121). The authors also answer the second question implied by this book's title: What can education institutions do provide quality education at a distance? The answer, however, may not be what the reader expects. A central theme running through the seven chapters is that we, as distance educators, need be learner-centered, reflective practitioners (p. 139). Thus, like all other educators, distance educators focus on quality education. Their perspective, however, must widen include the distance education context. As discussed in various chapters in this volume, distance educators share many challenges with their colleagues who teach on campus: how address gender issues, cultural diversity, barriers access, communication problems, and students' academic self-concept; how develop learner support systems; and how enhance learning strategies and student motivation. Distance education, however, introduces another level of complexity into the already complex field of teaching and learning. For example, there are specific skills involved with learning at a distance. As Gibson points out in Chapter 7, the lack of these skills will affect students' academic self-concept as well as their course performance. …

N A five-year program of educational research, in which practically all the engineering and technical schools of the country actively co-operated, the amazing fact was brought out that engineering graduates and engineering teachers considered cultural subjects of major importance in any engineering course. In this investigation financed by the Carnegie Corporation together with other contributors at a cost of over $200,Qoo and carried out by the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, 86 per cent of the engineers and 78 per cent of the engineering teachers who replied to the questionnaires believed that purely cultural subjects should be included in all engineering curriculums. Over 25 per cent of the engineers expressed the opinion that cultural subjects were indispensable to their intellectual development. English literature, composition, and public speaking were rated as second only to mathematics and physics as foundation courses. This demand for a broadening and liberalizing of the engineering curriculum is increasingly the outstanding development in engineering education. Coupled with this demand, however, there is the definite recommendation of the Society that a pre-engineering liberal-arts course devoid of engineering is less satisfactory than a course in which, from the beginning, engineering and liberalarts courses are thoroughly integrated. This appraisal by engineering educators suggests a fine opportunity of service for the small but efficient, well-equipped liberal-arts college. A study of the results of such an integrated program conducted at Denison University during the past five years gives rather striking evidence of its possibilities. In order to obtain definite information as to the value of an artsengineering program, a questionnaire designed to elicit frank estimates of the value of such a program was sent out to the engineering alumni of Denison; and, to obtain further unbiased judgments, opinions on the most desirable type of education for the engineer were requested from prominent engineers and engineering educators not connected with Denison. A brief outline of the Denison plan and an analysis of both groups of replies received should prove of interest to others as well as to engineers. A limited number of engineering courses under the head of

Background- With communication skills deemed increasingly important for engineering graduates, we wanted to understand how writing is currently included in engineering classes, what challenges are caused by including writing in such classes, and what resources would be most useful to help engineering instructors more easily include writing in engineering classes. Literature review- Writing is a necessary skill for engineering graduates and has received increased attention in engineering classes. However, despite many instructors' beliefs that writing is an important skill for engineers, it is not typically taught in a systematic and comprehensive way across the engineering curriculum. Research questions- 1. What perceptions of writing, and specifically writing in engineering, do engineering instructors hold? 2. To what extent do engineering instructors report incorporation of writing activities and assignments in their classes? 3. What barriers do engineering instructors perceive as inhibiting the inclusion of more writing in engineering courses? 4. What resources do engineering instructors desire to expand and improve the inclusion of writing in engineering courses? Research methods: A survey was completed by engineering instructional staff (n = 190 respondents, 10.7% response rate) from seven institutions as well as by some members of the Big10+ Engineering Deans Mailing List. Instructors were asked about their general perceptions about writing in engineering and were also asked to consider the most recent engineering course that they taught and reflect on how they included (or did not include) writing in their course. Findings and conclusions- As expected, we found that most engineering instructional staff agree that writing skills are very important in engineering. Yet, we found that constraints on time and resources kept instructors from including more writing in their courses. This paper concludes with a discussion of our efforts to develop resources, such as rubrics, graded writing examples, and strategies for developing writing prompts, to help instructors include more writing in their engineering courses.

