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Learn about the creation of on-line graduate engineering degree programs at the University of New Mexico, the challenges faced, benefits realized, and strategies implemented in providing remote learning opportunities.
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Creating On-line Graduate Engineering Degrees at the University of New Mexico G.L. Heileman1, C.T. Abdallah1, W. Shu1, C. Christdoulou1, D. Knotts2 1Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering New Media & Extended Learning University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Introduction In this talk we describe the motivation, strategies, implementation details, and challenges associated with the creation of on-line graduate-level degree programs in the ECE department at the University of New Mexico.
Background • New Mexico is one of the largest but least populated states in the US. • Widely dispersed population centers, some highly technical, e.g., Los Alamos. • University of New Mexico (UNM) has a long history of attempting to service these remote students.
Background • Distance Education at UNM: • 1920s, Correspondence courses offered. • 1980s, Instructional television offered statewide, and degree-granting distance education programs. • 1997, First on-line course offered. • 1999, Extended University dept. created • 2000, WebCT adopted as university-wide learning management system. • 2001-2005, on-line offerings grow from 17 to 124 courses, many of them in the ECE dept.
Background • The ECE department has played a leading role in the use of technology for distance education. • Goal: creation of a completely on-line M.S. degree in the ECE dept. • We expected the typical benefits associated with distance education, but a number of additional benefits emerged, and are discussed next.
Benefits • Students often sign up for on-line sections of a class, yet primarily attend the in-class sections. • Flexibility - many of our students work full-time and miss classes due to travel. This allows them to use the on-line section to “make up” missed classes. • This was also possible through instruction television, but not nearly as convenient.
Benefits • UNM LMS has allowed faculty to develop and teach courses from remote locations, e.g., • While off-site during the summer months. • While on sabbatical in Europe. • This activity is synergistic with the development of international programs. • These types of courses have made it practical to implement dual-degree programs with Jiao Tong Univ. (China) and Campinas (Brazil). • Some of the coursework requirements can now be satisfied at the home institution, thus lessening the travel burden.
Benefits • Increasingly we see students “window shop” through our on-line offering. • Students can try out courses in the dept. before committing to pursuing a graduate degree. • This also addresses competition, as many nationwide on-line universities are now competing for our students.
Challenges - Students • High drop-out rate. Less rigid => Students often underestimate the time commitment. • Other problems typical of these types of programs: • Difficulty in developing personal relationships. • Trust environment necessary for exams.
Challenges - Faculty • Biggest issue is workload. • We must continue to offer in-class sections. • Thus, on-line offerings imply additional work. • Currently UNM provides extra compensation (financial incentive) to faculty for developing on-line coursewares. This is critical!
Challenges - Faculty • Many faculty also underestimate the time commitment associated with developing on-line coursewares. • Department policy - encourage courses to first be taught as web-enchaned before going on-line. • Web-enhanced means a traditional course that makes use of LMS technology as some part of the course.
Challenges - Technology • Asynchronous nature of the technology: • Answers to questions are not immediate. • Adjustments to pace of course and volume of materials is more difficult. • As bandwidth becomes more available, live lectures, or at least live Q&A sessions will be possible. • This may create the “tipping point”.
Challenges - Technology • Some courses are more difficult to implement on-line, as they have a more synchronous style. • E.g., our graduate seminar series. • Required of all graduate students. • Seminars will be captured on video. • In-class students are told they have the burden of asking questions the on-line students may think of.
Challenges - Technology • Laboratory courses have similar difficulties. • We have offered these courses with weekend lab sections - students travel from nearby cities. • We are experimenting with LabView to simulate some of the experiments, and with the ability to control laboratory equipment remotely.
Summary • Our on-line course offering have grown dramatically over the past 5 years. • It is now possible for remote students to take all of the graduate core courses in certain emphasis areas on-line. • The offerings outside of the core courses are sparse - and this is what currently limits our goal. • International students can satisfy certain UNM course requirements on-line while working at their home institution.
