The College of Engineering at the University of Cincinnati has evaluated the use of instructional technologies to improve the learning process for students in fundamental engineering science courses. The goal of this effort was to both retain more students in engineering programs and improve student performance through appropriate use of technology. Four modes of instruction were used to teach an engineering fundamentals course in statics. A traditional instructor-led course, a Web-assisted course, a streaming media course, and an interactive video course were all presented using a common syllabus, homework, tests, and grading regimen. Evaluations of final course grades indicate that use of instructional technology improved student performance when compared with traditional teaching methods. Student satisfaction with technology varied considerably with the Webassisted format having the highest student approval rating of the technologies. The results indicate that time on task and interest in content can be improved through the appropriate use of technology.

This presentation will share the findings of a three-year study at the University of Cincinnati on the effects of using technology on student learning in two basic engineering courses. We will compare our results to existing data on engineering students and practicing engineers, as well as discuss whether techno logy affected performance among various groups. Findings may clarify whether the learning by students of a particular learning style and personality preference is enhanced by specific technologies and may indicate ways in which teaching and learning can be improved. Although many engineering colleges are beginning to use the Internet and Worldwide Web to enhance routine classroom instruction, very little has been done to match the use of new technologies to the learning styles of students. In this study we want to see if it is possible to match the use of new teaching technologies and student performance with learning styles. We use "learning style" to describe the phenomenon of how students learn. In this study, three different technologies were used: Streaming Video, Web-based and Interactive Video which was evaluated separately at the originating and receiving sites, resulting in four separate categories. A standard lecture section was used as the control group. Faculty worked together as a team to select common texts, develop common syllabi and block final exams resulting in standardized materials and grading. To identify learning style, the project team selected two well-known instruments: the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (LSI). Both inventories were administered to students in all sections of Mechanics I and later in all sections of Basic Strength of Materials at the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering starting in the fall of 1999. In addition, two sections of Mechanics I at Wright State University also participated in the first year of the study. Results to be reported are based on data from a sample of more than 400 students. Preliminary indications are that the use of streaming video and interactive video may improve student performance among personality preferences and learning styles that are less common among students in most engineering classes.

The paper describes the initial efforts of a project to evaluate the impact of various instructional technologies on student learning, and to determine if there is a correlation between learning styles of individual students and the efficacy of specific instructional technologies. The project will use basic engineering science courses (Engineering Mechanics and Basic Strength of Materials) as a platform for evaluating the technologies and their impact on learning. Both courses include multiple sections with rather large student populations. The project is being conducted in the College of Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, in cooperation with Wright State University, with support from the GE Fund.

Engineering technology technical courses often have both lecture and accompanying laboratory sessions. The laboratory assignments reinforce the understanding of the topics studied during the lecture sessions. A planning grant was awarded from the National Science Foundation through their Bridges for Engineering Education Program to develop technology-enabled content in engineering science courses. Content was developed to appeal to a variety of learning styles and to support student-centered learning. This paper will describe the content development and delivery and discuss the impact it had on engineering technology education. Course / Content DevelopmentContent was developed to support a course in Flexible Automation offered in the College of Applied Science. The content was developed collaboratively among educational technology experts in the College of Engineering, faculty from the College of Applied Science, and experts in instructional design in the College of Education. The project sought to develop content that would appeal to a variety of student learning styles and thus better engage the students in the learning process 1 . The various modes of instruction developed during the project were categorized as: