Introducing Distance Education to the Technion: Science and

Engineering Students' Learning Experiences

Miri Barak Rania Hussein Farraj

Yehudit Judy Dori

Introduction

Universities nowadays reach out to students who are employees of organizations and companies by launching distance education (DE) programs.

TIDES - Technion International Distance Education and Studies was established by Prof. Dori, Head of the Division of Continuing Education and External Studies.

TIDES aims at enhancing lifelong learning among graduates engineers and scientist while contributing to their professional development and productivity.

Distance Education (DE) in Higher Education

DE is defined as learning through a variety of technological means, enabling students far away from the teaching place to acquire knowledge as if they were present at the face-to-face (F2F) lessons (Schrum & Ohler, 2005).

DE systems offer learners flexibility; learning can be conducted at the same time - synchronously, or at different times - asynchronously (Berge, 2007).

Universities invest much effort in developing online environments that promote active learning and high order thinking skills (Hussein Farraj, Barak & Dori, 2011).

In the past decade, many universities developed DE programs for attracting and retaining students (Allen & Seaman, 2010; Lee & Pituch, 2006).

However, some studies report that the integration of DE in academia faces a wide range of problems, such as : work overload, intellectual property rights , Interactions with students, etc. (Bonk, et al., 2003; Cuban, et al., 2001).

Whilst higher education institutions have invested substantial resources in DL, their pedagogical advantages as well as their cost-effectiveness are still to be examined.

Distance Education (DE) in Higher Education

Research Goal and Plan

To examine science and engineering students' attitudes about DE and their learning experiences. The research plan included three consecutive stages:

The initial stage which was carried out for the purpose of learning about students' attitudes towards distance learning and investigating the feasibility of establishing DE courses in our university.

The comparative stage which was conducted in order to examine the effect of DE on students' learning experiences. In this stage we compared between two groups of students: those who studied in a regular classroom setting and those who studied from distance via online tools.

The focus stage which led to validation of the quantitative and qualitative findings derived from the second stage and was related to students' learning experiences in a DE setting.

The Moodle system http://www.moodle.com, an open-source web application, was used as the learning environment for both DE and F2F students. Students' Assignments included online discussions, worksheets, and questionnaires. The lectures were videotaped via Panopto system http://www.panopto.com and were broadcasted asynchronously.

Research Settings

Research Participants

The initial stage: 261 science and engineering graduate students answered a survey.

The comparative stage: 105 students participating in two courses: Innovation Management and From Cell to Tissue

Divided into two research groups:

On-campus students (N=70) who studied in a traditional setting

DE students (N=35) who studied in an online setting.

The focus stage: 8 DE students

Video Recordings of F2F Lectures

The Comparative Stage (N=105)

Personal background and demographics Student percentage

DL F2F

Course Innovation Management 63 43

From Cell to Tissue 37 57Gender Male 66 43

Female 34 57Age 20–to-34 years old 55 87

Above 35 years old 45 13Major Engineering 55 75

Science 45 25Veteran in workplace

5 or less 62 81

More than 5 years 38 19

The Focus Stage (N=8)

Veteran in workplace

Position at workplace Workplace Undergraduate

majorAge

group Gender Pseudonyms

5-10 Engineer Pharmaceutical Company Engineering >30

Female

Gefen

1-5 Team leader Pharmaceutical Company Science > 30 Ora

5-10 Team leader Pharmaceutical Company Science >30 Anat

1-5 ManagerHigh-tec.

company (U.S.A) Science > 35 Meril

5-10 Engineer Military industry Science > 25

Male

Yoni

10-15 Manager Engineering company Engineering > 40 Tom

1-5 Engineer Communication company Engineering > 30 Adam

1-5 Manager Engineering company Engineering > 40 Boris

Method and Tools

The Mix Method Research model (Johnston and Onwuegbuzie 2004).

