Elizabeth City State University Integrating HP Mobile Tablet PC Technology-Based Instructional Delivery System into Undergraduate Engineering Technology Courses Principal Investigator: Kuldeep S. Rawat, PhD Department of Technology
In April 2007, Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) received the HP Technology for Teaching grant to integrate mobile technology in classroom. The project emphasizes on importance of providing students equitable access and actively involving them in the learning process. Dr. Kuldeep Rawat and Dr. Mehran Elahi from the Department of Technology (Industrial Technology, Engineering Technology, and Aviation Science programs) are using HP mobile technology in the classroom that is aimed at facilitating new pedagogical approach that promotes active learning. The Instructional Delivery System is developed around HP mobile Tablet-PCs in conjunction with NetSupport School Classroom Management Software (CMS) that allows individual and group monitoring, assessment and management of all computer applications, and immediate feedback and analysis of student performance. The new approach works towards achieving intellectual engagement of all students during classroom instruction by providing a venue for active two-way interactions between the instructor and individual students, as well as collaboration between the students to develop skills and strategies for problem solving, and eventually enhance student learning.
Rationale Good teaching principles involve student-faculty contact, collaboration among students, active learning, provide rapid feedback, task on time, communicating high expectations, and diverse talent and ways of learning. A large body of literature supports that these seven principles of high quality undergraduate teaching can be accomplished with the positive attitude towards use of instructional technology tools develops strategies that make students an active part of their own learning process. In the traditional classroom environment the department faculty would usually explain the concepts either through slides or use of whiteboard, with students taking notes. At the end of each lecture students are given homework assignments. This approach has the following limitations, (i) no exposure to collaborative learning, (ii) there is limited interaction between student and instructor and virtually no interaction between students, (iii) students often miss assignment submission, and (iv) written or verbal feedback is given at a later date, which is usually overlooked by students. Hence, there is no active engagement of students in the learning process. A stimulating learning environment is required that fosters collaborative and interactive learning. In the new pedagogical approach, the use of HP mobile Tablet PC technology and supporting tools (note-taking, CMS) proactively involves students in learning process with less latency in feedback from instructor. The students can work on in-class assignments, problem-solving exercises, project discussions, and collaborate both face-to-face and via their Tablet PCs. The students can share their circuit designs, analysis, simulations, and testing results instantly with other students or the instructor. This instantaneous sharing of data and results in real-time has improved interaction between students and faculty and added new dimensions to the learning environment in the classroom.	Impact on Teaching Through the HP mobile Tablet PCs and supporting software tools the instructors are able to: § Increase usage of technology in classroom teaching; § Promote collaborative work and active learning environment through effective delivery of teaching material § Achieve active participation of all students during classroom instruction § Obtain feedback and solicit questions anonymously from students who would not normally participate § Improve passing rate and overall class performance grade § Create digital notes and perform live recording of lectures, including audio interaction between students and instructor that can be made available for distant education students § Encourage other faculty members to experience and observe effective use of technology in their courses To assess the impact on teaching/instruction a survey was administered to students to evaluate the effectiveness of mobile Tablet-PC course content delivery. Also during the last semester (spring 2008), unused tablets were given to six interested faculty members from the School of Math, Science, & Technology ( two from Biology, one from Environmental & Marine Science, two from Mathematics & Computer Science, and one from Chemistry & Physics) to evaluate its use in their classroom/field-based courses and encourage them to come up with ideas on how to maximize the use of technology to improve student learning and increase student engagement in their courses. These faculty members are enthusiastic about using HP tablets and develop teaching strategies that accommodates varied needs of diverse undergraduate student population and allow for the design of more meaningful and timely assessment of student learning.