Distance education systems are being used in along with the traditional education systems in order to respond to the demand for higher education. Technological advancements, interactive learning possibilities are forcing the traditional universities to make more use of the distance education systems and technologies. Most of the traditional universities to create the opportunity for their students to be independent learners and learners who can organize their learning processes by using distance education systems and technologies. It is thought that students who can learn on their own and who can organize their learning processes will be more likely to use lifelong learning opportunities. In Turkey where there is a great demand for higher education, the use of distance education systems and technologies in traditional universities is not common. These traditional universities can make use of the distance education systems and technologies in certain lectures and cope with the pressure of the increasing number of students. Successful implementation of the distance education applications in traditional universities will affect the mega Turkish education system in a positive way. In this study, the views of the doctoral students at traditional universities on the use of distance education systems and technologies and independent learning are determined. Findings indicate that doctoral students do not have a positive attitude towards the use of distance education systems and technologies, and they do not agree with the idea that distance education systems can support independent learning.

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Session 3542 Computer Integrated Experimentation in Electrical Engineering Education over Distance Oguz A. Soysal, Frostburg State University Abstract The paper presents the implementation of computer integrated experiments in FSU/UMCP collaborative engineering programs from educational perspective. The effectiveness of CIE in actual and virtual classroom environments is compared to other experimentation activities. Advantages and limitations are discussed in terms of equipment availability, infrastructure cost, and contribution to various elements of experimental learning. I. Introduction The interest for engineering courses offered over distance has been increasing. Many institutions are currently offering self-paced distance education courses as part of their conventional curriculum, or developing complete degree or outreach programs for distributed education. Advanced communication techniques such as web based online courses and interactive video are implemented to provide learning opportunity to a large audience, spread over a wide geographic area. Another obvious advantage of online courses is asynchronous learning possibility for self- motivated individuals through independent study programs. The University System of Maryland has recently started collaborative engineering programs on several campuses to extend learning resources available in a large metropolitan university to remote areas. These programs combine the advantages of distance education and conventional classroom activities. Frostburg State University (FSU) has been offering electrical and mechanical engineering programs1 since fall 1997 in collaboration with University of Maryland College Park (UMCP). Students enrolled in the FSU/UMCP Collaborative Engineering Program take all science, math, general education, and basic engineering courses on campus from resident faculty. Upper level engineering courses are offered from UMCP over distance. The main objective of the Collaborative Engineering Education is to provide students located on a remote campus the opportunity to access advanced engineering courses of a metropolitan university. The developed model is an economical way to extend engineering education possibility to remote areas without loosing experimentation and design activities and student-instructor interactions, which are essential for technical education. Beside many advantages, distance education has also significant limitations in engineering courses with laboratory applications. Various surveys and observations have shown that engineering and science students gain more thorough understanding of physical concepts if they actively participate in laboratory experiments. In fact, active experimentation is also one of the

To what extent is it possible to create effective skills‐based distance learning courses for the professional education of engineers? Here, Derek Fordyce (Department of Civil Engineering, Heriot‐Watt University) explains the philosophy behind the workshops in an undergraduate course in engineering education at his University, and then describes his attempt to use the same model of experiential learning as the basis for distance learning courses in highway engineering.

The use of andragogy and technology helps non-traditional adult students create a greater sense of connectedness within online courses and programs. When students feel a greater sense of connectedness, they tend to have higher academic efficacy and are more likely to complete their degree programs. Technology is continuously evolving. When we embrace technology's evolution and anchor its use to andragogical principles, we create courses and learning experiences that foster a more profound sense of connectedness for our online learners. Hanshaw, Helm-Stevens, and Lopez found that utilizing technology and a student-centered approach increased a student's sense of connectedness and intrinsic motivation to learn. The use of technology in the online classroom has to evolve to match our non-traditional learners' expectations. This chapter will explore the use of technology and the application of andragogical principles to create a learning environment where non-traditional adult learners thrive.

This chapter discusses the increasing enrollment in online courses, particularly among nontraditional learners. Nontraditional learners rely heavily on distance education courses due to their demanding schedules. Therefore, they require the flexibility afforded by distance education; otherwise, college enrollment and success may not be possible. Although distance learning was increasing in popularity among college students, there was still pushback from faculty before the COVID-19 pandemic, although the pandemic forced professors who avoided online education to adjust their teaching methods to online learning platforms in place of the traditional classroom environment. As nontraditional adult learners increase in numbers, there will be a greater demand for distance education, and institutions that hear and respond to this demand will fare better than those who continue to oppose nontraditional teaching methods.

