Development of Nanotechnology Concentration for an On-line BSEET Degree Sohail Anwar Pennsylvania State University Jane LeClair and Arnie Peskin Excelsior College Abstract The term nanotechnology covers processes that are associated with the creation and utilization of structures in the 1 nanometer (nm) range. The emerging field of nanotechnology is leading to a technological revolution during this millennium. Realizing the need for providing nanotechnology education and training to technical workforce, Excelsior College, a leader in the field of alternative higher education has recently embarked upon a plan to develop and implement a nanotechnology concentration within its on-line 4-year Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology Program (BSEET). As a part of this degree, students will have the option of a 15 credit- hour concentration in electronics, power systems, or nanotechnology. Five on-line undergraduate nanotechnology courses will constitute the nanotechnology concentration within the Excelsior College BSEET Program. Two of these courses have already been developed. Remaining three courses will be developed in near future. This manuscript describes the development of nanotechnology concentration within the on-line BSEET Program offered by Excelsior College. The manuscript discusses several issues to be dealt with during the development of above mentioned on-line nanotechnology concentration and provides information regarding the on-line curriculum development strategy Excelsior College will use to address the above mentioned issues. The manuscript also describes the innovative on-line/web-based course development model used by Excelsior College. This course model combines virtual reality, graphics, text, and sound. The model features multidisciplinary perspective and is designed specifically to meet the learning needs of working adults. Background Nanotechnology is the creation of functional materials, devices, and systems through control of matter on the nanometer length scale and the exploitation of novel properties and phenomena developed at that scale. Nanotechnology holds singular promise to revolutionize science, engineering, and technology. It already has significant impact in countless industries including communications, medicine, environmental cleanup, agriculture, and more. Innovative materials, components, and systems based on nanotechnologies are recognized as promising growth innovators for the years to come. It is expected that eventually nanotechnologies will merge into a nanotechnology cluster offering a complete range of functionalities in formation, energy, construction, environmental, and biomedical domains [1].
Nanotechnology as a unified discipline has started receiving much attention after the establishment of National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) in early 2000. This major initiative resulted in significant funding for research in nanoscience and technology in the USA through a number of government agencies led by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF has also helped establishing nano science and engineering research centers at several universities across the USA [2]. The university-based research is now generating significant intellectual property (IP) which is the basis for new startup ventures. In addition, many well established large, medium, and small companies are actively engaged in nanotechnology research and development. The numerous developments in the emerging field of nanotechnology and the potential for future point out to a need for educating future technical workforce in nano science and technology. It is necessary that science and technology graduates develop a good understanding of this rapidly developing technology. They should be able to integrate the key concepts of nanotechnology into their knowledge bases. Academic programs in nanotechnology should be interdisciplinary in nature and need to include several academic disciplines such as materials science, chemistry, biology, physics, and electronics. Realizing the need for providing nanotechnology education and training at undergraduate level to technicians and engineering technologists, Excelsior College, a well known distance learning higher education institution, has recently started developing a nanotechnology concentration within its on-line Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology Program (BSEET). Students will have the option of a 15 credit-hour concentration in either electronics, power systems, or nanotechnology. In the nanotechnology concentration, students will be required to complete five on-line 3 credit-hour upper division courses. Two of them will include on-line labs. Excelsior College s BSEET nanotechnology concentration will address the shortage of skilled workforce in the emerging field of nanotechnology by providing education and training at the undergraduate level to technicians and engineering technologist members of the nanotech skills spectrum. This concentration will be geared to the training needs of adult learners and it will feature distance delivery of courses including laboratories, in addition to the opportunities for assessment of the current level of a student s proficiency for the purpose of awarding course credit. Introduction With the advancement of Internet, on-line instruction is becoming popular in engineering education [3]. Traditional and non-traditional colleges and universities are now using a variety of instruction tools to deliver on-line instruction to their students. Web CT is an on-line tool that facilitates the development of web-based educational environments. In the case of Excelsior College, the instruction delivery is achieved primarily through the use of Web CT distance learning tool. The key features of WebCT are listed in [4] and [5].
