Rutgers University CEUTT Project

• Principle Investigator, Gary A. Gigliotti– Director, Teaching Excellence Center and Professor of Economics

• Learning Outcomes Assessment: Angela O’Donnell– Professor of Educational Psychology

• Cost Assessment: Theodore Hollander,– Professor of Accounting

Instructional Technology Initiative

• Five projects funded in first year: – Life Science Virtual lab– Geography virtual lab– Communications web based course– Spanish web based course– Engineering web based courses

Instructional Technology Initiative

• Five new projects in second year– Human genetics online tutorial– Habitat project in School of Communications– Music online tutorial– Mathematics online instruction– Online language instruction

Learning Outcomes

• Changes in Course Delivery

• Student Use

• Students’ Attitudes towards Technology

• Students’ Attitudes towards Courses

• Student Learning of Course Content

• Co-curricular knowledge

Cost analysis

• One-time costs of design and implementation

• Operating costs per term

• Maintenance and redevelopment costs

• Infrastructure redesign costs

Example 1: Geography

• Course delivery in 3 introductory Courses was changed significantly (total n = 950)

• Students were required to complete online labs as part of course requirements

• Students were positive about their use of the labs and rated the course quality positively in 2 of the 3 courses.

• There were gender differences in attitudes towards the use of the technology with men expressing more positive attitudes than women

Geography (continued)

• Students who accessed the labs early had higher grades in the courses

• Students who were already comfortable with the use of technology signed on earlier

• Scores on online labs were significantly related to final grade

• Students reported they improved their computer skills and use of technology

Example 2: Communications

• The course was delivered differently with students participating in online groups and completing exercises online

• Students reported having little difficulty in accessing the site or using the exercises

• Students were generally positive about their experiences

• Students reported feeling less anonymous in the class as a result of the online groups

Communications (continued)

• Students in web-enhanced courses had slightly higher grades in the courses than when the same instructors taught the course without such enhancements

• 43% of students in one class reported that the exercises increased their understanding and interest in class material

Continuations

• Analysis of remaining projects

• Completing analyses of qualitative data

• Linking usage to outcomes

• Ruling out alternative explanations

• Comparative cost studies