A Model for Online Cross-Institutional STEM Course Offering and Support Services in New Mexico

University Of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM

Investigators

Abstract

Participating Organizations: University of New Mexico (UNM) Northern New Mexico College (NNMC) Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) Project Description: The project is creating on-line instructional materials and pedagogy related to lower-division courses in Electrical and Computer Engineering. The PIs are developing a methodology for delivering highly interactive virtual classrooms that are supervised by on-demand teaching & lab assistants/faculty and setting up an efficient shared-course offering system -- involving three institutions (UNM, NNMC and CNM). The virtual classrooms are helping to enable students in the New Mexico target population of underrepresented minority and first-generation college students to achieve greater success in pursing an engineering education by employing a degree of interaction with students that goes well beyond what is typically associated with an on-line class. Successful practices associated with on-campus students are being translated to on-line settings. For example, student grades are being checked in order to ensure that the students are staying on track and, if corrective actions need to be taken, students are directed to streamed on-line recitation sessions. Students also have access to on-demand teaching assistants (TAs) and tutors through a live service similar to that which is provided as support by many companies. Additionally, an on-line engineering community is being established (using social networking media) to provide a peer support infrastructure that students can draw upon. Broader Significance: The learning model of the project can be adapted to other institutions in other states, using the on-line support services (feedback, mentoring, tutoring, etc.) that have been developed for integration into internet-delivered courses. The project team is also exploring an automated system that allows students to have authenticated/authorized access to learning environments that are not part of their home institutions. The project is providing research opportunities to groups of students at the partnering schools that are underrepresented in the STEM disciplines. The effort is also producing a set of best practices for interacting with students in this on-line setting, which potential adopters can assess with the data that are being collected via survey and evaluation instruments.