Challenges of Delivering Undergraduate Engineering Programs to Place-Bound Members of the Technical Work Force

Transcription

1 Challenges of Delivering Undergraduate Engineering Programs to Place-Bound Members of the Technical Work Force Richard Horton, Lee Van Brocklin, and Edwin C. Jones, Jr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Iowa State University Ames, IA Abstract - Engineering educators today are challenged on many fronts. Engineering educators face the need to develop ways to extend engineering education, especially degree programs, to working technical professional people who, because of work and family responsibilities, are place-bound. In large urban areas this challenge has regularly been met by evening and weekend programs. As industry decentralizes, night classes in urban areas become less attractive. Many segments of industry, however, see a major need for education here, and call upon the universities to develop new ways of meeting their educational requirements. The people who are technically employed recognize that in order to maintain their vitality they must continue to learn. The combination of these factors is one of the most significant challenges we face. Though thought to be a rural state, Iowa has a major manufacturing industry.this industry is dispersed. The state has created a network, called the Iowa Communications Network (ICN), that is intended to allow educators to interact across the state via two-way audio/video. The network already links some 500 sites, and the final target is about 800 sites. A statewide fibre-optic network with central switching is the delivery mechanism. The quality of the signals is high. Careful surveys by industries and the Chamber of Commerce in the Cedar Rapids area, a community of about 100,000 people, showed a substantial number of people who are working technical professionals, who are place-bound, who are qualified to study engineering, and who want to earn engineering degrees. The ICN is now being used to deliver the engineering course component of a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree program, via the ICN, to students in Cedar Rapids who meet in an ICN classroom at Kirkwood Community College. These students have been carefully evaluated and have met all appropriate prerequisite materials and courses. They are progressing satisfactorily through the program. The program has become a partnership involving Iowa State University, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids area industry, and the University of Iowa. Expansion is being studied. Many challenges face the engineering education community as we approach the 21st century. Among the most significant challenges is the need to extend baccalaureate level educational opportunities to working technical professionals in industry, whether that industry be concentrated as it is in many large cities, or dispersed as it is in other parts of the country. The phrase working technical professional describes a person who is perhaps years old, has completed some college or university work, is place-bound because of family and work responsibilities, and who is doing technical work in any of a variety of industries. This person believes that, without additional education to the level of a baccalaureate degree in engineering, career advancement is limited, and that in many cases, job security is threatened. Such people exist all across the country. This situation is the result of many pressures, including the decentralization of industry, increasing internationalization, enhanced demands on workers by employers, rising expectations on the part of the workers themselves and their families, and overall societal

2 pressures. Meeting this need requires many techniques and careful attention to a variety of problems. Traditionally, it has been met in large metropolitan areas with evening and weekend programs from colleges of engineering. Such programs continue to flourish, but are not appropriate when industry exists in smaller towns and cities without colleges of engineering nearby. The Iowa Communications Network For a variety of reasons, the State of Iowa has developed a state-wide network linking universities, colleges, community colleges, high schools, hospitals, courthouses, National Guard Armories, libraries, and other public institutions. 1 This network is called the Iowa Communications Network (ICN), and is a fibre-optic network linking some 500 sites (the final goal is 800 sites) with central switching. It had developed to be an effective system in about It provides pointto-point or point-to-multi point connections with full motion two-way video and audio between sites, or among sites when three or more are connected together. The network also provides Internet connections, two-way faxing capability, and control capability. Iowa State University (ISU) has eight classrooms connected to the ICN, two of which are in the College of Engineering complex. Also, ISU has nearly 30 years of experience in delivery of graduate courses by television. Kirkwood Community College (KCC), in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has a long history and outstanding record of delivering distance education courses in eastern Iowa using a variety of methods. At present, ICN legislation prohibits having classrooms on private property, including industrial sites. Cedar Rapids - Marion Area Study In 1992, the Cedar Rapids Chamber Commerce, at the request of many industries in the city, surveyed the working technical professionals in the city, and found more than 500 who fit the definition and who had at least some interest in working toward a baccalaureate degree. At a variety of public meetings, possible ways of meeting this need were explored. We knew the ICN was coming. With additional surveys and meetings, we found by early 1996 about 20 people who were adequately prepared to start engineering course work in Summer 1996, with many more who would be ready in subsequent summers. By being ready, we mean completion of first and second year mathematics, physics, chemistry, English, and our freshman engineering program. Most had credit for the social sciences and humanities courses. The surveys and meetings also indicated a high level of support in community for using the ICN to deliver courses and a degree program. This support is evident in many ways, including willingness to allow flex-time, tuition reimbursement, possible use of industrial facilities for laboratory work, and the cooperation of the community college (KCC). Engineering Programs A typical engineering program today contains semester hours. Approximately half of this consists of engineering and advanced mathematics courses, approximately half consists of mathematics, physics, and other general education components. Virtually all of the latter half is available at most community colleges, so students are expected to take these courses at the local college. Sections are often available in the early morning, late afternoon, evening, or weekends. The Iowa Board of Regents permits transfer of up to 65 semester credit hours from a community college to the university. A student who has completed all or nearly all of the basic and general education courses thus has about semester credits to complete in engineering topics. If a student could take five

