ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland Implementation of E-Learning in Engineering Education: Evaluation of Students Skills and Learning Approaches James O. Uhomoibhi Faculty of Engineering, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, UNITED KINGDOM

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland Presentation Layout Progress and challenges facing e-learning implementation Models for implementation Students study skills and learning approaches Reasons for course uptake, preference for lecture styles and assessment types Communication and students engagement with study Correlation of measured parameters with students final performance

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland E-Learning has added advantages in engineering education. They include flexibility, convenience, content precision and the automatic assessment of student performances. Has made possible the attraction of students to both the traditional and lifelong learning for both educational institutions and internet based companies organisations for purposes of employee/customer training and adult education. Availability of interactive virtual classrooms and laboratory- based systems Virtual universities, benefits and trends in administration and operation issues. E-Learning in Engineering Education

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland Institutional VLE - WebCT VLE/MLE, an all in one teaching and learning software package which combines functions as discussion boards, chat rooms, online assessment, tracking of students’ use of the web and course administration, and acts as any other learning environment by distributing information to learners. WebCT is UU’s institutional VLE. It offers a wide range of products and services for high level educations. Some of the tools and functions of the system – Administrator, assignments, calendar, chat, languages tool, mail, manage students, quiz and survey etc. All of these are available on different operating systems and hardware platforms.

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland E-Learning Strategies and Models Two separate strategies advocate two models for the implementation of e-learning – instructive and constructive models Instructive model - simulates the instructor task in the classroom and the learner is guided through a step-by-step process towards the targeted course objectives. Instructor- centred with limited interaction. Constructive model - allows learners to own knowledge following possibly different learning paths based on their level and the background disparities. Tailors learning to the continuously modified individual learner’s requirements, abilities, preferences, interests and skills. Learner-centred with lots of interactions.

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland E-Learning Challenges and Quality E-Learning has fostered the distribution of educational opportunities to many remote corners of the globe. The challenge is in building a cost effective learning infrastructure to enable anytime, anywhere, self-paced and interactive learning The society of today sees people changing careers and relocating several times throughout their lives. This calls for radical changes to traditional context of learning for adaptation. In the face of increasing portability and flexibility of learning methods, it is important that e-learning provides better courseware and a more accurate control of education quality.

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland Students Studying Skills and Learning Approaches: Reasons for studying Distribution of student numbers in response to reasons for studying in relation to employment and personal developments

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland Students Learning and Studying Approaches I Learners’ organization and time management ability

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland Students Learning and Studying Approaches II Individual learner’s view on flexibility, interest and independency

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland Students Learning and Studying Approaches III Learners’ consistency, application to study and reflective practice

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland Students Preferred Lecture Types, Assessment Styles and Courses E-Learning has positive influence on aspects of students individualization, mobility and motivation Students learning success depends on careful embedding of ICT into specified and well developed curriculum Students preference for types of lectures, assessment and courses

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland Learner Activity Measurements and Module Engagement Our work seeks the embedding of most of the intelligence obtained from adapting learning strategies to learner profile into the learning process. We use tracking results from two modules in our course to evaluate the level of students engagement with learning –One of them deals with curriculum and communications and is referred to as module A while the other deals with interactive technologies and is referred to as module B

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland Analysis of Results We use the correlation test for determining the significance of correlation between students’ level of engagement and final grades obtained by individuals in each of the modules. We obtained data on number of articles read per week and the number of mail and postal exchanges per week using tracking tools in WebCT. Also obtained were students final marks at the end of the module.

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland Measurement of Correlation We calculated the spearman correlation coefficient, r, between these measurements and used the correlation analysis method to measure of the extent to which the measurement variables “vary together.” Each pair of measurements were examined to see if they were in any way correlated to the final marks obtained by students. In the case where large values of one variable tend to be associated with large values of the other there is positive correlation. If small values of one variable tend to be associated with large values of the other it is negative correlation. But where the values of both variables tend to be unrelated the correlation would be near zero).

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland Results: Students engagements with learning and Final Performance Learners activities and final module marks for those who completed the curriculum and communications module (A) and the interactive technologies module (B) A B

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland Measured Correlation Values Correlation coefficient values for modules A and B for learners activities measured against final assessment marks Both modules show positive correlation between learner activities and final students performance. The values are stronger for module A This work is being extended to other modules to investigate empirical relationship where they may exist

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland Engineering E-Learning and Curriculum Development Availability of networked computers and recent advancements in telecommunications have made e-learning a useful medium for networked-enabled transfer of skills, information and knowledge in various areas of engineering education. Effective, more independent and active online learning must be encouraged. This is achievable through good design of courses, which involves filtering out poor information, signposting key information sources and encouraging interaction.

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland E-Learning and the Future Learning and teaching in engineering are fast adapting to the demands of modern world. Increasing lifelong learning requires greater flexibility in when courses can be started, where they can be taken and how long they last. E-Learning provides such flexibility where programmes of study involving modular learning packages are made available, allowing learners to sign up to manageable chunks of learning In future, standard formats for platform, content and appropriate assessment would have to be developed for enhanced teaching and learning experience

ICEE 2005 July 25-29, Gliwice, Poland Conclusion We have examined study skills and learning approaches of students involved in online engineering education. Our study shows positive correlation between students learning activities, that is, their level of engagement with learning and final performance. Creative learning design and increased learning activities have significant positive impact on students performance and on successful implementation of e-learning. There is growing demand for e-learning and an increase in shift from tutor-centred to learner-centred approach to engineering education. Rapid progress in the development of a number of enabling technologies and further research in highlighted aspects of e-learning could be explored and exploited for enhanced engineering education.