Categories and assessment of e‐mail use in university teaching activities for 5 years (720.1)

Abstract

E‐mail use is common in academic communities. University students and instructors are proficient users of e‐mail, thus incorporating e‐mail in teaching activities can benefit the education process. This technology was utilized in teaching science and non‐science courses at College for Women, Kuwait University. The course instructor sets a separate e‐mail account for each course and provides a password for students. Its purpose is for the instructor to disseminate relevant course information and materials. Students are not to use course e‐mail to communicate with their instructor or for personal use to avoid intersecting messages. Major categories of messages sent by instructor were (%): handouts (28), assignment‐related (21), notices (20), materials of interest (19). Messages from students were assignment‐related (40%) and 60% were non‐assignment related. Students who responded to a simple 15‐statement questionnaire (n = 349) indicated that e‐mail was convenient, but they preferred face‐to‐face contact with the instructor. Such sentiments were echoed in 73 of student comments. Based on the instructor’s experience, e‐mail usage in teaching activities is very convenient and has many advantages. One major benefit of e‐mail is improved student/instructor communication, a matter that has an educational value in the long run.This work was supported by Kuwait University Research Grant No. [WF 02/12].