The curriculum for Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology (with concentrations in electronics, power systems, and nanotechnology) being developed by Excelsior College is presented in Figure 1. Figure 1: Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology Program with Nanotechnology Concentration This undergraduate degree program requires 124 semester hours of credit including 60 credit hours in Arts and Sciences. As mentioned before, the planned nanotechnology concentration comprises five on-line upper level undergraduate courses which include: Introduction to Nanotechnology Basic Nanofabrication Process Nanotechnology Process Equipment Introduction to Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)
The key advantage of offering on-line nanotechnology courses will be a virtual classroom that is available anywhere: at school, at work, at home, or even on a trip. In addition to the geographic and temporal independence, the on-line nanotechnology courses being developed by Excelsior College will be of significant help in enhancing the communication skills of students. The students taking these courses will be able to communicate both synchronously and asynchronously using web-based electronic mail, chat rooms, and electronic whiteboards. Development of On-line Nanotechnology Courses At Excelsior College, the on-line instruction in nanotechnology is being phased in gradually. At present, two on-line nanotechnology courses have been developed. The first one, titled Introduction to Nanotechnology was developed during Spring 2008. This on-line course was offered to the Excelsior College Engineering Technology students during Fall 2008 semester. The second on-line course titled Basic Nanofabrication Processes was developed during summer 2009 and will be offered during Spring 2010. Pending sufficient students interest in the nanotechnology concentration, three additional on-line nanotechnology courses will be developed and offered during the 2010 and 2011. The first on-line nanotechnology core course which was developed at Excelsior College is titled Introduction to Nanotechnology. It is a 3 credit-hour on-line lecture course. It does not have a lab component. The course is offered at the junior level of a 4-year undergraduate degree. The topical coverage for this course consists of: Manipulation of Materials at Nanoscale Carbon Nanotubes Semiconductor Quantum Dots Nanoparticles Nanoshells Nanobiology Applications Nanosensors Applications Nanomedicines Molecular Nanomachines Upon completion of this course, students should be able to: 1. Given a knowledge of the nanotechnology fundamentals, describe the key applications of nanotechnology in biology, medicine, energy, environment, electronics, and sensor technology. 2. Given a knowledge of the material properties at nanoscale, explain the basic concepts of nanotechnology such as nanomaterials, nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, and semi conductor quantum dots.
3. Given the requirements for investigating materials at nanoscale, describe the experimental tools used in nanotechnology to analyze nanostructures and nanodevices. 4. Given the knowledge of experimental tools and processes, apply techniques for the measurement of nanostructure properties. Given the socio-economic context, explain the societal implications of nanotechnology. Since this is an on-line course, all the students are required to have access to the following computing resources: A reasonably up-to-date personal computer that runs Windows 98 or later. Availability to MS-Office, especially Word Capability to open and display PDF files A working and reliable internet connection with a current Web Browser. The second on-line nanotechnology course developed at Excelsior College is titled Introduction to Nanofabrication Processes (ELEC 310). This 4 credit-hour course provides an introduction and basic understanding of the fundamental principles of nanofabrication processes used in industrial and research applications of nanotechnology. This course describes the industrial scaling of nanofabrication techniques and showcases examples of specific industrial applications in electronics, photonics, chemistry, biology, medicine, defense, and energy. The course descriptions for the other three courses included in the on-line concentration within the BSEET Degree Program are as follows: Nanotechnology Process Equipment Covers basic vacuum systems including pumping methods, pressure measurement, gas analysis, and leak detection and plasma-aided manufacturing including RF power delivery, plasma physics, and process monitoring techniques. Alto covers basic pneumatic systems including actuators, control elements, and system qualification. Introduction to Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology Provides an introduction to the fundamentals of Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology. Students will study the Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology (NMT) industry and learn applications in MEMS, Bionanofab Technology, and Nanochemical Technology. Students will become familiar with the basic concepts of NMT including atoms, nano-particles, tubes and rods, semiconductors, transistors, and integrated circuits. This course will be available to all the engineering technology majors at Excelsior College. MEMS Covers the applications of MEMS, e.g. sensors, microfluidics, bio-mems, among others. Includes bulk micromachining and packaging. As mentioned before, the nanotechnology concentration within the Excelsior College s BSEET Degree Program will be gradually phased in. At present, the two nanotechnology courses which have already been developed do not have an on-line lab component. However, courses titled Introduction to Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology and MEMS will include lab