This book serves as a platform for educators and researchers to unite educational technology and social justice. While educational technology is a rapidly changing and progressive field of research and practice, it remains largely separate from education for social justice. Current literature about educational technology is often approached from a technical, how-to perspective that emphasizes ways to implement technology into the classroom. Technology is often viewed as inevitable, yet neutral and value-free. Educational technology, however, is anything but neutral. The contributors collectively advance a hopeful discourse by exploring the potential of technology as a vehicle to transform and emancipate, while not forgoing a critically reflective measure of self-conscious critique of our own role as educators, students, or scholars in oppressive silences, constraints and conditions. This edited collection makes an important and unique contribution to the field, as it will be the first published volume to detail research, theory, and practice regarding student use of technology in achieving liberatory aims since IAP’s 2009 publication, ICT for Education, Development and Social Justice. The fields of educational technology and social justice are vast and applicable in many domains, including teacher education, graduate programs, and K-12 education. This work is intended to appeal to a diverse academic and professional audience of K-12 teachers, teacher educators, educational technology and social justice scholars, and policy makers. Scholars and academics instructing graduate-level educational technology courses can reference this edited collection as the most current text on socially just educational technology. Educational practitioners from teacher education programs and the K-12 sector may use this book as a source of ideas and inspiration to incorporate student use of technology toward emancipatory aims. This title could be adopted as a course text for both undergraduate and graduate education courses in: media literacy, digital literacy, distance education, education for social justice, and teacher preparation, and educational technology courses. Readers will also be able to use the book as a guide when critically analyzing their own professional practice, whether it is in research, working with K-12 students, or preparing future educators or scholars.

Distance education plays an important role in broadening educational access and increasing higher educational opportunities. The success, however, for any distance education initiative relies on a critical and core resource, namely having participating faculty who provide quality instruction. This study uses survey design and diffusion of innovation theory to examine faculty participation in relation to their technology use, their attitudes toward technology and distance education, and their adoption of innovations at a public postsecondary 10-campus system. Ordinal regression analysis identified 20 significant variables (16 predictors representing the four latent dimensions of the conceptual model and four demographic characteristics) that explain faculty participation in distance education. The findings identify a number of core issues underlying faculty participation and non-participation in distance education which pose implications for policy and practice relevant to technology use and skills, training and development, course design and technical support, quality issues, and workload and compensation.

The rapid growth of online and distance education due to the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified long-standing challenges associated with delivering practical and laboratory-based learning in engineering education. However, various digital technologies such as virtual learning systems, virtual and augmented reality, virtual laboratories, and artificial intelligence have been adopted to enhance practical learning experiences. This study presents a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature published from 2015 to 2023 to examine how these technologies have been used to support practical learning in engineering education and to evaluate their pedagogical effectiveness. Following PRISMA guidelines, we found 658 articles across seven academic databases, of which 28 studies were suitable for further analysis. The results show that these digital technologies improved access, flexibility, student engagement, and understanding in online engineering courses. Virtual and augmented reality, for instance, excelled in helping students become familiar with skills and procedures, while virtual labs allowed for safe, repeatable experiments. However, there is still limited evidence that these technologies can completely replace hands-on lab and workshop experiences. The review highlights a continuing gap between theoretical learning and practical skills development in online engineering courses. This study does not argue for the replacement of physical laboratories; rather, it critically examines the extent to which digital technologies can complement practical learning and identifies the pedagogical limits of substituting hands-on laboratory and workshop experiences in science, engineering, and technology (SET) education.

