Internet Based Classes And The Paradox Of "Seat Time" In Graduate Level Engineering Management Classes: Some Proposed Solutions

Can pedagogical techniques developed for Internet courses be integrated to enhance "live" classes, and what impact might this have on the "seat time' requirements of those live classes? Electronic technologies are rapidly altering the nature of university-level classes. These changes challenge accepted standards of what constitutes a "class" and its value as expressed in credit hours. Connect time for an Internet course does not equal seat time when most of the work is done offline and asynchronously. We believe that the arbitrary "seat time" requirement for live classes has lost its utility when the live portion of the class can be appropriately complemented with pedagogical tools developed for Internet courses. Using new teaching tools should permit enhanced student outcomes with less "seat time". We propose an ongoing discussion of the paradox of requiring "seat time" in an era of revolutionary opportunity to enhance pedagogy.