Methodology

Not only have software applications programs changed in the last decade, so have teaching methods. The "chalk 'n talk" lecture sessions and lab demos have given way to smart classrooms and more interactive classes. Sections of almost our entire CMS core curriculum are offered as online Web-delivered courses. The methodology for delivering the CMS 3270 course had to change, too. The traditional classroom sections of the course are delivered in smart, or what we have termed "semi-smart" classrooms, where high-end presentation equipment, including the instructor's laptop, an intranet connection, a sound system, and an overhead projector are available. However, each student does not have to have his/her own computer.

Physical Delivery

The pilot class in the Fall of 2001 was held in a semi-smart classroom, with one session a week in a campus lab, where all students had computers with Office 2000, the Web, and a connection to all appropriate campus servers. All lectures, theory discussions, and software demonstrations were delivered in the classroom. The class syllabus was loaded on the Web for all students to access, and printed copies were distributed the first week of class. Hyperlinked within the syllabus page were pertinent materials for the class. So in what Mawhinney and Morrell (1999) termed a WAD - Web augmented delivery - the traditional class became a variety of what sometimes is mistakenly labeled a "hybrid class." (Technically, hybrid classes meet some of the time on the Web, which was not the case here. All class meetings were physical, held in a classroom three times a week.) Instead of overhead transparencies and other more traditional aids, most lecture material was prepared as Web pages, using DreamWeaver 4.0. The Web was accessed from within the smart classroom and the material was projected for students as Web pages. Students could use those same Web pages for review, because they were hyperlinked from their syllabus page. Not only did this allow a high-end multimedia presentation of class material and student access ATAP (any time, any place), it also facilitated porting the class material to the Web-delivered section, once the pilot class was successful.

Subsequent classroom sessions were held in smart or interactive classrooms where each student had a computer, as well as the instructor-controlled console. The most successful sessions of the Micro-Based Software class are now held in a special needs lab owned and managed by our School of Business. The classroom setting is an intimate lab with 22 computer stations arranged in a U shape around the instructor station. All student computers are easily monitored from the instructor station, team and instructor presentations use high-end equipment that allows two screens to be projected simultaneously, computer drives are configurable and writable by students, and problem solutions are lively "give and take" sessions, where students learn as much from peer presentations as they do from the instructor.

Problem Solving Component

The students in Micro-Based Software work in a team environment to solve a series of office-type problems, using the Office software applications as tools. The students are required to study the problem, determine alternative solutions, decide on a solution, and use presentation software to present that solution to the rest of the class and the instructor. The class as a group then comes to a consensus as to the most effective and efficient solution.

For the pilot classroom section and subsequent classroom sections, the currently assigned problem resides on a campus intranet server for students to view, print, or download. The problems are assigned in two or three-week intervals and students are allowed, and encouraged, to ally with classmates to solve the problem and present the solution in a team environment. They are given the option to solve each problem solo as well, but after the first three problems, almost everyone decides to team up; the barriers to working together are far outdistanced by the benefits of collaborative effort and sharing the workload.

Assessment

Students in the Micro-Based Software class are evaluated by several means, testing both their skills at end user computing and their analytical ability. The following percentages apply:

• Problem solving solutions (50 percent).

• Quizzes and tutorial submissions demonstrating skills in Office (15 percent).

• MOUS type certification tests for final exam (23 percent).

• Independent papers: non-Office software reports (5 percent).

• Final integrated report (7 percent).

Performance and final grades in the pilot class did not differ significantly from the final grades in the non-pilot section of CMS 3270, although the assessment was quite different. Grades in the subsequent offerings of the class show normal distribution.

In the final exam, 23 percent credit consists of achievement scores on the Internet-accessed SAM (Skills Assessment Manager), composed of one exam each in Word, Access, Excel, and PowerPoint and published by the Course Technology division of International Thompson Publishing. These Office modules simulate the Microsoft Office User Support certificates that are available from official Microsoft vendors for a fee. They are skills-based evaluations of user mastery of Access, PowerPoint, Excel, and Word application programs at the Core Level or the Expert Level. Students are given tasks to perform in a simulated environment that is timed. There is immediate feedback to the student. The students' scores are automatically entered into an instructor database that reports student results by section, as well. Since the SAM testing system is available via the Web and students can have a front-end installed on their own home computers, the exams can be taken on their own time in a semi-proctored situation. From anecdotal feedback from students over three semesters, the SAM exams are regarded as one of the most valuable parts of the course. Students appreciate taking exams in an online environment and being exposed to the type of testing they will experience when in a company training program. Microsoft certification is an extremely popular component of employee training in the modern corporate environment.

The individually prepared reports, as well as the tutorials, quizzes, and SAMtests balance the course assessments; they reflect the student's proficiency outside of the team problem-solving environment. That is, students must prove they can use the tools at a core level and prepare reports independently. The software report was a holdover from the old curriculum; we originally retained it because we strongly believed it was a very valuable experience. The original idea of having students prepare an independent report on microcomputer software that was not covered in the course was to expose them to various other application programs that are used in business. Many years ago, before the smart classroom was available, these reports were presented orally with the aid of a computer cart. Students showed their classmates a program they knew, and often used in their workplace. This not only gave the class a broad exposure to many programs that we could not possibly cover in the limited 15-week term, it gave the students a perspective on the breadth of applications available for the desktop. It also gave them a recognition level as a result of the "show and tell" presentation by their classmate, and it gave the presenter valuable experience on how to explain a program to the uninitiated computer user. When the interactive lab setting became part of the class, the presentation of these software reports had to be dropped: there was no time for 30 reports within the limited class time. The written reports were then submitted to the instructor. By 2002, when Microsoft applications saturated the desktop environment and the software program that was the subject of the report narrowed to two or three other commonly used programs, we decided to drop this requirement altogether. The final report remains a vital assessment of the student's individual ability to bring together a formal report on a typical business problem.