The research tools included:

Pre- and post- online questionnairesConsisted of open- and close ended questions.The 1-to-5 Likert type scale, included 32 items composing Six categories: a) Promoting meaningful learning, b) Techno-pedagogical benefits, c) Social aspects and communication, d) Course quality and students' support, e) Self-efficacy and self-assurance, and f) Work-place and promotion. Adapted from Schrum & Ohler ( 2005), Shin & Chan, (2004); Pituch & Lee (2006), Cronbach's Alpha, was 0.93.

Semi structured interviews Conducted among eight students, audiotaped by Audacity software (http://audacity.sourceforge.net), and lasted about 30 minutes. A researcher diary was used for documenting the interviews and for quality assurance.

Method and Tools

SD Mean(N=261)

Category

0.78 3.40 Meaningful learning0.70 3.74 Technological pedagogical benefits

0.86 2.95 Social aspects and communication0.82 3.06 Course quality and student support

0.82 3.82 Self-efficacy and self-assurance

0.79 3.44 Workplace and promotion

0.64 3.40 Total

Findings: The Initial Stage

Students with previous experience in DE hold statistically significant higher positive attitudes about DE (t (239) = 3.61, p < 0.001).

No statistically significant difference was found between the pre- and post-perception questionnaires mean scores for both research groups.

However, data indicated that DE students asserted higher positive opinions on the course in comparison with their F2F peers.

The DE students asserted statistically significant higher positive opinions about meaningful learning, and self-efficacy and self-assurance (F (1, 74) = 5.37, p<0.05; F (1, 74) = 4.24, p >0.05, respectively).

Findings: The Comparative Stage

Post questionnaire Pre questionnaireN Research

groupSD Mean* SD Mean*

0.49 3.12 0.45 3.22 70 F2F

0.58 3.58 0.64 3.54 35 DE

Findings: The Comparative Stage

The DE female students, in comparison with males, asserted statistically significant higher positive perceptions of DE related to social aspects and communication in the course (F (1, 33) = 4.77, p < 0.05).

It appears that female students were more confident about their ability to communicate with their classmates and lecturers from distance.

Young DE students, ages 20 to 24, asserted statistically significant higher positive perceptions of the quality of the DE courses and the support received from the teaching staff, in comparison with elderly peers (F(1, 33) = 7.89, p(0.05 > .

It may be because younger students are more computer savvy and they feel they do not need much technical support.

Findings: The focus stage The Comparative Stage

Examples Categories ThemesIn DE it is the same level of understanding as learning face to face.

Thinking skillsCognitive and professional

skills

In DE I work with my colleagues through Skype calls, so we talk to the point and learn to build a professional basis. Professional skills

In DE I can concentrate better when learning on my computer.Regulation of cognition

DE requires self-discipline, that I have, and therefore I have no problem to learn from distance. Self -discipline

AffectiveWhen the course team explained to us the method of DE course I was very interested so I decided to participate in this challenging venture. Interest and challenge

DE is a new concept and I wanted to try it. InnovationDE does not lack interaction because you can communicate with the lecturer by Email With lecturer

Social interactionI need to Interact with people. DE does not give the opportunity to participate in

discussion with my peers in a real time. With peers

DE has opened for me the possibility to study the learning materials at times convenient to me. Time management

Resource management

DE allows me to choose the learning environment which is good for me.Environment manage.

DE is an appropriate learning method for me because I like to manage and plan my own learning. Learning management

Findings: The Focus Stage

Summary and Implications

Our findings indicated that although lifelong learning is crucial for the professional development of graduate students, not all of them are able or willing to study from distance.

DE students were more satisfied with their learning compared to the F2F students.

However, DE students are concerned with: their self-determination and self-discipline lack of social interactions with peers while learning from

distance. DE courses can be further improved by encouraging

communication and by enhancing students' social interaction as part of their learning experiences.

THANKS

To Prof. Shulamit Levenberg and Prof. Miriam Erez for taking part in TIDES initiative