Off-campus Students Research Articles

Reference services for off-campus students

Reference services for off-campus students

The Importance of Relationships for a Quality Learning Environment in Interactive TV Classrooms

Abstract This article describes the wide range of roles developed as part of a distance education program, with an emphasis on the importance of students' relationships with the people in these roles—a critical and controversial aspect of the new “electronic classroom” (Treagust, Waldrip, & Horley, 1993). Analysis based on data collected from on- and off-campus students, faculty, and staff indicates that many types of relationships among individuals involved in a distance education program are important in creating a positive learning environment.

Taking the Mountain to Mohammed: Enhancing Rural Human Services Through Distance Education1

Social work education is the primary gatekeeper for the profession. However, it has been slow to pursue the delivery of its educational programs in off-campus locations and many rural human services providers who have not had the advantage of social work education often become locked into jobs with little opportunity to upgrade their competence and credentials. The result has been that clients, too, are locked into workers with less than the desired qualifications. Increasingly, distance education technologies have emerged that have proven successful in reaching off-campus students and providing high quality learning experiences. Also, the Council on Social Work Education's Commission on Accreditation has recently developed guidelines that should reduce the risk for schools venturing into distance education. Now is an opportune time for baccalaureate social work education programs (as well as master's programs) to seriously consider the role they might play in enhancing rural human services through distance education. This paper identifies some of the factors a program might consider when contemplating distance education.

Using Internet in Distance Education

In Spring 1994, a 2-h course in Agricultural Meteorology was handled primarily by e-mail. Six off-campus students asked to take the course by e-mail, and two on-campus students voted to join them. Seven students communicated with each other and the instructor via VAX-mail on the UF IFAS Computer Network [ICON]. The remaining student used a NASA supplied link to Internet. A few students used V-mail on ICON's VAX, in preference to the basic MAIL facility. A good textbook was found indispensable because the rest of the course content flowed through the network. The conversational characteristic of e-mail messages accommodated questions about the text and a term paper topic well. There is a tradeoff of commuting costs vs. computer and modem costs. Each participant worked at an individual—an advantage for students who have production responsibilities. Those students ranked the course as highly desirable [compared with the average for other courses in the department 1.33 vs. 1.39 (where 1 is top score and 5 lowest)]. Procrastination is a hazard, and the keyboard is a limiting factor. Both the preparation for and conduction of the course is more time consuming than conventional methods. This time requirement is expected to decrease with familiarity, the use of graphics, and commercial links to Internet.

Off-Campus Study In Agriculture: Challenges And Opportunities

Off-campus degree programs are becoming more prevalent as universities recognize the need to extend educational opportunities beyond the campus. Students who enroll in off-campus programs differ from traditional college students and face a number of unique challenges in pursuit of their degrees. This study describes selected experiences of former agricultural distant learners with an off-campus agriculture degree program and describesgraduates' perceptions regarding selected obstacles to off-campus study. Results of the study indicate that graduates were motivated to enroll in the off-campus program primarily to pursue a degree, took an average of five years to complete the program, and traveled to campus 20 or fewer times for reasons related to the off-campus program. Graduates of the program indicated that the most significant obstacles to off-campus study included limited course offerings, difficulty in balancing responsibilities, access to library facilities, and program costs. It was recommended that more agricultural courses be offered through distance education technologies to facilitate timely completion of the degree program. Also, it was recommended that partnerships be established to allow off-campus students to complete laboratory activities and obtain academic assistance from individuals or institutions in their local communities.

Reference Services for Off-Campus Students and Faculty

Although the literature on library service to offcampus students is extensive, the discussion of reference services or the general philosophy of reference work with offcampus student, faculty and staff is relatively small. In many cases the goals of reference service are implied in the discussion of overall library services or inferred in the descriptions of how reference work is actually carried out in one or another distance education program. Quality service and equality with on-campus programs should distinguish off-campus library support, including reference service. At the same time that off-campus or extension librarians are insisting on equality with on-campus programs, they recognize how different the environment for delivering reference services is for hose working with off-campus students faculty and staff. The principles of good reference service are the same, whether to on-campus or off-campus but major differences may exist in how reference work is executed. This paper addresses Ihe various ...

