Assessing Quality Issues in Interactive Video Teleconferencing‐based Graduate Level Engineering Courses

Abstract

The continuing education of engineering professionals has been an important objective of the University of Pittsburgh's Manufacturing Systems Engineering Program (MSEP) since its inception in 1987. Making relevant graduate-level programs accessible to the population of engineering professionals separated from traditional university communities has been the object of much effort for more than three decades. The distance education tool of interactive video teleconferencing over the public telephone network has recently become a viable method for extending the university environment to these remote students. This paper considers the context and analysis of student reactions and attitudes toward MSEP graduate-level courses delivered to the University's regional campus at Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Since the fall of 1994, MSEP has offered these courses using offthe-shelf interactive video teleconferencing systems over the public switched digital network. Issues that may affect the perceived quality of these programs (e.g., in the areas of audio communication quality, instructional strategies, course materials distribution, and course offerings) are identified and discussed.

An Interactive, Video‐Teleconferenced, Graduate Course in Biomedical Engineering

“…The fact that the off-campus students gave higher (average scores 4.4 compared to 3.9 for off-and on-campus students, respectively) scores to this question implies that they used handouts more extensively than on-campus students. In this manner, the present study confirms previous reports stressing the importance of additional handouts to enhance the learning process of remote-students [15].…”

“…For the study, off-campus students even expressed pressure to preview course notes before and pay close attention during the lecture because they knew the instructor would stimulate conversation during the class period. This confirms the importance of distributing course materials to students at remote sites prior to each lecture [15]. Off-campus students did not possess such pressure during the control distance learning experience.…”

“…As supported by other studies [2,4,5,15,17], the present study demonstrated that the interactive environment of the class sessions and the ability of students at the remote-sites to participate actively in the learning experience, rather than passively observing the lectures on a television monitor, is the critical element in improved performance of the off-campus students.…”

“…Students commented that this exercise gave them an opportunity to ask questions and interact with students from the other campus. As mentioned by other studies, establishing communication between off-and on-campus students is important towards creating an environment in which off-campus students feel they are part of the on-campus classroom learning environment [15].…”

Evaluating The Effectiveness And Use Of Cyber Learning Environments In Engineering Education: A Qualitative Analysis

“…(1) usefulness, convenience, and value 28 ; (2) convenience and communication 29 ; and (3) higher overall course ratings 30,32,33 . However, technical problems associated with the delivery mechanism could have a negative effect on student learning.…”