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Evaluation strategies

This study is about :An Evaluation of Two Courses for Graduate-Level ProfessorsDesigned to Improve Academic Internet Use in Research and Teaching

Study by: Anise A. G. D'O. FERREIRA <anise@mailmac.macbbs.com.br>Catholic University of São PauloBrazil

Abstract

This paper discusses insights gained from the author's experience in planning and teaching twocourses aimed at improving academic Internet use in research and teaching by college teachers, professionals, and master's degree candidates. The courses involved different educationalstrategies. The first one had prescriptive goals and tasks; the second had a content-based, goal-oriented activity, in which certain abilities, subgoals, and knowledge were implicitly required.The evaluation of both courses was based on students' effective engagement in course activities,measured by class attendance, dropout rate, students' reports, interaction, and performanceobservations in both online and in-class activities. The results highlighted three importantinfluences on learning: institutional infrastructure and policies for faculty and graduate studentimprovement, students' previous experience (e.g., proficiency in English reading or computer use), and motivational engagement, which can be ascribed to a participatory and constructivelearning environment at the cost of more time-consuming interaction among participants andwith the instructor. This paper raises questions about institutional policies for faculty training,theoretical and methodological issues in motivational aspects of the learning environment,implications for future online courses, and their evaluation.

First course

The first course had strategies that were based upon behavioral goals and tasks related to projected learner needs. The strategies had activities organized in units of knowledge. Theseunits involved lectures and practice exercises. There was some flexibility in the practice sessions,since the content target of tasks had to be related to the participants' main area of interest and the pace of performance had to be based on their competence in computer use. The instructor wasavailable to give in-class guidance and feedback during practice sessions. Pedagogically, thisteaching plan reflects, in part, some of the behaviorist principles of educational methodology,such as previous specification of goals and tasks in sequential steps, and the belief that theeducator can control and predict required learningAt the end of the course, the participants would be expected to:

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know the types of Internet connection and access;

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use Internet communication and information service clients;

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access a remote computer using telnet, file transfer protocol (FTP), gopher,and World Wide Web (WWW);

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communicate using e-mail;

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subscribe to and participate in academic e-conferences;

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send and receive files through e-mail and ftp;

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search and analyze relevant academic material in databases and availableinformation services on the Internet; and

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draft an educational or research project using the Internet as a tool.

In order to attain the objectives, the participants were expected to:

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attend lectures and demonstrations;

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accomplish assignments: four blocks of exercises, working in pairs in thelaboratory, which had to be turned in by e-mail or in printed form, directly tothe instructor, every other week;

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answer a questionnaire; and

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turn in a final individual paper related to the last block of exercises.

Participants

Enrolled in the course were 30 male and female adults, consisting of faculty members (part-timecollege professors), invited coordinators, invited librarians, and administrative employees. Thisgroup was heterogeneous in academic level, English language proficiency, professional interests,and familiarity with both microcomputers and the Internet. The department of technologicaldevelopment wanted this opportunity to reach the greatest possible number of people.

Internet access and the available infrastructure

The lectures were offered in a classroom in which a microcomputer (personal computer; PC)directly accessed the Internet through a 64 Kb line connecting to the Internet service provider (ISP).This microcomputer was a Pentium PC (133 MHz, 32 MB RAM, 1 MB Video RAM)equipped with CD-ROM drive and multimedia resources, running Win95 and the necessaryInternet clients. A datashow was used to project the Microsoft PowerPoint slides and Internetapplications during explanations of their features and academic usage. Since the connection wasneither fast nor stable, the instructor sometimes had to present the material off-line.The institution provided Internet access on campus via direct connection, since it was not able to provide an off campus dial-up service. An Internet laboratory, with 40 identically configured PCs(without multimedia resources), was available for students who wanted to practice in theafternoons. However, they preferred to use the equipment available in the teachers' room, whichwas equally slow and nonstable but offered more privacy.The invited coordinators, librarians, and administrative employees had microcomputers in their offices with direct or dial-up connections to the Internet. Since those connections were not stable,and some machines had maintenance problems, some preferred to use their personal equipmentand connections at home.

Procedure

The participants were given printed material that contained:

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course objectives;

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activity descriptions and accomplishment expectations; and

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copies of two Web pages (printed with URL [uniform resource locator]addresses) built specially to provide initial references for navigation in WWW,tutorial addresses, and software.

The course was divided into sessions and assignments:

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Eight weekly, one-and-a-half hour lecture classes conducted by the instructorfor the entire group.

The content of the lecture sessions, based on introductory material(PowerPoint slides) freely distributed by The included:

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Networking, the Internet, and the Internet in Brazil

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Types of Internet access and accounts; software and hardwarerequired

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Internet clients: WWW, e-mail, ftp, telnet, chat

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Information and communication tools and services

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Characteristics of Internet addresses

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Client server model

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Strategies of using information and communication services

Demonstrations, tips, and explanations were provided during thelecture classes, through online access whenever possible.

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Weekly two-hour (minimum) practice sessions for individual or pair work,tutored by the instructor

The practice sessions were guided by assignments, four blocks of exercises with answer forms. Here are some examples of exerciseitems:

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week 1 exercise: "Visit the information services listed in the Webpage "x" (the one printed) and select an item of informationamong those which most interested you. Justify."

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week 3 exercise: "Select two academic lists and subscribe tothem; then, write down a) the address of the respective listservers and the list addresses; b) their institutions whichmaintain these lists; c) the weekly volume of information; and d)some characteristics of the communication in these lists."

Also, the participants had to answer two questionnaires: one after thesecond week, and the other after the sixth week. Here are examples of questions:

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from the first questionnaire: "What is the configuration of thecomputer you are using in terms of hardware and software; arethere communication software and hardware?"

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from the second questionnaire: "What do you do to find an e-mail address?" "What do you do to subscribe to a list and toparticipate in a discussion group?"