Audiographics for Distance Education: A Case Study in Student Attitudes and Perceptions

This paper presents a discussion on the concept of audiographics to support distance education in library and information science. Both on-campus and off-campus student attitudes and perceptions toward the technology utilized in a library and information science graduate level course on information and communication technology are compared and summarized in a case study. Off-campus or distance students' perceptions of the technology's effectiveness were more positive than local students, although both groups generally found it to be beneficial as a teaching and learning technology

A Partnership with Industry

Graduate credit instruction is provided to professional engineers at their worksites by the Off-Campus Graduate Education Program and Columbia Video Network. Instruction is either through a live two-way video link or videotapes. The programme offers substantial benefits to the university, to industry and to the off-campus students themselves. The future for such programmes is a challenging one and will be affected by such factors as the need for universities to diversify away from their traditional functions; the advantages to industry of being able to select the best courses and institutions, irrespective of location; continuing down-sizing of technology-based companies; and the need to serve displaced workers.

Distance learning: an innovative approach to nursing education.

This article presents four views encompassing one nursing department's experience using distance learning technology. The challenge of presenting a nursing class through distance technology is discussed from the perspective of the telecommunication faculty providing the technological support, the nursing faculty teaching the on-campus course, the off-campus nursing faculty coordinating the course at the outreach site, and the head of the Department of Nursing. Review of course grades demonstrated that off-campus students achieved higher grades than on-campus students. All students evaluated the teacher as being effective; however, off-campus students were not as strong in their opinion.

Continuing engineering education by electronic blackboard and videotape: a comparison of on-campus and off-campus student performance

The authors discuss student performance in the two different systems that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign employs for its remote delivery of off-campus courses in continuing engineering education. The two systems are the AT&T Gemini 100 Electronic Blackboard system and videotaping courses in a studio classroom setting. Three sets of findings are reported about comparisons of on and off-campus student performance in the same engineering courses offered from 1979 through 1986, and these findings are then related to pertinent literature. The first compares on and off-campus students in electronic blackboard courses over the seven-year period, the second compares on and off-campus students in videotape courses, and the third set of findings compares and contrasts results on student performance resulting from the two types of off-campus delivery systems. >

Media: The comparative effectiveness of videotape, audiotape, and telelecture in delivering continuing teacher education

Providing higher education for nontraditional students has become a point of interest for many colleges and universities (McMeen 1984). In urban areas it may be accomplished in a traditional manner through regularly scheduled afternoon, evening, or weekend courses. In rural areas the only choice available may be a specialized program or curriculum at a distant institution. Yet, evening or weekend courses may be impractical because of the travel time involved. Shortages in certain licensure fields, new certification requirements, and salary incentives have all contributed to a growing need for alternative methods of continuing teacher education. The use of audio and video technology in distance education, continuing education, and teacher training has been advocated since the late 1960s (Fraser 1985), but administrators have been reluctant to use technology in delivering what has traditionally been classroom-based instruction. This reluctance has been based on concerns over expense, as well as a lack of knowledge concerning the efficacy of such programs (Chang 1983). Thorman and Amb (1974) demonstrated equal learning by teacher education students receiving audiotape instruction versus live instruction. DeMuth (1979) reported that 94 percent of offcampus students felt audiotape instruction was a valuable experience. Ainsworth (1986) discussed the advantages of videotape instruction in higher education but did not present data to support its efficacy. Whittington (1987) conducted a review of literature concerning the instructional use of television, and concluded that it may be an effective medium, despite a lack of controlled research concerning its efficacy.

Review of SIMPLE 1 Simulation Language

I have taught a discrete simulation course for the University of Idaho Computer Science department for the past five years. Three different languages have been used which were generally chosen because they were available and could run on our computer systems. The languages used were GPSS (a very old version), SIMAN and SIMPLE_1. This past year, I used version 3 of SIMPLE_1, which was chosen for several reasons. It runs on PCs or compatibles and is inexpensive so the students could buy their own copies to run on their own computers or those available on campus. The course was video taped and offered to off-campus students so it was important for those students to be able to run the software on their own computers. I also chose it because I like the language and the complete package that comes with it.

