EDUCATION AND PRODUCTION Poultry Production: a Model for Developing Interactive Internet-Based Distance Education1 J. L. Emmert,2 A. M. Shortridge, and S. L. Sexton3 Department of Poultry Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701 ABSTRACT Over the last several decades, many poultry science programs have merged with other departments, but the poultry industry has undergone tremendous expansion worldwide, leading to a growing instructional void with regard to poultry production information. The objective of this project was to address the demand for information by developing two Webbased poultry production courses that cover management of broilers, turkeys, breeders, and layers. The Internet was chosen as the platform because it is asynchronous and may be accessed from any connected site around the world. To be effective, web-based courseware must be theoretically grounded and interactive, but universitylevel web-based distance education courses often fail to meet these standards. During courseware development,
the impact of instructional techniques and technologies on interactivity and learning outcomes was explored. A content expert, an instructional designer, and a graphic artist carefully reviewed a variety of instructional techniques to increase interactivity. Concept mapping was chosen because it has been shown to be a superior learning tool for enhancing the exchange of ideas and knowledge between instructors, students, and content. A unique instructional interface was established that includes threaded e-mail discussion, thought questions, animation, hypertext, rollover interactions, video clips, and concept mapping exercises. Results indicate that the integration of concept mapping into web-based learning environments successfully increased interactivity and learning outcomes.
(Key words: poultry production, Internet, distance education, teaching) 2003 Poultry Science 82:727–735
departments and faculty. The demand for a distance education introductory poultry science curriculum intensified in Arkansas with the development of the Arkansas Consortium for Teaching Agriculture (ACTA), which is a partnership of 2- and 4-yr institutions that was formed to provide expanded agriculture-related educational opportunities to students throughout Arkansas. Efforts to identify poultry production information on the Internet revealed that a plethora of information exists, but it is fragmented and considerable effort is required to obtain educational information in a logical sequence; therefore, a complete curriculum is not represented. Our objectives were to enhance the quality of existing poultry production courses at the University of Arkansas and to provide poultry production educational opportunities to a diverse group of domestic and international learners, including students at other institutions (including, but not limited to ACTA partners), industry employees, and private individuals. A project was undertaken to develop an Internet-based introductory poultry science curriculum (Broiler and Turkey Production and Breeder and Layer Management). Results
INTRODUCTION Poultry production information is in great demand throughout Arkansas and in areas of intensive poultry production throughout the United States. The international demand for poultry products, and thus people trained in poultry production, is growing rapidly (Beck, 1998), and there has been a decline in the number of poultry programs at US institutions, with many poultry programs being merged or disbursed in the last 20 yr (Pardue, 1997; Beck, 1998). Pardue (1997) proposed distance education as a potential means of meeting the needs of a dispersed population for higher education in the field of poultry science. In addition, Hogle et al. (2000) found that distance education and instructional technology are popular topics among poultry science
2003 Poultry Science Association, Inc. Received for publication August 23, 2001. Accepted for publication December 17, 2002. 1 This material is based upon work supported by the Cooperate State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 98-38411-6610, and the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Fayetteville, AR 72701. 2 To whom correspondence should be addressed:
[email protected]. 3 Current address: University Relations, 800 Hotz Hall, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701.
Abbreviation Key: ACTA = Arkansas Consortium for Teaching Agriculture; UAF = University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
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of the project are reported herein, and completed courseware is discussed with an emphasis on methods of enhancing interactivity.
MATERIALS AND METHODS Initial Considerations Development of Internet-based distance education is time consuming and costly; therefore, the following questions were carefully evaluated prior to project initiation: – Does another institution already offer these courses for distance learning, and if so, will there be competitive advantages to a new course? – What resources are available to the team (content expertise, instructional and graphic design expertise, computer programming skills, server space, hardware, software)? – How will completed materials be maintained and updated? It was determined that although some productionoriented web-based materials were available, specific web-based distance education courses in the area of poultry production were not offered at other institutions. Administrative support for distance education initiatives had been demonstrated by the development of articulation agreements with ACTA partner institutions and by the provision of matching funds from the University of Arkansas Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Science for a grant submitted to and funded by the USDA Higher Education Challenge Grants (HECG) program. Initial efforts focused on assembling a team capable of developing the courses. Original team members included a content expert, responsible for generating course content, and an instructional designer, responsible for evaluating and recommending appropriate teaching methodologies (interactive activities, logical sequence, etc.). During the second and third years of the project, a graphic designer was hired to develop visuals and translate course materials to an Internetbased format. Four more steps were followed to develop and implement the Internet-based poultry production courses (Broiler and Turkey Production and Breeder and Layer Management).