components. The development of an on-line lab component for each one of these courses will definitely pose a course development challenge. The lab experiences in these two courses will be provided through use of on-line simulation techniques. One of the web-based resources to be used for providing on-line lab experiences is the Nanohub website which offers free lab simulations to be used by students. Course Format The Excelsior College s Standard Template for on-line courses will be used to develop the online nanotechnology course. The first page of any course is considered the Homepage. It is basically the controller for the course that students will use. There are 2 sections of the Homepage. The section to the left is called the Course Menu and the section to the right is the Course Homepage. The course homepage gives the student the title of the course. The course homepage is condensed to as little number of course icons as possible. By limiting the modules on the homepage, the instructor/faculty can use the selective release feature. This feature allows instructors to open up sections of the course at different times. For example, the instructor may want to allow the students to view the course information and calendar, but block the actual tools and course data. By using the selective release function, they can. By limiting the number of icons on the homepage, one makes this administration more efficient. It also give students an easier way to navigate their course. The icons that art made available on the homepage are as follows: Information about this course (or Course Information) Course Content modules Course Tools (Includes glossary as well) Calendar (All deadlines and due dates included) Student Tips In addition to the above icons, announcements and messages can be posted in the upper and/or lower text block on the homepage. Under the course information, following items are included: Welcome Course Introduction (Course title, number, brief description, and required materials) Instructor Bio Contact Information Basic Course Information (Course title, number, prerequisites, start and end dates, etc.) Course Syllabus Systems Information (System Requirements and Tech Support Information) Policies (Excelsior College policies of Academic Honesty, Electronic Use, etc.)
Under the syllabus, following items are addressed: Detailed Course Description Course goals, objectives/outcomes Required and recommended Course Materials Library and Reserve readings Course Outline with due date schedule Procedure for communicating with the faculty Course Assessment (Exams, projects, discussions, quizzes, etc.) Grading Policy (weights and Excelsior grading scale) Course Policies (e.g. honesty, plagiarism, late submissions, effective writing, etc.) Other Course Instructions (WebCT Institutional bookmark: Excelsior College Virtual Library, Electronic Peer Network, Bookstore, etc.) Course Evaluation Instrument A course evaluation template is provided to students in each on-line course for course evaluation. The template has been developed by the College and is administered at the end of the course in a way that avoids any conflict of interest and the results are then provided for review and use by the individual schools. The template consists of 27 questions. Twenty four of these questions employ a rating scale ranging from 1 to 7. A rating of 1 denotes strongly disagree while a rating of 7 represents strongly agree. The remaining three questions solicit a subjective response from students. All the twenty seven questions are listed below: Course Objectives: 1. Initial instructions did not clarify the course objectives and content at the beginning of the course. 2. The grading policy was made clear at the beginning of the course. Global Evaluation: 3. The course schedule was not flexible enough to meet my needs. 4. I would recommend this course to others. 5. Overall I am very satisfied with this course. Perception of Assignments: 6. Assignments stimulated my interest in the topics covered in this course. 7. The feedback I received on my assignments from this course helped me perform better on subsequent assignments. 8. The time given to complete assignments allowed me to do my best work. 9. Graded assignments for this course were returned quickly. 10. Graded assignments were not related to the course objectives. 11. The discussion questions did not help me learn the content of the course. 12. I understood what I needed to do to complete my assignments.
