Best practices in the design, development and use of courseware in engineering education

This paper discusses best practices in the design, development and use of engineering education courseware by examining the courseware recognized through the Premier Award for Excellence in Engineering Education Courseware. Led by NEEDS - A Digital Library for Engineering Education and supported by industry, the courseware recognized through the Premier Award since 1997 covers most engineering disciplines; ranges from case studies to collections of Java applets; addresses both formal and informal learning; and targets learners at multiple levels. The Premier Award evaluation criteria are transformed into best practices in design and development of engineering courseware. Through illustrative examples drawn from the submissions recognized by the Premier Award, courseware developers will be able to improve their designs leading to potential increases in learning effectiveness

[1]  William K. Horton.  Evaluating e-learning , 2006 .

[2]  Qun Liu,et al.  Interactive Ground Water ( IGW ) : An Innovative Digital Laboratory For Groundwater Education and Research , 2003 .

[3]  Chetan S. Sankar,et al.  Teaching Real‐World Issues through Case Studies * , 1999 .

[4]  Brandon Muramatsu,et al.  The National Engineering Education Delivery System (NEEDS): A Multimedia Digital Library of Courseware 1 , 1997 .

[5]  A. Spanias,et al.  Assessment of the Java-DSP (J-DSP) on-line laboratory software , 2003, 33rd Annual Frontiers in Education, 2003. FIE 2003..

[6]  Alice M. Agogino,et al.  Scaffolding knowledge integration through designing multimedia case studies of engineering design , 1995, Proceedings Frontiers in Education 1995 25th Annual Conference. Engineering Education for the 21st Century.

[7]  Dean Sanders,et al.  Using Jeroo to introduce object-oriented programming , 2003, 33rd Annual Frontiers in Education, 2003. FIE 2003..

[8]  Susan Walsh Sanderson,et al.  Multimedia interactive learning modules for design and manufacturing education , 1996, Technology-Based Re-Engineering Engineering Education Proceedings of Frontiers in Education FIE'96 26th Annual Conference.

[9]  Wilson J. Rugh,et al.  Interactive mathematics on the Web: MathML for signals and systems demonstrations , 2003, Proceedings of the 2003 American Control Conference, 2003..

[10]  P. Eibeck.  Criteria for peer-review of engineering courseware on the NEEDS database , 1996 .

[11]  Qun Liu,et al.  Interactive Groundwater (IGW): An innovative digital laboratory for groundwater education and research , 2003, Comput. Appl. Eng. Educ..

[12]  Stephen J. Ressler,et al.  Using a Nationwide Internet‐Based Bridge Design Contest as a Vehicle for Engineering Outreach , 2004 .

[13]  Sheri Sheppard,et al.  Interactive Multimedia Courseware and the Hands-on Learning Experience: An Assessment Study , 1996 .