S. Vasupongayya (Thailand) and W. Hannok (Canada)
Virtual classroom, engineering education, quality issuesof web-based education
In this study, we examined computer engineering students’ perspectives on a web-based classroom as a resource and interaction center in addition to actual lectures. The topics of interest include: 1) students’ motivation, 2) students’ class preparation, 3) students’ learning strategies and class attendance, and 4) students’ general impressions of the web-based classroom. Quantitative and qualitative analyses demonstrated that the majority of students would attend the class if points were given for the attendance. The findings also revealed that most students preferred having materials provided by the web-based classroom over taking notes themselves. The students also reported being better at time management when the web-based classroom was used. In addition, the students regarded class attendance as necessary even though materials could be accessed online. As for class preparation, the students loaded materials before the class; however, they would read those materials only to complete assignments and before the exams. Overall, students had a good impression of the web-based classroom’s accessibility, convenience, and flexibility. For an effective web-based instruction, it is recommended that instructors need to take into account students’ characteristics as well as material selection.
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