Perception of Faculty: 13. The instructor for this course did not seem interested in helping me learn the material. 14. The instructor conducted this course in a way that accomplished the stated objectives. 15. The instructor s feedback helped me learn. 16. The instructor for this course responded to questions in a timely manner. Perception of Reading and Tests: 17. The readings for this course stimulated new thinking about course content. 18. The readings for this course were not presented in a logical order. 19. The readings for this course helped me meet the learning objectives of the course. Precourse Information: 20. Before starting my online course(s) I received sufficient information about student support services. 21. Before starting my online course(s) I received sufficient information about registration requirements and prerequisites. Quality of Interaction: 22. Engaging with other students in course related activities (e.g., discussions, team projects, etc.) made me feel like I was part of a community. 23. The instructor did an excellent job interacting with students using available technology (e.g. email, discussion boards, chat). 24. Interacting with other students helped me meet the learning objectives of this course. Open-Ended Questions: 25. Do you have any additional comments you would like to share with us? 26. If you felt this course faired poorly on any of the above dimensions (or any that were not included above), what could we change to improve the course? 27. WebCT is the name of the software program used to administer this course. Did you have any problems using WebCT that you would like to share? If yes, what were they? The open-ended questions ask students about perception of their online learning experience. In summary, the results from these questions for the past few years indicated that the students needed certain changes in course design and more technical assistance in order to navigate through the course. The College is making these changes in the course revisions. In a typical online course, the overall student satisfaction is influenced by the interaction with the instructor, interaction with the students, interaction with the content, and interaction with the interface. Conclusion
This manuscript focuses on the development and delivery of an on-line nanotechnology course concentration within the BSEET Program offered by Excelsior College. One of the key issues during the development of this on-line, web-based nanotechnology concentration is the use of an appropriate software tool for the development and delivery of on-line instruction. This issue is addressed through the use of WebCT which facilitates the creation of a web-based educational environment. Another key issue is the assessment of the quality of course content. This issue is addressed through the use of an appropriate course evaluation instrument. Course attributes such as the clarity of course Overview/Introduction and Learning Objectives, quality of course Resources and Materials, the availability of adequate technology for the delivery of instruction, the infrastructure for learner support, the potential of the course for facilitating learner engagement in class activities, and the accessibility features of the course are scored to assess the quality of a course. Since the Excelsior College distance education philosophy allows offering a degree program with significant amount of the course work and other requirements, such as lab work, met by external courses and work experience, the above mentioned on-line instruction in nanotechnology will be phased in gradually. Bibliography 1. Anwas, S. and H. Dhillon. Development of an On-line Introduction to Nanotechnology Course: Issues and Challenges. Proceedings of the 2008 ASEE Annual Conference. 2. Meyyappan, M. Nanotechnology Education and Training. Journal of Materials Education Vol. 26 (3-4), 2004. 3. Anwar, S., J. A. Rolle, and A. A. Memon. Development and Delivery of On-line Upper Division Engineering Technology Courses. Proceedings of the 2005 ASEE Annual Conference. 4. Sridhara, B. WebCT A Powerful Web-Enhanced Instruction Tool for Engineering Technology Courses. Proceedings of the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference. 5. Navaee, S. Use of WebCT in Delivering Instructions in Engineering. Proceedings of the 2001 ASEE Annual Conference. Biographical Information DR. SOHAIL ANWAR is an Associate Professor of Engineering at the Altoona College of The Pennsylvania State University. In addition, he is a Professional Associate of the Management Development Programs and Services at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park. He is also serving as the Chair of Electronics Engineering Technology Consulting Faculty Committee of Excelsior College, Albany, NY. DR. JANE LECLAIR is currently the Associate Dean of the School of Business and technology at Excelsior College in Albany, New York. Following a 20 year career in the nuclear industry in various management positions, in addition to her position at Excelsior College, she collaborates with the nuclear industry on various projects. She maintains her affiliation with the American Society and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
ARNOLD PESKIN is retired from Brookhaven National Laboratory where he was a Senior Scientist. He is a Fellow of ABET and a Life Senior Member of IEEE. He has taught at Columbia University and Stony Brook University and served on the Board of Directors of NYSERNet, Inc. He is currently on the Technology Faculty of Excelsior College and a member of the Educational Activities Bd. of IEEE. He has authored several dozen technical articles.