Assess Teaching Methodologies Content for the web-based poultry production courses was based on existing University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (UAF) courses; therefore, these courses were examined to assess how readily the teaching methodologies would translate to a web-based format. We were interested in whether existing teaching practices were most closely related to one of three major learning theories: behaviorism, cognitive science, or constructivism (Table 1). The instructor responsible for teaching the two courses proposed for web-based conversion was
asked to evaluate his teaching methodology against a key features and methods of instruction matrix developed by Reigeluth (1996). The matrix describes industrial age teaching practice that is based on behaviorism and information-age teaching practice (which is based on either or both cognitive science and theories of constructivism). To determine our theoretical baseline, several questions were considered: – What teaching methodologies are being used in the poultry production courses? – Is content primarily presented through one-way (noninteractive) communication, such as lectures, presentation, or modeling behavior? – To what extent do our students demonstrate critical thinking skills? – Do methods of assessment encourage students to engage in critical thinking or reinforce rote memorization through drill and practice? – Are existing teaching methodologies based on educational theories appropriate for use with new technologies?
Understand Computer Interface Design Computer-user interface design is generally based on metaphors to enhance user comfort and proficiency. For example, the operating system of many computers uses an office metaphor with a desktop containing file folders and a trash can, which are normally found in an office setting. Effective metaphors draw on prior user knowledge to facilitate operation of the system and also attempt to make computing programs or environments code-free. Much educational material currently available on the Internet is presented via a book metaphor. During this project, we were acutely aware that the chosen metaphor would impact how students access and navigate course material.
Address the Problem of Interactivity Issues and trends across a number of disciplines indicate that the educational quality of web-based courses is directly impacted by the level of interactivity. The design and development of technology-based learning environments is cross-disciplinary; thus, many different understandings of the term “interactive” exist. We developed a working definition of “interactive,” based on the theories of transactional distance (Moore, 1990; Moore and Kearsley, 1996) and conversational framework (Laurillard, 1993). The concept of transactional distance (Moore, 1990; Moore and Kearsley, 1996) describes the nature of distance in all educational settings. Three types of interactions have been offered as essential to distance education. The first, learner-instructor interactions, provides motivation, feedback, and dialogue between a student and teacher, and has the potential to be limited in many distance education settings. Second, learner-content interactions are those in which students interact with
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INTERNET-BASED DISTANCE EDUCATION TABLE 1. Theoretical learning categories Theory Behaviorism
Cognitive science
Constructivism
Description Linear instruction Presentation of discrete bits of information (including programmed instruction) Instruction that uses strategies to give the content meaning, which plays an important role in remembering
Students construct their own knowledge based on prior knowledge and experience
Goals
1
Assessment
Strategies
Teaching methods
Outcomes and learning behaviors are predetermined
Provides immediate feedback related to outcomes (performance)
Cued practice immediate
Lecture/presentation Tutorial Adversarial relationships Drill and practice Compartmentalization Parts-oriented
Outcomes are predetermined and driven by instructor goals, but may be given meaning by the use of statements of purpose
Provides feedback of mental models and processing, as well as outcome (performance)
Concept mapping Advance organizer Rehearsal Imagery Mnemonics Analogy Visual frames
Independent/learner control Discussion/seminar Team-based organization Cooperative, group learning Games Simulations Shared decision making Discovery Problem solving labs Diversity Networking
Outcomes are not predetermined, but may be negotiated and driven by instructor and student goals
Provides personalized feedback of process and outcome (performance)
Argument Discussion Debate Collaboration Reflection Exploration Interpretation Construction
Similar to cognitive science
1
Reigeluth (1996), Seels and Glasgow (1998).
