MILESTONE
REPORT
for the
project:
CURRICULUM DESIGN,
PRODUCTION AND DELIVERY
OF MEA 200 AS A
WORLD-WIDE WEB COURSE
for
the
NCSU OFFICE OF
INSTRUCTIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS
(OIT)
Project Period: May 1, 1996 to December 15,
1998
Last Update: February 17, 2007
|
Principle
Investigator:
Ernest Knowles,
Ph.D.
- Alumni Distinguished
Undergraduate Professor
- Member, Academy of
Outstanding Teachers
- Emeritus Associate Professor
of Physical Oceanography
- Department of Marine, Earth & Atmospheric
Sciences
- 1142 Jordan Hall
- Box 8208, Raleigh, NC 27695-8208
- tel: (919) 515-3711
- fax: (919) 515-7802
- Email: ernest_knowles@ncsu.edu
Return to my
Homepage
|
URL for this
report:
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~ceknowle/milestone
This Milestone Report webpage includes
an continually updated report for the above named project and
describes my experience in putting my MEA200 course on the web. The
report is subdivided into five parts:
NOTE: In the years since I completed this
project, there has been great advances in the speed and capability of
computers and other web-related software and technology. Some of the
technology listed in my recommendations, therefore, are dated (I now
use MAC OS X on my G4 and G5 computers, for instance), but the
recommendations are still of value.
Part 1
BACKGROUND, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE
PROJECT
Directory
Background
The project was initiated in response to a series of discussions
beginning in the early spring of 1996 between the PI, Sondra Kirsch
(then the Associate Vice Chancellor for Outreach & Extension),
Tom Russell (Director of the Office of Instructional
Telecommunications - OIT), and John Cudd (Director of Adult Credit
Programs & Summer Sessions). Funds for the project were provided
by Sondra Kirsch, and the OIT web course and guidelines generated by
this project were to be under the administrative control of Tom
Russell.
Since the start of the project, the Provost provided funds for a
select group of 29 faculty to put their regular semester courses
on-line by the Fall 1997 semester (registration to be through NCSU
TRACS). This initiative was called Project 25 and included funds for
one month summer salary, for the purchase and/or upgrading of
computers, and for the purchase of additional equipment.
I was selected as one of those faculty and, in addition, to serve
on the Project 25 Steering Committee. Since then, I served on an ad
hoc committee with: Dr. Frank Abrams - Senior Associate Provost for
Academic Affairs; Dr. Bill Willis - Associate Provost for
Instructional Technologies; Dr. Doug Wellman, the first Director of
the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning (FCTL); and Susan
Nutter, University Librarian, to help organize and shape Learning
Technologies Service (LTS), an outgrowth of Project 25 which, in
partnership with the FCTL, will serve as a campus focal point for
educational technology activities. The LTS is now firmly established
and includes a team of computing specialists and librarians to offer
assistance in exploring, evaluating and applying innovative
multimedia applications and information resources.
I also was named to the Provost's Extension Instruction Funding
Response Team to formulate procedures that NCSU would follow because
of new funding procedures implemented by UNC-OP (general
administration), and to the Provost's task force to establish DELTA
(Distance Education Learning Technologies Applications) which
administers distance education for NCSU (now fully implemented in the
Provost's office and into which LTS and OIT have been
incorporated).
Purpose Of
Project
The project directly compared the performance of students taking
MEA 200 on the web with those taking the same course in four other
venues (regular class, summer term, and cable & video independent
study), and provides an opportunity to expand existing web-course
guidelines to focus specifically on the creation and administration
of web courses at NCSU to be offered by DELTA to any
distance-learning student who wants to put a college-level course for
credit on the web. Clearly, these guidelines also will be useful to
NCSU faculty as a whole.
Project
Objectives
Develop, offer and document MEA 200 as a
credit-course on the internet
Course content, level of difficulty of exams, and textbook to be
used were, to the extent possible, held constant for all of the
project period and for all six venues of the course. Course
development and improvement will be continuous but, depending on the
pace of development of new and less expensive technology, should
progress through at least three instructional and technology
levels:
Level 1. Tutorial and
static - at this level, course material is similar to
that used in the Independent Studies Course. Graphs and pictures
would be static and some from the text may be included as part of
text. Students would correspond with PI on one-to-one basis using
email, telephone or fax, and with the instructor and other members
of the class by listserv.
Level 2. Tutorial and
dynamic - at this level, the course would include the
same basic material and correspondence as above, but would include
web-conferencing and introduce audio discussions selectable by the
student in each lesson, and/or video pictures that students could
select to view if they have the proper computer and monitor.
Level 3. Interactive and
dynamic - at the final level, the second level course
would be expanded to include interactive, real-time "chat-room"
sessions that would include the PI and all students registered for
the course. Eventually, given the rapid development of technology,
this eventually also could include two-way video in addition to
keyboard web chat sessions.
To provide the best minimum learning environment, faculty
should first seek to offer a Level 2 web course and work toward Level
3 web course.
Identify and solve problems and
disincentives in developing and offering a college credit course on
the internet, and write guidelines for use by others
This analysis included, but was not be limited to:
- the use of copyright materials on the internet
- restricting course material access to registered students
- registration and payment procedures
- administering and maintaining the security of
examinations
- establishing interactive sessions between instructor and
registered students establishing sound course marketing strategies
and procedures
- designing attractive course web pages
- determining which web-site software will provide the best site
management and maintenance
- faculty and staff time commitments
- equipment requirements and support needs
- production requirements
Establish a sound program to evaluate the
various delivery strategies
This included, but was not be limited to:
- development of pre- and post-testing instruments
- development of student performance criteria that can be used
to evaluate the six teaching strategies
- develop cost-benefit analysis procedures to evaluate the six
teaching strategies
- decide which potential dependent variables (e.g., age, sex,
academic background etc.) should be included in the performance
evaluation process and devise proper forms to gather that
information
- identification of student traits that lend themselves to
success in one or more of the delivery methods (i.e., some traits
may favor independent study, some classroom Interaction)
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- © Ernest Knowles/NCSU 1997 -
All rights reserved.
- Page maintained by Ernest
Knowles