Greg Kearsley
This article examines a successful online graduate program, the Master of Engineering in Professional Practice, offered by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Student completion rate is high and students rate the program as a significant contribution to their professional development. The elements underlying this success include: student characteristics, curriculum, faculty, staff, institutional context, delivery system, course design/development, program management and evaluation/quality control. It is concluded that the overall success of the program is the cumulative result of all these elements.
1. Introduction
In May 2001, the first cohort of 22 students graduated from the Master of Engineering in Professional Practice (MEPP) program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. These students had just completed two years of study (a total of 10 courses) completely in online (Web-based) format with only two on-campus sessions lasting less than a week each. According to the students, this learning experience was highly rewarding and contributed to significant professional development. Not only does the program allow students to complete a graduate degree in a more convenient manner than traditional on-campus classes, but it also provides a very high quality outcome. This case study examines why the MEPP program has been successful.
2. Students (see http://epdweb.engr.wisc.edu/mepp/quotemain.html)
MEPP students are typical distance learners – working adults with busy professional, family, and social lives. All students have full-time engineering jobs, and most travel extensively – throughout the U.S. and often to Europe and Asia. Standard admission requirements for the program include a B.S. in engineering, at least four years of professional experience, and a 3.0 undergraduate grade point average. The majority of students entering the program are mechanical or electrical engineers in mid-career with large manufacturing corporations. They are interested in earning a graduate degree to advance their professional skills and employment opportunities. However, they must convince the counselor and admission committee in their application that they have the motivation and focus to complete a demanding course of study.
By virtue of this selection process, all students accepted to MEPP have a high probability of completing the program. In fact, only two students of the original cohort dropped out – and one rejoined the program in the second cohort. It should be noted that not only are the students well qualified and motivated, but they are also very demanding; they expect a lot from the program, given the time and money invested. The great majority of the students have at least partial financial support from their employers to participate in MEPP.
3. Curriculum (see http://epdweb.engr.wisc.edu/mepp/curriculum.html)
Regardless of everything else, a successful online graduate program must have a very well targeted curriculum that provides the skills and knowledge relevant to the needs of students. The 10 courses in the MEPP program are shown in the table below. These courses were determined through a literature review and a needs assessment conducted in the initial planning of the program. The needs assessment asked employers what competency areas they would like to see their engineers obtain additional/advanced training. When asked why they chose to apply to MEPP, many applicants note that the program offers a much more focused and applicable curriculum for engineers than MBA programs they have considered.
|
Yr 1 - Summer |
Network Skills for Remote Learners Residency (1 week) |
|
Yr I - Fall |
Technical Project Management, Engineering Economic Analysis & Management |
|
Yr I - Spring |
Engineering Problem Solving with Computers Communicating Technical Information |
|
Yr II - Summer |
Independent Reading & Research in Applied Engineering Residency (1 week) |
|
Yr II – Fall |
Engineering Applications of Statistics International Engineering Strategies and Operations |
|
Yr II - Spring |
Engineering Business Data Communications Quality Engineering and Quality Management |
The first course, Network Skills for Remote Learners, prepares students for the program by covering the nature of distance learning and the specific computer skills needed to be a successful online learner. The two residency weeks are held in Madison, Wisconsin and consist of intensive team building and hands-on sessions that include faculty and staff.
Our evaluation data suggests that the selection of courses and their content is valid for the needs of this audience. All the courses are initially pilot tested on non-MEPP students and then revised each time they are delivered, so there is a process of continuous refinement.
4. Faculty (see http://epdweb.engr.wisc.edu/mepp/faculty.html)
In additional to a strong curriculum, a good graduate program must have exceptional faculty. In the case of MEPP, these faculty must not only be experts in their realm of engineering, but they must be comfortable teaching online. This requires mastery of all the software tools and delivery system used as well as a good understanding of what it is like to be a distance learner.
MEPP faculty consist of members of the UW College of Engineering as well as members of other universities and organizations. One of the advantages of online courses is that faculty can be remotely located as well as the students.
Keeping faculty (and staff) current on the delivery system and software tools used in the program has proved a major challenge – more difficult than for the students since in general faculty must have greater skill/knowledge levels. We have used both formal training sessions and one-on-one tutoring for this purpose, but it is primarily a matter of self- education. Consequently one of the characteristics of a good online teacher is the ability to constantly learn how to use new software tools on their own.
5. Staff
The success of any distance education program depends strongly on the staff in terms of their experience and dedication. MEPP staff includes: (1) program director, (2) platform manager, (3) webmaster, (4) system analyst, (5) instructional designers, (6) technical editor, (7) counselor, (8) administrative assistant. Note that these positions are part-time duties; all MEPP staff have other roles/responsibilities. In addition, graphic and video support is provided by the College as needed.
The concept of having a project team for a graduate degree program is unusual in a traditional academic context (but routine for distance education efforts). Faculty are not used to having to work with a large team to develop and deliver a course and this requires some acclimatization. It is important the roles and tasks of each team member be clear to avoid potential confusion and inefficiency.
6. Institutional Context (http://epdweb.engr.wisc.edu)
A successful distance education program needs a supportive institutional setting. MEPP is offered by the Department of Engineering Professional Development, which has been providing continuing engineering education for many years. The Department has considerable experience implementing and managing programs – although MEPP was its first online degree program. Furthermore, the College of Engineering backed the program with financial and faculty/staff resources. The University of Wisconsin has a long tradition of distance education and is receptive to innovative programs like MEPP.