The biblical story of Samson (Judges 13– 16) tells of a bold, super-strong hero of his people who was compromised when his hair, the source of his supreme strength, was cut off while he slept. What is occurring in the technology curriculum in the United States may indeed parallel the Samson tale. For, in spite of glorious concepts, relevant content, and ambitious standards, its effectiveness may be compromised. It appears that the curriculum’s “Samson’s hair,” activity that includes hand skill development which, for so long, has been the source of its uniqueness and strength, is being diminished. Regrettably, this important element is totally nonexistent in some technology instruction. In the face of this circumstance, I argue that efforts should be undertaken to ensure that the imaginative curriculum change that is underway integrates and includes, wherever possible, true activity that includes hand skill development. To consciously and conscientiously include hand skill development in technology courses will continue a unique and distinctive approach to activity learning that was evident in industrial arts. That approach contributed powerfully and positively to individual learning and student development. Inclusion of that element in technology courses today will ensure delivery of instruction that benefits students in a way that is not achieved in other school subjects because it will: • Maintain the interest of students to a greater extent than occurs in most other subject areas. • Respond to learning styles that the instructional devices commonly used in other subject areas do not do. • Make a contribution to students’ cognitive development in a manner not enjoyed by virtually every other subject area in the schools. With hand skill development, pursued consciously and effectively, the technology curriculum will reflect unique but important qualities, as did industrial arts. Thus, in response to the industrial age, the content of manual arts and manual training programs appropriately responded to changing societal and human needs. But activity and hand skill Now, technology curriculum efforts are responding to the information and computer age in the same way that industrial arts upgraded the manual training and manual arts content to respond to the industrial age. Interestingly, while we have learned more about the efficacy of activity and hand skill development, technology curriculum developers seem to have chosen not to follow the industrial arts approach to changing content while maintaining the efficacious part of the methodology. A well-founded fear is that although the new standards characterize the new direction as an activity curriculum, the nature and structure of the laboratory settings, learning activities, and equipment in the laboratory settings result in a dearth of learning experience that include true hand skill development. Thus, we may be witnessing noble and efficacious curriculum content and concepts promulgated and implemented without that element that may be considered the most important and beneficial learning aspect that our field has to offer. If this is true, then it is appropriate to challenge leaders to ensure that the new technology content is organized and delivered so that hand skill development remains prominent. I assert that the lack or diminution of hand skill development in our schools limits the student’s engagement in the active learning process and retards the student’s growth and development. Thus, my challenge is that leaders should bravely draw upon, integrate, and ensure that the heritage of the rich, unique, and educationally viable industrial arts learning and instructional method that included hands skill development will be carried forward and be pervasively evident in the new curriculum. While the preceding outlines today’s situation in general, I offer some specifics in the three following parts: First, I relate our heritage as imbedded in the views of an early industrial arts leader. The second part reviews statements regarding that heritage made by contemporary leaders who support activity and hand skill development. The third part is Articles

Open and distance learning is now seen as a legitimate means through which an effective science and technology education can be disseminated. There are many factors which support this argument. With the advancements of information and communication technologies (ICT), have given rise to new opportunities for sharing information, resources, and experiences, as well as providing networking opportunities with student peers, tutors, and the institution. All these factors suggest that ODL may be the solution for overcoming the gap between those who have had access to science and technology (S&T) education and those who have not. It is now proven fact that scientific knowledge is a pre-requisite to solve each country’s pressing social and economic problem, to transform their societies and to have positive impact on the standards of living and quality of life of the poorest of poor any society. In present situation S&T capacity building is an indispensable tool for promoting sustainable and inclusive globalization. In the proposed paper, an experience from IGNOU in delivering science programme through ODL mode is shared.

When will high school defend its science education against University?

This work presents the education in values and the role of Bioethics in higher education, specifically in engineering courses. In its several modalities (mobility, transport, sanitation, civil building, electronic, energy, etc.), Engineering has an impact that provide increase or decrease of expectancy and quality of life and safety. Its considered that a transversal bioethical approach could establish bridges among humanities and science and technologies, promoting reflection from the benchmark of life preservation with maximum possible quality for present and future generations. The research presented here has qualitative approach and was driven by the search, by some Engineering students and professors, for materials about the themeand its scarcity in Portuguese. Therefore, it was developed a research from the following problem: in reference to traditional approaches, in what can Bioethics be a differential, and why? How could a Bioethics program for engineering areas be? To answer these questions, it was researched first the values education in Engineering courses previously selected. Next, it was made a research on values formation contents in Engineering curricula and syllabuses. At last, the selected subjects were surveyed about values education in higher education in general and in Engineering in special, as the connection between Bioethics and Engineering formation. Just a few subjects responded. The answers received made possible to know their opinion on values education in engineering, the role of Bioethics, the contents, formats, methods and expected results. However, the nonexistence of materials in Portuguese language, the absence of theme in curricula and the non-responses by subjects can indicate that values education -, and not just Bioethics, is a silent area, a gap to be filled in Engineering courses.