1. How would you evaluate your comfort level with internet and e-mail at the beginning of this course?
Internet: 10 Very comfortable 8 Comfortable 4 Uncomfortable 3 Don't Know/Never Tried E-mail: 13 Very comfortable 8 Comfortable 2 Uncomfortable 0 Don't Know/Never Tried
2. How would you evaluate your comfort level with internet and e-mail at the present time?
Internet: 18 Very comfortable 5 Comfortable 1 Uncomfortable 0 Don't Know/Never Tried E-mail: 17 Very comfortable 4 Comfortable 0 Uncomfortable 0 Don't Know/Never Tried
3. Where did you most often gain access to internet and e-mail for this course? 6 Home
6 Home 14 UW Computer Labs 6 Dept/Work 0 Other: (specify)
4. Which statement most accurately reflects your opinion about e-mail access to the instructor?
I communicated with instructor by e-mail and ...
15 was very satisfied with accessibility
6 was satisfied with accessibility
0 was dissatisfied with accessibility5 I didn't communicate with instructor by e-mail but would have if the need had arisen
0 I would never communicate with an instructor by e-mail under any circumstances
5. Did you make use of the following internet resources for the class?
Yes No Class notes 26 0 Staff Info 13 13 On-line Articles 25 1 On-line Reading Assignments 25 1 Problem Sets (problems or answers) 26 0 Favorite Links 17 7
6. How did this course impact your use of e-mail and internet:
internet 1 7 First use, had to learn how 11 11 Became more comfortable 2 6 Became a pro 16 13 Already knew enough to use course materials 0 0 Scared me away completely Comments: It was a good idea to make this a part of the course.
7. Was this the first course in which you were enrolled that has used e-mail and internet as tools for delivering some of the course material?
14 Yes 12 No Comments: No - History 102 was. We had mostly discussions that had to be removed - non course related.
8. Given a choice, would you have preferred more or less electronic access and course material delivery in this course?
4 More 2 Less 20 About the same Comments: Less - due to accessibility from off-campus
9. Would you be more inclined or less inclined to participate in another course if you knew that e-mail and internet would be used as tools for delivering some of the course material?
18 More 0 Less 8 Not a consideration in course selection
10. If you were to consider the electronic delivery of some of the material in this course as an experiment, and yourself as a participant in this experiment, how would you evaluate the overall outcome of the experiment?
26 Successful 0 Unsuccessful 0 Cannot evaluate
11. Short (2-minute) essay question:
A) What specific recommendations would you make to improve the e-mail and internet portion of the course for the following year?
I think the system works great now.
Increase their use for more problem sets and to solve situations that occur in agriculture; inform extra readings (tests, articles, book) possible to increase course content.
Come up with a better medium for expressing mathematics portions of problem sets than minimal text programs.
Having grade posted through EASI (or other way) w/PIN # to check on class/personal progress.
I would like other courses to consider the use of the internet, particularly in class notes because instead of using the entire class period writing down notes, you are able to be more selective and listen. to what is being said and absorb more info. However, info the internet should not be adequate to do well in the course alone so that students would not attend class periods.
Like this, that's okay.
Keep the home page easy to understand and not over complicated. Too much stuff tends to make it confusing. The use of headings and titles helps cut down on this confusion when looking for specific items. Use less pictures on items. This takes to much time and space when downloading. It tends to jam or freeze computers with slower modems.
I don't think there was too much more you could do to improve it unless maybe someone was unfamiliar with computers and needed help. I could see it being a problem if you don't know how to use the computers. I was totally comfortable with it though.
I would offer the handouts for problem sets in class for those who have problems getting to computers.
Not much! Keep it about the same. Maybe some question and answer sections, or more reading assignments through the E-mail!
None.
I don't like sending answers via E-mail. It takes too much time to type out the work; but receiving the problem sets through the mail is great.
A basic computer access course should be required for all incoming students in the future!
To have class notes on internet the day before class.
Require Comp 132 for course.
Have an "in lab" session (hands-on).
E-mail was fine, access is easy, responses were quick, I found no problems. Internet - hard to dial into sometimes because the line was busy. Also to make copies of material off internet takes time and money so some of the scanned-in pictures cost money and extra time in printing; they are good to have, but I don't need to have printouts of them to see it, and it's hard to get text and exclude pictures.
B) What message would you like to send to the Dean of Academic Affairs regarding the e-mail and internet portion of this course? [Hint: Requests for improvement of dial-in access have already been conveyed to the appropriate Deans.]
I would recommend that the Dean of Agricultural and Life Sciences appropriate some additional funding to allow expanded use of the internet for this course. I think it was fantastic to be able to access materials and lecture notes, I would like to see that expanded. Perhaps link up the lab groups to facilitate discussions via a news server. Talk to people across the state, via the net, that use this information (Soils 326 topics) in the real world.
Allow special lines specifically for priority students (ones enrolled in courses that require e-mail or internet access). Keep a list of those students and monitor them strictly.
I would tell the Dean that E-mail and the internet portions of this course were helpful in knowing exactly what the professor wanted us to learn. However, it may become a substitute for class. E-mail was an easy way to access the professor, but it is nice to get to know a professor face-to-face.
Kudos to Dr. Barak. This course should be a model to others that want to expand teaching tools.
Internet/E-mail use for courses is an excellent idea and should be used more. To make that possible, facilities need to be improved (more machines, more lines).
To continue, it is a helpful resource.
Make it easier to log in - make more lines available.
More time to complete assignments due to hard to get on system. Improve off-campus access.
Increase access to terminals at computer labs. Note: I rarely had trouble but sometimes access was unavailable.
The message I would like to send is that I was not always able to get on a computer, because of overcrowding (especially at Memorial Library)
Last modified 13 August 1996 by Phillip Barak (pwbarak@facstaff.wisc.edu)