Teleconferencing services for MEPP are supported by UW-Extension’s Instructional Communication Services (ICS) (http://www.uwex.edu/ics/). In a typical week, students participate in two hours of synchronous teleconferences; these may be audio-only or may also include real-time graphics accessed via the Web and Placeware. These same teleconferencing tools are used frequently by groups of students to facilitate their work on group projects.
The program is also supported by the College of Engineering’s Wendt Library. The full resources of UW-Madison’s libraries and affiliated universities are made available to MEPP students through a combination of: direct access to online resources; electronic delivery of documents scanned upon request; and express mailing of other materials.
7. Delivery System
An online program must have a reliable and powerful delivery system. MEPP uses the WebCT (http://www.webct.com) system as its main course delivery tool, supplemented by a teleconferencing system (currently Placeware) and a groupware system (currently, Docushare). After the first year of the program, WebCT was adopted by UW-Madison as its campus-wide online delivery system – a mixed blessing for MEPP. The main advantage: the university IT group takes care of all system maintenance and support. The primary disadvantage: the university IT group takes care of all system maintenance and support. In general, an online program needs to control its own delivery system to ensure a high degree of reliability, continuity, and support for its student clientele (who tend to differ in many respects from on-campus students).
The most problematic aspect of course delivery for all concerned is the Internet connection – especially the speed (bandwidth) possible. Since the courses are Web-based, having a fast connection makes all course activities go more smoothly – and having a slow or unreliable connection has the opposite effect. The fact that our students and faculty tend to travel a lot, further complicates this issue. Unfortunately, this is not something that the program has any control over, but is an individual matter for each student or faculty member to address.
8. Course
Design/Development
Creating online courses is a major undertaking that requires a strong team – consisting of a subject matter expert (usually the faculty member who will teach the course), an instructional designer, a technical editor, webmaster, and course manager. In addition, if new software tools are to be employed, assistance of a system analyst may be needed. Graphics and multimedia elements may require a graphics or multimedia developer.
In the case of the MEPP curriculum, the instructional model emphasized making the course activities as work-related as possible to maximize the relevance/meaningfulness of the program. All of the courses involve projects and a lot of team/group interaction.
While most of the course development takes place for the initial version of the course, courses require revision each time they are offered (e.g., textbooks and software change, new topics are introduced, assignments replaced, etc.). So, this is an ongoing program task.
9. Program Management
Even though MEPP is not a large program, it requires a significant level of management to coordinate all staff and faculty and ensure that all tasks get carried out properly. At any given time, there are two cohorts taking courses (first and second year students), plus the admission screening of the next cohort. Course and program materials are in a constant state of flux. Student problems of one sort or another frequently need attention. And the delivery system needs ongoing vigilance. For further discussion about the student support aspects of MEPP, see the article by Karen Al-Askar at http://www.asee.org/conferences/search/20587.pdf
A considerable amount of effort must be devoted to on-going marketing and promotional activities – to attract new students to MEPP and also to publicize the program. The program must be both financially and political viable within the University.
The effects of good (or poor) management manifest themselves in how smoothly the program operates and a minimum of frustration for students, faculty and staff. Having a strong program director to provide the necessary leadership and coordination is critical.
10. Evaluation &
Quality Control
From the beginning, MEPP has emphasized the need to collect data and use this data to improve the program. All courses are run as pilots with small groups before their first full-scale class to debug the content and prepare the instructor. Student evaluation data is collected at the end of each course and used to plan revisions for the next offering. And we administer a student completion survey at the end of the program to assess their overall impressions.
The evaluation data collected indicates that students are very positive about the courses and program. For example here are some of the responses from the first graduating class to questions from their program evaluation survey:
What is the impact of
MEPP on your job effectiveness/performance?
None: 0% A little: 0% Some: 26% Considerable: 47% Extensive: 26%
To what extent have
you acquired new skills as a result of MEPP?
None: 0% A little: 0% Some: 11% Considerable: 47% Extensive: 42%
How much has MEPP
changed your perspective on engineering/management?
None: 0% A little: 0% Some: 16% Considerable: 52% Extensive: 32%
11. Other Outcomes
As well planned and implemented as MEPP is, there have been some surprises. We did not expect students to be so eager to continue with the program after graduating -- and are now preparing follow-on courses/workshops for alumni. We did not expect the teleconferences to be such a key element of the courses and have recommended to faculty that they be weekly events. We did not anticipate how strong the cohort bonding would become and the extent to which students insist on doing course work in a group mode (engineers tend to be solitary folks). We learned from students how valuable the annual one-week residency is to cement relationships with each other and faculty, and to build confidence and energy for the courses in the year ahead. We were pleasantly surprised that faculty were willing to spend so much time interacting with students – even though it made their course workload very heavy. Finally, we did not expect it to be so difficult to maintain a stable and reliable delivery system – and the complexity of the technical support required.
12. Conclusion
It is not possible to single out one factor for the success of the MEPP program; rather it appears to be the cumulative result of doing many things well. On the other hand, failing on any one of the above elements would likely have doomed the program.
The challenge for the program now is to maintain the high standard of quality that has been established across subsequent cohorts of students and changes in faculty, staff, and institutional priorities.
Greg Kearsley (http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley) is an instructional designer for the MEPP program. Thanks to other program staff for their comments and additions to this paper.