Abstract


GIS On-Line: An Assessment of Course Delivery Modes
Track: Designing Curriculum and Degree Programs for Higher Education
Author(s): Lynn Johnson

A Master of Engineering in Geographic Information Systems (MEng-GIS) degree at the University of Colorado at Denver has been delivered to on-campus and on-line students for eight years. Technologies for on-line course delivery provide a variety of options for communication and interaction, as well as supporting on-line computer-oriented training. We are now using web-based courseware and real-time web conferencing so all students can join the lecture and interact. We mix on-campus and on-line students into a common course shell. Eight years' experience with the mixed program delivery has shown that an on-line computer-oriented degree program can be successfully delivered and that on-line students perform as well as on-campus students. We have found that on-line modes of delivery have distinct course management and pedagogical advantages over a regular classroom mode of delivery. In this paper we describe these advantages and present a quantitative assessment.

Lynn Johnson
University of Colorado at Denver
Civil Engineering (CB113)
1200 Larimer St., PO Box 173364
Denver , CO 80217-3364
US
Phone: 303-556-2372
Fax: 303-556-2368
E-mail: Lynn.Johnson@cudenver.edu