Using the Internet as an Aid in Technical Education

1. Using the Internet as an Aid in Technical Education John R. Ebden Seneca College Toronto Canada

2. PANIC • Imagine you are Larry, a student in my class • It’s 2:00 am and there is a quiz on series-parallel circuits at 10:00 am • What do you do for a quick overview? LARRY STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

3. IDEA • I’ll check out the Self Teaching Software my prof gave us LARRY STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

4. ANOTHER IDEA • That was great ! • Now I’ll check the on-line lecture notes LARRY STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

5. MORE IDEAS • We’re really rocking now • Now I’ll test a couple of circuits using the on-line files and my Electronic Workbench Bench software LARRY STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

6. PANIC OVER • This stuff is a breeze • I’ll see how much I know by doing an on-line practice quiz LARRY STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

7. HOW DOES LARRY GET ALL THIS ? • Students in my class have 24 hour access to my web page. • THIS IS THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

8. Class Web Page STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

9. Why use the Internet for Teaching? • Vast amount of material available • saves “re-inventing the wheel” • can easily provide up-to-date information • Reduces communication problems • Both students and faculty can work from home STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

10. Colleges face increasing problems • Problems are a consequence of: • Government cut-backs • Increased student population (urban areas) • Increased interest in electrical/computer areas • Lack of available qualified faculty STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

11. Student Problems: • Large classes • Higher competition • Increased fees • Commuting problems • Juggling school with part-time jobs STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

12. Faculty Problems: • Cut backs in course hours • Teach more courses • Share courses with support staff • Sporadic student attendance • Less time for PD STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

13. Pessimist: • Problems will make life increasingly difficult • carry on as you are and things will get worse • Problems will provide opportunities for growth • use a course web page to help yourself and your students Optimist: STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

14. Using a Web Page for a class provides • A common forum for professor and students • A valuable communication tool • A convenient storage facility for course information • A guided use to the World Wide Web • Access to software STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

15. Helping Factors • Computers get cheaper and more powerful each year • Many students have home computers • Colleges provide server access both on and off campus STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

16. Class Web Page STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

17. Timetable • Links directly to the department server • Timetable changes are updated immediately • Relieves room conflict problems STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

18. Class Web Page STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

19. Course Outline • Essential course information • Schedules for laboratory experiments • Parts and tool lists • College policy on plagiarism, missed tests, etc STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

20. Course Outline STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

21. Class Web Page STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

22. Assignments • List of recommended problems from each chapter • Solutions obtained in .pdf files on a separate page by clicking on appropriate assignment number STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

23. Class Web Page STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

24. Quizzes • Quizzes are basically a tool to ensure student is keeping up with the work • They are an excellent preparation for term tests • Quizzes are made up in more than one form and colour coded. Students with quizzes of similar colour do not sit together. STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

25. Quizzes • Solutions to in-class quizzes are given in a similar as the assignment solutions • Practice quizzes are readily available from: • a test bank of instructor provided problems • publisher web sites STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

26. Class Web Page STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

27. Tests • Information on Lab tests and Term tests is provided on the web page • Solutions are available in a similar manner to that for quizzes and assignments • More than one version of each test is given to avoid students copying in large classes where they are sitting close together STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

28. Class Web Page STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

29. Exam • Information is provided on exam and a recommended study guide • List of practice problems can be viewed or downloaded as excellent practice for the exam STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

30. Class Web Page STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

31. Lecture Notes • Provides topic details with reading references for each class • students missing classes can catch up more easily • less “bugging” the professor • makes good re-run or review of lecture STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

32. Lecture Notes • Following slides are from my devices course • these notes on Diodes were created using Word and imported into Power Point STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

36. Lecture Notes • Following slides are the lecture notes for ETY155 • these have been edited from slides provided by the publisher of the textbook used for the course STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

37. Chapter 7 Series-Parallel Circuits

38. Analysis of Series-Parallel Circuits • To find the currents in the circuit, first redraw the circuit. • Move the source branch all the way to the left. • Reduce the circuit to a series circuit.. STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

39. Analysis of Series-Parallel Circuits • Use the Voltage Divider Rule to determine voltages. • Use Ohm’s Law to determine the currents. • Notice RT = 3 + 6 = 9 k STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

40. Class Web Page STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

41. Discussion Group • Service provided by Netscape in collaboration with Seneca College • Restricted to students in class • Threaded format available • Encourage students to use this and not personal e-mail for related questions • Gives 24 hr access to help both on and off campus STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

42. Class Web Page STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

43. Self Teaching Software • Provides downloadable .exe files for understanding circuits • software used is professionally produced • extensive use of graphics • straight text based software is not appropriate for college students STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

44. Class Web Page STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

45. Electronic Workbench Files • Circuits designed that provide additional learning opportunities: • comparison of a complex circuit and its Thevenin equivalent • loading effect of instruments • Following file corresponds to the series-parallel circuit described earlier • Notice RT = 9 k STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

46. Electronic Workbench Files STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

47. Class Web Page STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

48. Learning Aid Links • Provide convenient listing of web sites for appropriate course topics • resistor colour codes • Kirchoff voltage and current laws • series-parallel circuits STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

49. Class Web Page STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia

50. Links to Publisher Tests • Most publishers provide additional information related to their texts • Usually divided into chapters • summary • tips • quizzes • discussion groups STCEX Conference, Saudi Arabia