Assessment Methods For Virtual Laboratories In Civil Engineering Technology

Old Dominion University has developed an extensive distance learning system that includes 40 remote sites. A majority of the sites are located at community colleges. There are 30 sites in Virginia, three sites in North Carolina, one site in Washington State and one site in Arizona. In addition, there are four sites at Higher Education Centers in Virginia and one site at a local industrial facility. The Civil Engineering Technology curriculum requires three laboratory courses, which are a challenge in the distance learning environment because of the lack of laboratory equipment and computers at the broadcast sites. The three courses include a laboratory in materials testing, a laboratory in soils testing and a laboratory using commercially available structural analysis and design software. In an effort to better evaluate the performance of students in the distant classes in comparison to that of the students in the on-site classes, changes have been implemented for these courses. This paper discusses concerns with this process and provides a summary of our efforts to improve assessment for these courses.