Faculty Directions, Fall 2005 - Teaching Construction Science and Management Online:
A Learning Experience

Dennis Bausman
Department of Construction Science and Management

Spring 2005, I launched my first online class. I have been involved in "video" distance learning for the past several years at the graduate level, but this was my first experience with an Internet-based delivery system. The course, CSM 205 Materials and Methods of Construction II, is designed to give construction science and architecture students a basic understanding of commercial building materials and construction techniques.

The foundation for the course was a PowerPoint lecture series that I developed in 2003 that was subsequently published with the current edition of the text in 2004. The subject material for the course is well suited for the incorporation of graphics. Literally, a picture can be worth a 1000 words, and often is essential to facilitate understanding of construction materials and methods. After the PowerPoint lectures series was developed, the next logical step was to move this course toward Distance Education. In the summer and fall of 2004 an online course was finalized to permit an offering in Spring 2005.

Technical Elements of the Course

For this distance education course I elected to incorporate only asynchronous elements. There was no real time participation or interaction between myself and the students. This approach was selected to enhance student and instructor flexibility, limit technology support requirements and reduce cost.

With the PowerPoint lecture series as a base, audio was added using Macromedia Breeze Presentation. Then, to further enhance student learning and understanding, short video clips were incorporated. The video was captured on actual construction sites using a digital camcorder. Often the narration was provided by project supervision - a technique that proved very effective because of their knowledge and passion for the work items being recorded.

All the course materials were posted on and accessed through Blackboard. In addition, all student testing was online using Blackboard's assessment tools. Throughout the process, ETS staff provided training and course development support. The core elements of the course included an introductory/orientation lecture, course lectures, lecture notes, and student assessment quizzes and exams.

The orientation lecture introduced the students to the course and reviewed the use of the online resources. The lectures incorporated the PowerPoint lecture series, video clips and Web-based resources. Lecture notes were made available to the students as Macromedia Flash files. Quizzes and exams were delivered online with all questions randomly selected from a large test bank. To ensure that the students stayed on track with the reading assignments and viewing the Breeze lectures, a quiz or exam was given each week at a proctored site.

Assessment Results

One of the concerns often voiced regarding online instruction is student learning outcomes: the quality of the education that a student receives when compared to the traditional delivery method. Frankly, I was also concerned about the quality of the student learning experience with online, asynchronous delivery. To investigate this issue, this initial online course was offered during Spring 2005 in tandem with a traditional in-class section. The online section had 34 students and the traditional in-class section had 30 students. A statistical comparison of the two sections found no difference in GPA, relevant work experience or year of study. In summary, students in the two sections had a similar educational foundation and overall performance record. To minimize the number of variables, I was the instructor for both courses, the lecture material was the same, and all quizzes and exams were randomly drawn from the same test bank for both courses.

At the conclusion of the semester, performance outcomes were statistically compared and the online students scored equal to or better on all quizzes and exams. In addition, the online students were asked to complete a course evaluation survey. Thirty-four, or 100 percent, of the students responded to the survey. Some of the significant findings were the following:

• A majority (56 percent) of the students had previously taken an online course.
• A strong majority, 74 percent, thought the use of video clips increased their understanding of the subject matter, and 80 percent thought the orientation lecture was helpful.
• Ninty-one percent of the students felt that the lectures significantly increased their understanding of construction materials and methods.
• Ninty-seven percent thought the overall quality of the lectures was excellent or good.
• Eighty-eight percent of the students indicated that they would recommend this course to a friend.
• Ninty-one percent said that the course met or exceeded their expectations.

Lastly, the students were asked to compare what they learned in this online course with a comparable course delivered using traditional in-class instruction. It should be noted that most of these students had taken a similar course the previous fall semester. In summary, 91% of the students thought they learned as much or more than in a comparable course taught using traditional in-class instruction.

Based on the data from this study, an online, asynchronous approach can be an effective delivery method to achieve student learning. I can also assure you that developing and offering an online course can be a rewarding learning experience for the instructor. Good luck as you develop and deliver your own Internet course!