3 courses a year (one in summer, two each in fall and spring), then these credits could be completed in four years, though this requires a lot of dedication and hard work. The Iowa State University Plan Such a plan has been implemented. The first course, an introductory course in digital logic and digital systems design, was taught in summer Following courses include a second digital logic design course, two circuits courses, and an advanced mathematics course. The basic electronics course was taught in summer 1997, and two courses will be taught in each of the two semesters of Academic Year Meanwhile, in summer 1997, the sequence started over again.the plan is to have an accelerated design sequence in the summer, and to allow the students to pursue design projects influenced by their work situations, tempered by proprietary considerations. These classes include students on the main campus in Ames as well as those on the remote campus in Cedar Rapids. Instructors can talk to students at either site, and students at either site can ask questions that all hear. A typical class includes students in Ames, in Cedar Rapids. The classes are being taught at times of day that fit the needs of the off campus students, which is a concern to the on campus student. Occasionally the instructor visits the remote site and teaches back to the main campus from there. It is possible that there will be graduates from the program in 2000, though this requires that students keep up this pace for four years. Recognizing that this may be expecting too much, we have structured the program so that it should be possible for a student to take three courses a year and make progress, though at a slower rate. The Partnership This program has four major partners. The first is Iowa State University, the provider of the more advanced courses. ISU has also provided laboratory equipment that was not available locally, and teaching assistants. Another piece of the ISU partnership is the Iowa State Extension Office, located in Cedar Rapids on the KCC campus. Personnel in this office act as the front door of ISU, answering or directing questions, providing meeting space for advising sessions, and handling a lot of paperwork. The second is Kirkwood Community College, a leading institution and one whose faculty and staff are dedicated to making the program work. Kirkwood provides basic and general education courses, the ICN classrooms, laboratories, advising, and computer facilities. The third is composed of Cedar Rapids industry, who provide the students and who support these students in a variety of ways. The students must be convinced that their employers are really behind this effort. The fourth is the University of Iowa, who will in due course contribute courses to this effort. Such courses will be accepted by ISU, and the opportunity to work closely with our colleagues at the University of Iowa has been a surprisingly pleasant spin-off of this project. Lessons Learned Minor problems always arise in ordinary oncampus course delivery. Students have difficulty finding books, supplies, getting computer accounts, finding their instructors, distributing voluminous notes--the list is endless. On campus, the network of students, peers, faculty and staff solves these problems in a very routine fashion. Hardly anyone really notices. It is a different story off campus. We anticipated many of these problems, but not all. We found it necessary to respond quickly to messages and telephone calls indicating unexpected problems. Fortunately, the partnership mentioned earlier made it possible to meet the needs quickly. We found it necessary

4 to be nimble and capable of rapid response, characteristics not normally associated with a university. Teaching undergraduates is different from teaching graduate students at a distance. There is no significant difference in motivation or eagerness to learn between the graduate students and the undergraduates. Even though we have carefully screened and classified students, we find greater variability in the off campus undergraduate population that in the on campus undergraduate population. The best of the off campus students perform at a level equal to or somewhat above the on campus best students. Their overall performance is somewhat higher, and their motivation and sincere dedication really show and affect the on campus students. Few of the off campus students have failed or withdrawn from a class, but they have found the courses to be major challenges because of variability in their backgrounds. It appears that many students should only enroll in one class a semester, not the two as planned. We will encourage this as appropriate. The ICN classrooms have the video equipment, and they also have computers and other technological aids to instruction. This equipment gives the instructor the capability to enhance instruction by using computational equipment and demonstrations that simply are not possible in the ordinary classroom. The in-band fax capability allows last minute transmission of a few pages of notes to the off campus student. We have found that evaluations of potential students are critical. They take time and must be done on an individual basis. Transcripts must be available. The age of courses and possibility of unexercised study skills must be considered. Not all of the students presently have WWW access from their homes and/or workplaces, though they do have it at Kirkwood. This has inhibited use of the web for such distribution, but as this capability increases, web distribution will become more popular and effective. The Future We are encouraged by what has been possible so far. We are meeting a need in a state that is predominately rural or small town. We are fortunate in having a technologically advanced and sophisticated distribution system. The project has attracted attention around the state, and we have visited industries and community colleges in more than six communities. While the numbers there are smaller, it may be possible to aggregate the students in order to achieve a critical mass of students. The design of the ICN permits such aggregation. We have learned recently of an interesting and surprising characteristic of Iowa s population, and this may be true in nearby states as well. 2 Iowa has one of the highest proportions in the USA of its population to have completed high school. Nationally, it ranks in about the middle when the proportion of its population with two years of college or university (including Associate degrees) is considered. When four-year degrees are considered, the ranking is relatively low. Thus, the need for the program is clear, and the technology exists. We believe that this program will raise the educational qualifications of our people, and be an important factor in development within the state. Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge that many others have contributed to this project, and wish to thank them and their colleagues. They include Carla Knutson, former Manager of Education and Training at Collins Division of Rockwell International, Norman Nielson, President, Kirkwood Community College, James Melsa, Dean of Engineering at Iowa State University, Ted Okiishi, Associate Dean of Engineering at Iowa State University, Susan Mims, pre-engineering coordinator at Kirkwood Community College, Wendell

5 Maakestad, Director of Distance Learning at Kirkwood Community College, our faculty colleagues in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and both Linda Bostwick and Donna Wagner, at the ISU Outreach Center in Cedar Rapids. References 1. M. Simonson, Session Chair and Organizer. Distance Learning: The Iowa Model. Session 7b4, Proceedings, 26th Annual Frontiers in Education Conference, 1996, Salt Lake City. 2. Fulfilling the Promise: A Strategic Plan for Off Campus Credit Programming by the Iowa Regents Universities, available at