Using Computers to Create a Distributed Department Daniel J Suson Texas Electronic Coalition for Physics Texas A&M University-Kingsville U. Kentucky CCS Spring Seminar Jan. 26, 2005

Funding provided by the Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE), grant number P116B011204

What is a Distributed Department? A distributed department is a structure that is geographically distributed but which performs the same functions of a traditional academic department. A distributed department is a structure that is geographically distributed but which performs the same functions of a traditional academic department.  Maintains advantages of smaller programs  Emulates advantages of larger programs

What is a Small Program? 4 or less faculty members 4 or less faculty members 30 or less majors 30 or less majors graduates 2 or less majors per year graduates 2 or less majors per year has difficulty offering upper division courses for majors has difficulty offering upper division courses for majors often embedded within a larger multidisciplinary program often embedded within a larger multidisciplinary program does not have an associated graduate program does not have an associated graduate program

Examples of Small Programs Philosophy Philosophy English Literature English Literature Physics Physics Mathematics Mathematics Geology Geology Foreign Language Foreign Language

The Texas Electronic Coalition for Physics Originally conceived by Jim McCoy at Tarleton State University in 1992 Originally conceived by Jim McCoy at Tarleton State University in 1992  Made up of three institutions  Only used to teach upper division physics courses Reorganized into a distributed department consisting of five institutions in 2001 Reorganized into a distributed department consisting of five institutions in 2001

Members Tarleton State Tarleton State  Daniel Marble  Michael Hibbs Texas A&M International Texas A&M International  Juan Hinojosa  Quingwen Ni Texas A&M Corpus Christi Texas A&M Corpus Christi  M.K. Balasubramanya Texas A&M Kingsville  Daniel Suson  Lionel Hewett  Paul Cox West Texas A&M  Paul Fisher  David Craig

TECP Sites

Functions of a Distributed Department Shared courses Shared courses Shared governance Shared governance Breadth of expertise Breadth of expertise Shared research opportunities Shared research opportunities Faculty camaraderie Faculty camaraderie Student identification Student identification External recognition External recognition

Electronic Aspects of a Distributed Department Teaching courses Teaching courses Conducting research Conducting research Faculty camaraderie Faculty camaraderie Electronic office Electronic office Administrative support Administrative support External recognition External recognition

Course Management Systems Various systems available Various systems available  WT-Online  WebCT  Blackboard  Moodle  Manhattan Training issues Training issues Course creation problems Course creation problems Student access problems Student access problems Issues with sharing course development Issues with sharing course development

Teaching Lecture Courses Use hybrid approach Use hybrid approach  Internet provides pacing and asynchronous access  Interactive TV provides real-time support for difficult concepts Team development Team development Tests, homework, & quizzes require special handling Tests, homework, & quizzes require special handling Office hours Office hours

TTVN Classroom

Teaching Lessons Learned Comparable to writing a book Comparable to writing a book  Takes considerably more time than allocated  Need web designer support Issues of depth verses breadth Issues of depth verses breadth  Particularly acute in foundation courses  Generate breadth first, then go deeper with successive iterations  Created topic lists for each course

Teaching Laboratory Courses Local experiments Local experiments Team approach Team approach Simulations Simulations Remote data analysis Remote data analysis Remote controlled experiments Remote controlled experiments Field experiments Field experiments

Millikan Oil Drop Simulation

Laboratory Lessons Learned Technical Issues Technical Issues  Firewalls must be synchronized  Bandwidth problems accessing desktop Learner issues Learner issues  Different levels of preparation

Research at a Distance Related to laboratory course development Related to laboratory course development Theoretical easiest to manage Theoretical easiest to manage Computational requires good connectivity at the start Computational requires good connectivity at the start Experimental difficult to manage, but not impossible Experimental difficult to manage, but not impossible Field work not tried Field work not tried Need to ensure that all sites are capable of work Need to ensure that all sites are capable of work

Faculty Camaraderie What does distributed department provide? What does distributed department provide?  Counters isolation  Encourages collaboration How does it accomplish this? How does it accomplish this?  Regular Interactive TV meetings  Face to face meetings  Mailing lists  Other electronic media

Electronic Office Web Portal Web Portal   Public portal for dissemination  Student portal for course access, research opportunities  Faculty portal for sharing coalition documents Student Database Student Database  track students across participating campuses Faculty Development Area Faculty Development Area  disk space available to each faculty member, devoted to course, paper & proposal development.

Administrative Support Scheduling courses Scheduling courses Balancing teaching loads Balancing teaching loads Encouraging interactions Encouraging interactions Working with administrations Working with administrations Tracking students Tracking students Connecting with Alumni Connecting with Alumni Financial considerations Financial considerations Hiring faculty Hiring faculty

External Recognition Computers vital for external recognition Computers vital for external recognition  Provide unified course structure  Replaces physical office with electronic one  Enables faculty cohesion  Provides single “face” for external entities

Future Plans Improvements in Internet bandwidth Improvements in Internet bandwidth  Increase laboratory efficacy  Allows for web-based office hours Expansion of course coverage Expansion of course coverage  Currently have required and elective courses  Need “fun” courses Reaching "critical mass" Reaching "critical mass" The best of both worlds The best of both worlds