course material to acquire knowledge. Third, learnerlearner interactions allow students to exchange knowledge and information. Learner-instructor interactions may be reduced if students are provided with wellstructured content that requires less elaboration and clarification from the instructor (McIssac and Gunawardena, 1996), and the perceived transactional distance between students and instructors may be decreased if learner control and dialogue increases (Saba and Shearer, 1994). The concept of learner control has emerged from constructivist theories (Table 1) and may be defined as the student’s ability to take responsibility for what is learned and to negotiate with the instructor to some extent with regard to what information is learned and how it is assimilated. In focusing on the learner-instructor interaction, Laurillard (1993) indicated that dialogue between students and teachers should be discursive, adaptive, interactive, and reflective. Twelve steps of discourse responsibility were proposed as essential for creating this type of conversational framework, and a comparison was provided that detailed the strengths and weaknesses of various types of media as support mechanisms for these steps. Combined, the theory of transactional distance (Moore, 1990; Moore and Kearsley, 1996) and the analysis of technological media (Laurillard, 1993) provided us with a working framework for the concept of interactivity, which may be described as adequate dialogue. An adequate level of dialogue (or interactivity) may be established by using instructional techniques or technologies that enhance the exchange of ideas or knowledge between instructors, students, and media, thereby leading to the development or construction of knowledge.
These instructional techniques may be designed to increase student-student or instructor-student dialogue. In addition, a type of media (such as print) may take on the role of instructor so that increased student-content exchange occurs. During course development, an attempt was made to include components to support an adequate level of dialogue. In this project, for a component or technology to be considered interactive, it had to fit the theory of transactional distance (Moore, 1990; Moore and Kearsley, 1996), and it needed to fulfil at least eight of Laurillard’s (1993) 12 conversational framework guidelines.
Structure Content and Choose Key Concepts to Visualize Effective teaching at a distance requires highly structured content. We were interested in structuring the courseware to include the three types of interactions discussed previously. In addition, visual representation of information is a critical component of effective teaching, both at a distance and in the traditional classroom. We felt that well-designed graphics in our web-based learning environment would provide a better opportunity for the learner to understand material without immediate instructor feedback that typically occurs in traditional classrooms when concepts are poorly understood. During course development, we attempted to represent important concepts with visuals as well as text.
Assess Your Performance and Success As the last step of the development and implementation process, we were interested in assessing the perfor-
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mance and success of the project. Although long-term tracking of on-campus and distance education student numbers and performance is desirable, it was beyond the scope of this project. Purdue system course evaluations (containing 45 statements related to overall course and instructor quality) were used to compare the assessment of students enrolled in UAF Broiler and Turkey Production and Breeder and Layer Management courses before and after the incorporation of the Internet-based materials resulting from this project. To further evaluate the completed courseware, we used a qualitative research design that was selected because it allowed us to conduct a naturalistic inquiry to prove a real-life context within a unique case orientation (Patton, 1990). A case study was conducted that made use of data and investigator triangulation. Twenty-one students volunteered and completed concept mapping exercises before and after being exposed to a portion of the Internet-based course material. Six students were chosen to participate in a nominal group interview process based on their precontent knowledge concept map. A quantitative scoring scheme designed by Novak and Gowin (1984) was used to evaluate pre- and postcontent knowledge as shown in student concept maps. Because the study did not establish the reliability and validity of the content expert map or student maps, concept map scoring data were analyzed from a qualitative rather than a quantitative viewpoint. Open-ended team interviews were conducted in order to establish a nominal group. The purpose of the interview was to probe the degree to which concept mapping contributed to interactivity and student learning within the web-based test module. Interview transcriptions were coded to document themes and patterns in the participants’ perceptions.