Implementation (Pedagogy) In order to maximize the usage of Tablet PCs and supporting tools in providing enriching learning experience the courses have been redesigned to include lecture slides, oral presentations, audio lectures, video demonstrations, in-class assignments, group problem-solving and laboratory exercises that are easily accessible. These activities will enable lecture content and pacing to be modified dynamically to address students’ questions, misconceptions, and other queries. The instructional approach in the redesigned course is to conduct classroom lecture followed by an in-class assignment and problem solving exercises followed by a short quiz so that immediate feedback can be provided. The laboratory class involves circuit simulations, building and testing of circuitry, and writing a short memo. The Tablet PCs and NSS facilitates active learning in the redesigned course delivery system by wirelessly recording feedback on in-class questions and enabling collaborative in-class problem solving sessions. During the academic year 2007-2008, two undergraduate Engineering Technology courses; TCEL 205: Electrical Circuits w/Lab and TCEL 234: Analog Electronics w/Lab. Screen capture: Instructor monitoring student screen from his tablet Screen capture: Instructor using quick polling to gage students’ understanding on a particular topic	Impact on Student Learning The project team strongly believes this project has the potential to significantly enhance the teaching and learning in classroom. The introduction of HP mobile Tablet PCs has enabled students to visualize and understand the concepts discussed during lecture and apply them in laboratory experiments. It helps them to be more organized in their coursework, improve their note-taking skills, better understanding of course concepts, work collaboratively, and participate in class-wide discussion. The students are more likely to keep records of their learning process (in form of e-portfolio) from the beginning, and steadily work on them, rather than cramming all the work at the end. E-portfolio showcasing quality of their work over the duration of their course will be measure of their self-monitoring and reflection skills. The project team performed both formative and summative evaluation. Formative evaluation was conducted on regular basis that helped the instructor to improve the course, facilitate course and content adaptation, and identify gaps in the course’s instructional plan. Summative evaluation included post-tests, focus groups, class performance, e-portfolios, and attitude surveys. Student performance data gathered (during previous years) through departmental mid-terms and final exams, class participation and engagement data, as well as student satisfaction surveys formed the baseline measures for project evaluation. The class performance in redesigned courses (treatment group) was compared with traditional classes (control group) from previous years before HP mobile technology was incorporated into redesigned courses. The impact on students’ learning/engagement was measured through in-class tests, exams, performance in collaborative activities, student participation in discussion questions, amount of time students use technology, quality of e-portfolio, and laboratory projects. Students’ communication skill was measured through memo writing, oral presentations, and graded project reports. Students involved in the project were surveyed and interviewed to determine the effectiveness of this technology in enhancing their learning experience. Assessment instruments were designed to provide qualitative and quantitative data that will be used to determine the overall effectiveness of mobile technology in redesigned courses. In the first year of the pilot project, assessment was conducted by asking students to rate, using a five-point Likert Scale, the quality of the learning environment and the effectiveness of mobile technology on their learning. One Year Ago – (i) There was limited interactions between student and instructor and virtually no interaction between students, (ii) students often miss assignment submissions, and (iii) written or verbal feedback was given at a later date, which was usually overlooked by students. This resulted in lower student performance leading to lower rate of passing. Today – The use of Tablet-PC technology fosters ability to participate in active interactions and collaborative work. Students can share their work instantly and instructor can provide feedback with less latency. One Year From Now – Using digital ink capability of Tablet-PCs students will keep records of their learning process from the beginning, and steadily work on them, rather than cramming all the work at the end. We anticipate that with use of Tablet-PCs in redesigned courses will result in: § Timely completion of course assignments § Active participation in class discussions and problem-solving § Use of mobile technology in every aspect of teaching and learning § Well organized in their coursework § Improved interaction in class § A significant improvement in student grades in all courses
Implementation (Technology) The HP Tablet-PCs-based wireless/mobile learning classroom is on a dedicated wireless network. Instructor can access any student tablet and send or receive course work over the wireless network. Students are able to freely move around the classroom and still have access to the course material and other on-line resources. The HP Tablet PCs are used both in the laboratory and the classroom lecture. This will provide students with access to notes at all times and direct feedback during lectures, bridging the gap between the two course components. The Tablet PCs and supporting tools help students take notes, annotate text, draw diagrams, retrieve assignments, access electronic textbooks, organize class work, and mark up handwritten notes that that can be publicly displayed, and used as the basis for class-wide discussions. Students can run circuit simulations on their Tablet PCs during lecture sessions, making class demonstrations more engaging while encouraging the development of design ideas to be tested in the laboratory. In addition, NetSupport School (NSS) Classroom Management Software (CMS) in conjunction with Tablet-PC enable instructors to improve course delivery by centrally instructing their students on their Tablet PCs, maintain student attention by monitoring application and web usage, and save time by quickly polling the class and showing results instantly. Instructor is also able to project student’s work for everyone in class to see. HP Tablet-PC based wireless/mobile learning classroom environment	Student using Tablets during lecture Students using Tablet-PCs during laboratory experiments
Students in action during collaborative group activities both in classroom and laboratory
Project Results Pre Survey Results A pre-survey was administered in the beginning of the semester (TCEL 205: Electrical Circuits w/Lab) to gage students’ experience with Tablet-PC/pen-based device, organizing coursework and use of Internet resources. Even though majority of students were beginners or had no prior experience with Tablet-PC, it only took 20-30 tes to get familiar with its use. A short session was conducted to tutor students on use of Tablet-PC for note-taking and using NSS to respond to instructor’s questions/polling. Students also learned to use Windows Journal to import other documents and export existing journal file to either an Internet file (mhtml) or image file (tif). Post Survey Results The use of Tablet-PCs in the classroom resulted in a number of distinct advantages that contributed to the several improvements. Bar graphs shown below depicts the %Respondents and their Level of Agreement to a particular post survey question. The post survey questionnaire had 29 questions, which were rated on a five-point Likert Scale (Strongly Agee – 5, Agree – 4, Neutral – 3, Disagree – 2, Strongly Disagree – 1) by students. Responses to only eight post survey questions are shown here. Some of these responses and responses to other survey questions are also summarized for presentation here.