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Teaching Undergraduate Mechanics via Distance Learning: A New Experience
Author(s) -
Thiagarajan Ganesh,
Jacobs Carolyn
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of engineering education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.896
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 2168-9830
pISSN - 1069-4730
DOI - 10.1002/j.2168-9830.2001.tb00583.x
Subject(s) - engineering education , distance education , mathematics education , graduate students , statics , engineering , computer science , pedagogy , psychology , engineering management , physics , classical mechanics
The use of distance learning via televised instruction in engineering education dates back to the late 1960's when several universities, including Stanford, began offering engineering graduate courses through this medium. Graduate courses are often relatively small in enrollment, are offered to mature learners, and are generally less sensitive to technical difficulties. Undergraduate education, especially at the sophomore level, is vastly different in this regard. The students are less mature and in many cases have had no introduction to engineering. However, recent technological developments have provided universities with tools to consider undergraduate distance learning seriously. This paper describes the experiences of teaching Statics, the first mechanics course, to two classrooms in the same university simultaneously without a television to view the instructor. This is the first time this has been attempted in the State of Louisiana. The description of the media, the delivery system as well as assessment and outcomes based on statistical analysis of data collected are presented and analyzed in this paper.