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Contrasting aspects of university instructor/student e‐mail usage in teaching activities
Author(s) -
ElSabban Farouk
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.741.3
Subject(s) - syllabus , computer science , laptop , electronic mail , medical education , psychology , mathematics education , world wide web , medicine , operating system
Use of e‐mail is very common in every day life of many people, among which are those in the academic community. University students and instructors are proficient users of e‐mail and this aspect can prove beneficial in teaching activities and in cross communication. Data presented herein are based on 5 years of experience in using e‐mail in teaching science and non‐science courses at the College for Women, Kuwait University. The course instructor sets a separate e‐mail account for each course being taught with an easy password for students to open. Its main purpose is for the instructor to disseminate relevant course information, materials and announcements. Students are advised clearly not to use this e‐mail for communicating with the course instructor or for their own personal purposes, but use their personal e‐mail accounts to communicate with the course instructor – to avoid intersecting messages. Preliminary analysis of e‐mail messages show that main usage by instructor was to sent (%): handouts and syllabi (32), assignment‐related (25), reminders and notices (20), materials of interest (13). In contrast, received messages from students revealed that they were (%): assignment‐related (41), and other than about assignments (59). Assignment‐related messages from students were about (%): requesting postponement of deadline for assignment submission (39), sending assignments as attachments to messages (35), apology for late submission of assignments (17), and inquiries about assignments (9). Based on the instructor's experience, e‐mail usage in teaching achieved a satisfactory level and is encouraged. Also, its benefits and effectiveness are to be assessed through well‐planned studies that can enrich the emerging relevant literature.