Impact of Two Course Content Delivery Systems on Student Learning
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Since 1905, the Department of Agricultural Engineering, now the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE), has been a leader in providing engineering solutions to agricultural problems in the United States and the world. The department’s original mission was to mechanize agriculture. That mission has evolved to encompass a global view of the entire food production system–the wise management of natural resources in the production, processing, storage, handling, and use of food fiber and other biological products.
History
In 1905 Agricultural Engineering was recognized as a subdivision of the Department of Agronomy, and in 1907 it was recognized as a unique department. It was renamed the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering in 1990. The department merged with the Department of Industrial Education and Technology in 2004.
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1905–present
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- Department of Agricultural Engineering (1907–1990)
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- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (parent college)
- College of Engineering (parent college)
- Department of Industrial Education and Technology, (merged, 2004)
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Abstract
In 2007, a USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant funded the creation of a Virtual Education Center (VEC) for Biorenewable Resources at three partner land grant institutions. Three new courses are taught through the VEC, each using multiple instructors and exchanges of video lectures between sites. The most heavily subscribed of these is a graduate survey course entitled Fundamentals of Biorenewable Resources. In this paper, we report on comparisons of two online delivery methods used in the fundamentals course: 1) a standard video lecture using a tablet computer, and 2) a self-contained menu-driven autotutorial presentations (MDAP) delivered via Adobe Flash. In both cases, the module covered production of corn, soybean, hay and forage, and short rotation woody crops, as well as biotechnology basics. The two versions contained nearly identical academic content. The module was taught during weeks 9 to 11 of the course, allowing students to be sorted based on prior course performance to ensure the two groups were academically similar. Student performance data from the course were collected through WebCT assessments (quizzes and an exam) in spring 2010 and statistical analysis was used to determine student learning differences.
Comments
This is an ASABE Meeting Presentation, Paper No. 1009060.