Media and adult learning: A forum: Lifelong learning and distance education

Distance education programs often try to prove their legitimacy by using methods and materials as similar as possible to those used in traditional, classroom-based, lecture-oriented courses. Since off-campus students must exhibit a certain level of independence and self-guidance to succeed, it might he more reasonable to tailor educational experiences to exploit the possibilities of independent study, including the individual life situations in which students find themselves. This focus on independence and personal experience is also characteristic of Edgar Faure's concept of lifelong learning, which encourages learning from informal as well as formal sources, learning guided by learners, and concern with real-world experiences and problems. Some aspects of the lifelong learning model that are not typically included in distance education programs are: (1) using formative assessment of student progress, (2) tailoring learning strategies to individual situations, and (3) using real-world criteria in evaluations. It appears possible and desirable for distance education programs to incorporate sueessfully many more of the characteristics of lifelong learning than has typically been the case, but evidence from the field suggests that strong pressures exist in favor of using conventional educational approaches. (PGD) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by. EDRS are the best that can be mace from the original document. **********--************************************************************ I Iv LIFELONG LEARNING AND DISTANCE EDUCATION* Christopher Knapper University of Waterloo, Canada UN. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION

Comparative Performance Analysis of On- and Off-Campus Video-Based Engineering Graduate Students

Early analyses and anecdotal data support the efficacy of graduate engineering education delivered to off-campus students studying in moderately-sized groups with ``tutorial'' support. However, data now indicate that off-campus learners often study individually or in very small groups of three or fewer viewers. This trend will only develop further as increased uses of satellite technology affords teachers and learners cost-effective mechanisms of addressing the educational needs of single individuals spread throughout the nation. The following study addresses this concern by determining how well off-campus viewer/learners, studying in very small groups, perform in comparison to their on-campus peers.

Software support for computer science video courses

The Computer Science department at the University of Idaho offers a Masters degree to off-campus students via video taped courses. One of the major roadblocks to the expansion of course offerings is the lack of inexpensive software available to the video student.

Evolution in an Environmental Education Course for Teachers

Abstract This paper presents an account of developments in an environmental education course for practicing teachers. The course is open campus (its materials are packaged and sent to distant off-campus students) and has been running now for six years. This account reports some of the changes that have taken place as the course has been taught—changes that are responses to reflections on the course by both faculty and students. The view is taken that deliberate changes in course organization and practice and careful reflection on the outcomes of those changes ought to proceed together in a cyclic fashion, toward an improved understanding of the relationship between the course's theoretical rationale and its practical embodiment. Four such cycles of revision, are reported here.

Comparative Characteristic Analyses of On-Campus Resident and Off-Campus Video-Based Engineering Graduate Students and Their Implications

With research now fully supporting the ability of video to disseminate off-campus graduate engineering education, it is useful to review other factors impacting on program quality. One key issue is the quality of off-campus students, particularly in comparison to their on-campus peers. The following compares on-and off-campus engineering graduate students for traditionally accepted quantitative characteristics. These include: chronological age, age of undergraduate degree, scores on the GRE Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytic test, and undergraudate quality point average.

Collection management for off-campus library services

Off-campus library services present some unique situations that may completely alter the normal perspective of collection management, including collection development, acquisitions, cataloging, processing, and most importantly, information access. The University of Wyoming currently places extension classes and external degree programs among its top six priorities. How the University of Wyoming Libraries have met the challenge of providing library services to off-campus students and faculty in support of those programs is described.

The development of acquisitions and collection services for off-campus students in Northeastern Ontario: An important library collection development issue or merely an issue of a more efficient materials handling and delivery system?

This article deals with the problems of providing library collection and acquisitions services to off-campus university students throughout a sparsely populated region of northeastern Ontario in Canada. The special problems of providing library services to extramural courses are examined. Past and current services as well as future plans for improving extramural collection services are detailed. The importance and particular features of collection services for off-campus students as issues for mainstream library collection development research are examined. The article stresses the need for further research on library collection development and acquisitions services designed to meet the specialized requirements of the extramural university student.

Off-campus acquisitions at Deakin University Library

Deakin University has been committed to off-campus education since its establishment in 1977. Here, the implications of this commitment for the University Library are set out, library activities in relation to new courses for off-campus students are discussed, and the relevant acquisitions procedure is explained. Specific areas such as the delivery/return system, decisions on multiple copies, availability of journal articles, and Study Center library provision are considered. Six problem areas in provision to off-campus students are examined. Finally, the future role of the library in relation to the off-campus mode of instruction is considered, particularly in light of technological change and of attitudes to distance education.