Donna J. Fremont, Computer Science Department, University of Calgary, Canada
E-mail: fremont@cpsc.ucalgary.ca
Norman Giesbrecht, Insight Research & Consulting, Calgary, Canada
E-mail: ndgiesbr@acs.ucalgary.ca
Kenneth Loose, Computer Science, University of Calgary
E-mail: loose@cpsc.ucalgary.ca
The computer literacy course is taught every semester to over 600 students. Course capacity is always met and many students are refused entry. Students are drawn from many faculties, can be in any year of their program, and can be taking a full load of courses or only one course while working full-time. Because of student demand and the diversity of student characteristics, it was thought that an independent study without formal lectures and labs might give students more time flexibility, appeal to those with a self-directed learning style, and allow more students to complete the course without unduly increasing demand on existing departmental resources.
Students in both the lecture and independent study sections had access to the text book and accompanying CD ROM, lab work-book, course outline, assignment descriptions, and a course Web site with postings of all written materials and links to related materials. The Web site was also used for facilitating group work on two assignments and E-mail was available for student and instructor communication. All students had access to a computer lab on a drop-in basis for 50 hours per week. Students could also access the Web site and
E-mail from home via modem. Students in both sections completed six pass-fail assignments due on specified dates and wrote the same midterm and final exams. Students in the traditional lecture section had scheduled classes composed of three lecture hours and two lab hours per week.
One course section was offered as an independent study in the 1997 and 1998 Winter semesters. So that students would not mistakenly or carelessly register in the independent study section, students had to register at the departmental office instead of using the telephone registration system. Interested students were given a two-page document which explained the philosophy of the independent study, described the evaluation process, and identified the resources that would be available to them. The document also cautioned them to honestly evaluate their own capabilities to organize work and motivate themselves. After reading the document
(and usually talking to the instructor), students were manually registered in the independent study section.
A one-hour meeting was scheduled each week. About half the meetings were mandatory, and these were used to describe the course outline, hand out materials, introduce assignments, organize group projects, and administer the midterm and final exams. The course Web site was used to post announcements and notes from the mandatory meetings. The instructor attended all class meetings and communicated with individual students via office hours, telephone, and E-mail. One teaching assistant was assigned to the course, and he marked assignments, provided lab support six hours per week, and was available for consultation via office hours, telephone, and E-mail.
S tudents from both sections of the course completed a survey that identified student characteristics, pre- and post-course computer usage patterns, and self-perceived pre- and post-course overall computer expertise and expertise with E-mail, World Wide Web, and Newsgroup functions. Student id number was used to match survey response with course grade. Students in the independent study section were also mailed an extensive qualitative feedback survey that explored their learning experience and perceptions of the course.
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Student Characteristics
Over both years of the study, almost half the independent study students took the course as an optional course and/or were motivated to take it to acquire additional computer skills. Only two students took the independent study because the lectures were full - the rest were attracted by the flexibility and additional free time provided by this format. Students in the independent study section were significantly older, approximately
5 to 7 years older (F=37.4; p<.001) and had significantly more years of post-secondary education, approximately 3 years compared to 1.7 years (F=23.9; p<.001). Their written comments indicated that almost all believed that their strong self-study skills and previous computer courses or computer experience were characteristics that would help them be successful in an independent study format. Prior to the start of the course, over 85% of students in both sections owned a computer, held an AIX account, and had used wordprocessing software. However, independent study students reported significantly higher levels of self-perceived overall computer expertise (F=9.6; p<.01), spent a significantly higher number of hours per week on the computer, approximately 10 hours/week versus 4 hours/week (F=20.8; p<.001), were more likely to use their computer to access the University library on-line (56% vs. 38% ; chi-square=3.5 ; p=.06) and play games (69% vs. 50% ; chi-square=3.0; p=.08). There were no significant differences between sections in self-perceived Email, the World Wide Web, or newsgroup expertise.
