The impact of course design and delivery methods on student outcomes in the foundation surveying-geomatics course

• Main Author: Purcell, Roger C.
• Other Authors: Rodgers, Michael O.
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: Georgia Institute of Technology 2014
• Subjects: Assessment; Surveying-geomatics; Online; Placebound
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1853/52336

This research investigates the impact of course design and delivery methods on student outcomes in the Foundation Surveying-Geomatics (FSG) course. As indicated from current literature, fewer civil engineering students are taking surveying-geomatics courses, fewer students are pursuing surveying-geomatics as a career, practicing surveying professionals are retiring at an increasing rate and recently, surveyors are leaving the profession due to poor job opportunities & advancement resulting from poor economic conditions. These occurrences provide a mandate to encourage more students, traditional & non-traditional, and mobile & place-bound, to pursue surveying-geomatics education. Additionally, in order to make their required educational experience successful, educators must make surveying-geomatics coursework both effective & efficient as they train a new generation of surveyors. This research focuses on students taking the FSG course in an online platform. The importance of these students is highlighted by the knowledge that very few new surveying licenses are being issued. Further, in order to improve the success of these students in their subsequent college coursework and licensure exam performance, student outcomes in the FSG course were examined. In summary, this research was designed to fill some of the gaps in the understanding of how course design and delivery methods impact student outcomes and in the characterization of todayﾒs surveying-geomatics students. The identified objectives of this research included the following: ﾕ To design an assessment plan for the online foundation surveying-geomatics course that optimizes the application of the concept of ﾓassessment for learningﾔ including assessments and supporting applications. ﾕ To develop a data driven model to measure and validate student learning in the online foundation surveying-geomatics course. ﾕ To estimate the effectiveness of the proposed assessment plan using an experimental design that utilizes data from foundation surveying-geomatics course offerings and student input. ﾕ To propose a method based on pre-course student data and academic performance indicators to characterize online surveying-geomatics students and to predict the future performance of the students in the foundation surveying-geomatics course. To facilitate this investigation, an assessment plan including new course design and delivery methods was developed and applied. Additionally, a method to characterize online surveying-geomatics students and to predict their future performance in the FSG course was developed. This method was based on pre-course student data and pre-course academic performance metrics and predicted student performance in the FSG course. The results of this research indicate that student learning can be improved in the FSG course through the application of an assessment plan that includes course design and delivery tools that best match the student needs. Further, FSG students can be characterized to improve the understanding of the relationship between pre-course student data & pre-course academic performance metrics and the predicted student performance in the FSG course. This research is intended for civil engineering and surveying-geomatics educators and as such has provided knowledge of the impact of a viable assessment plan. In addition, it is hoped that these educators will find the methodology usable, illustrative and applicable to their coursework.