In an attempt to bridge a local technology gap, potentially provide software to health care organizations serving the needs of handicapped clients in the Western NY area, and provide innovative and interesting projects for our capstone design classes, the Computer Science and Engineering department at the University at Buffalo (SUNY) began soliciting projects from local organizations in need. The projects have been integrated into required senior-level undergraduate courses. The practical benefits of project experience on student education, and the benefits of providing useful software to the target organizations, were anticipated, but the experiences have proven to be much more. Students have responded with intensity and philanthropy. The clients have participated in the classroom experience as both recipients and teachers. The program has rescued students at academic risk, and the school is enjoying an enhanced reputation in the community. This paper explores positive and cautionary issues regarding the effort.

In an attempt to bridge a local technology gap, potentially provide software to health care organizations serving the needs of handicapped clients in the Western NY area, and provide innovative and interesting projects for our capstone design classes, the Computer Science and Engineering department at the University at Buffalo (SUNY) began soliciting projects from local organizations in need. The projects have been integrated into required senior-level undergraduate courses. The practical benefits of project experience on student education, and the benefits of providing useful software to the target organizations, were anticipated, but the experiences have proven to be much more. Students have responded with intensity and philanthropy. The clients have participated in the classroom experience as both recipients and teachers. The program has rescued students at academic risk, and the school is enjoying an enhanced reputation in the community. This paper explores positive and cautionary issues regarding the effort.

This paper presents the results of a redesign of a large enrollment computer fluency course for non computer science majors. The goals of the redesign were to increase learning and to decrease costs using technology. The paper discusses the motivations and the components of the course redesign. The results show that costs did decrease and that learning did increase in the redesigned course.

The use of off-the-shelf on-line materials presents several challenges. In this session panelists report on their experiences in evaluating, installing and using such materials. Both positive and negative aspects of such use are discussed. The aim of the session is to provide useful information to those considering using (and those already using) on-line materials in their teaching. The session presents information in three mini-presentations, followed by a general discussion session.

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