Student Performance in Traditional Lecture vs. Independent Study
Following course completion, there were no significant differences between sections in the percentage of students who regularly used the computer to do word-processing, E-mail, library research, or "other" functions, but independent study students still spent a significantly greater number of hours per week on the computer (F=14.2; p<.001) and more time playing computer games (69% vs. 43%; chi-square=6.0; p=.013). In the 1997 semester, the percentage of students with a grade of "A" or "B" was similar across sections (see Table
1) but a significantly greater percentage of lecture section students obtained a grade of "C" (43% vs. 21%; chisquare = 7.6; p<.01) whereas a significantly greater percentage of independent study students obtained a grade of "D" or "F" (41% vs. 18%; chi-square=9.0; p<.01). In their written comments, the 1997 independent study students expressed concerns that inadequate information regarding exam content, lab expectations and marking criteria had negatively affected their performance. For the 1998 semester, a more senior Teaching Assistant was hired and optional project-based assignments were introduced (8 of 50 students chose to do a project). As a result, a significantly larger percent of the independent study students received a grade of "A" or "B" in the
1998 vs. 1997 term (57% vs. 38%; chi-square=3.8; p<.05). During the 1998 semester, the independent study students also outperformed the lecture students - receiving more "A" or "B" grades (57% vs. 42%), fewer "C" grades (29% vs. 39%) and fewer "D" or "F" grades (14% vs. 18%).
1997 Semester 1998 Semester
Course Grade Traditional Lecture Independent Study Traditional Lecture Independent Study
A
B
C
D, F
16%
23%
43%
18%
N=155 (5W)
17%
21%
21%
41%
N=31 (2W)
7%
35%
39%
18%
N=147 (2W)
18%
39%
29%
14%
N=49 (1W)
Table 1.
Student Performance in Traditional Lecture versus Independent Study
Predictors of Course Performance
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Across both sections and for the past two years, course performance (i.e., grade) was significantly related to pre-course overall computer expertise (r=.17; p<.05) and use of the computer for "other" functions
(r=.17; p<.05). A higher level of post-course expertise with newsgroups was negatively related to grade (r=-.20; p=.016) and it may be that students who used their time to build newsgroup expertise were focusing their time on a function that was not an integral component in the course outline or evaluation criteria.
Gender and Course Performance
Across both sections, men and women reported similar pre-course usage levels for word-processing
(95% vs. 95%), E-mail (68% vs. 66%), library research (38% vs. 40%) , and "other" functions (33% vs. 21%).
However, men reported significantly higher pre-course levels of self-perceived overall computer expertise
(F=3.8; p<.05), hours per week spent on the computer (F=5.5; p<.05), World Wide Web expertise (F=13.7; p<.001), and news group expertise (F=7.8; p<.01) and were more likely to use the computer for playing games
(67% vs. 43%; chi-square=5.2; p<.05). There were no significant gender differences in course grade, postcourse overall computer expertise, or post-course expertise with E-mail, World Wide Web, or newsgroup functions but males were still significantly more likely to use the computer for playing games (60% vs. 38%; chi-square=4.9; p<.05). Although post-course utilization of specific computer functions was similar across genders, women evidenced a significant increase in their pre-course vs. post-course utilisation of E-mail (from
66% to 91%; chi-square=4.0; p<.05) and "other" functions (from 21% to 44%; chi-square=8.1; p<.005).
Qualitative Feedback from Independent Study Students
In the 1997 semester, about one-half of the independent study students indicated that the course had met their goals and about one-half were "satisfied" with the amount of interaction they had with the instructor and teaching assistant (the other half were equally divided between being "very satisfied" or "unsatisfied"). In the 1998 semester, all the students reported the course had met their goals and that they were "satisfied" or
"very satisfied" with their interaction with the instructor and teaching assistant. Scheduled meeting times, email, phone calls and office hours were the primary communication avenues between students and instructor and lab times and email were the main ways students communicated with the lab instructor. Over 90% of the students had used the text, E-mail, and World Wide Web as course resources and about three-quarters had found the workbook and course web-site helpful. Although one-third of the 1997 students had regularly attended lectures in another course section, only one 1998 student had even occasionally attended another section's lecture.
The major perceived benefit of the course was time flexibility and one-half the students believed that their most beneficial learning outcome was the development of marketable skills with specific applications such as the Microsoft Office spreadsheet, database and slide presentation applications (i.e., Excel, Access,
PowerPoint). During the 1997 semester, the students reported that inadequate information and guidance regarding exams and assignments was a major drawback and one-half the students believed that more regular class-time with formal instruction and/or guidance would help address this problem. The 1998 semester students were quite satisfied with their learning experience and enthusiastic about the opportunity to focus on projects that were of personal interest. There were a few suggestions for course enhancement, and these included greater utilisation of E-mail, announcement of related newsgroups, and the inclusion of a home web-page development project in the lab assignments.
An independent study format provides students with greater flexibility and more free time. The format is best suited to mature students who have strong self-study and time-organization skills, previous experience with independent learning, and/or good prerequisite computer skills. To be effective, the independent study format needs to address issues regarding communication, support for assignments, and evaluation criteria and procedures. An independent study can also allow students to explore projects and areas of interest that would not be possible in a traditional lecture format.
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