RESULTS Initial Considerations A large part of our initial efforts centered around identifying existing poultry production information on the Internet, which although plentiful, is fragmented and located at numerous sites. Traditionally, text-intensive publications or bulletins have been posted, and institutions tend to post information on a wide variety of subjects, sacrificing cohesiveness among the offerings. Course notes for a few poultry production courses were found, and the course content of our web-based courseware does not appear to differ substantially from poultry production courses at other institutions. However, the format and Internet-based approach of our project sets it apart from any other poultry production course of which we are aware. Internet-based courseware benefits from integration of additional components that support visualization of key concepts and interactive strategies. Given our objectives, the initial assessment confirmed that development of new poultry production courseware was warranted.
Assess Teaching Methodologies By employing the matrix of Reigeluth (1996), the instructor determined that he taught primarily from a behavioristic perspective using a lecture-based format that 1) moved students through the content in a linear manner, and 2) encouraged students to employ cued practice to study. We felt that the educational quality of the Internet-based courses would be enhanced by incorporating assignments and activities that supported a human constructivist approach, which melds tools from cognitive science into constructivist theory. This approach emphasizes problem-solving skills, creativity, and personal initiative (an important component of Internet-based courses, which generally require students to take responsibility for their own learning). Subsequent instructional design efforts attempted to create a constructivist framework.
Understand Computer Interface Design Computer interface design can directly impact the success of Internet-based distance education. In particular, navigation disorientation negatively affects learning outcomes and can be very frustrating for the learner. Selection of an adequate interface metaphor was a critical instructional design aspect because it determined how course information and material would be presented. For this project, a textbook metaphor was chosen because it has a simple appearance and is familiar to students who, therefore, require a minimal amount of training to successfully navigate the course. From a content standpoint, the textbook metaphor allowed structured information to be presented in a linear sequence, which is appropriate because these courses primarily serve freshman and sophomores with little background knowledge. With our textbook metaphor, a welcoming splash page contains introductory information about the course and a menu (similar to a table of contents). By choosing “course material” from the menu, students can access a web page containing a menu of specific course sections, or chapters. Selection of an individual section (or chapter) then allows access to an overview and a menu containing objectives and specific topics within the section (subheadings similar to those contained within a book chapter).
Address the Problem of Interactivity This courseware was designed to contain several components that support our definition of interactivity (adequate dialogue). Netforum (a threaded e-mail forum) was incorporated to provide the instructor with a mechanism to decrease transactional distance by providing support for student-student and student-teacher interaction. Netforum supports communication between two parties, but messages (and replies) may also be posted that are available to the entire group participating in the course.
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The courseware also contains four components that support student-content interactivity: thought questions, animations, hyper-text pop-ups, and hotspots/ rollovers. Thought questions imbedded within the content provide periodic opportunities for students to reflect on content materials and provide examples of test questions. Answers to thought questions are built on previous knowledge and are hyperlinked to the thought questions to provide immediate feedback. Hyperlinks may be activated by a mouse click that launches a second browser window. Animations, hyper-text pop-ups, and hotspots/rollovers are included to emphasize key concepts. In the case of some animations, hyperlinked terms within the text can be activated with a mouse click to launch a second browser window containing an animated image. With rollover interactions, hyperlinked terms are activated with a mouse click to reveal a second image near or slightly over the original image, and the modified image then replaces the original stationary image. Supportive text, activated by a mouse click on the hyperlinked term, disappears when the cursor passes off of the link. Concept mapping was chosen as the component to provide increased interactivity because it enabled steps 5 through 12 of Laurillard’s (1993) conversational framework to be provided, and thereby established adequate dialogue. In addition, concept mapping could easily be integrated into a web-based courseware interface. Concept mapping has been successfully used as a tool to help students reflect upon, reorganize, and integrate existing and new information into meaningful applications (Novak and Musonda, 1991). Concept maps graphically illustrate relationships between ideas and greatly aid students in the process of restructuring their own knowledge or expanding their own conceptual understanding. Within a concept map, two or more concepts are linked by words that describe their relationship. For example, “free fall is due to gravity” could be described with a concept map containing two ideas (free fall and gravity, which both appear in symbols) and three linking words (is due to). An example of a concept map is provided in Figure 1.
Structure Content and Choose Key Concepts to Visualize Efforts were made to incorporate interactions that have been found to be essential for successful distance education (Moore, 1990; Moore and Kearsley, 1996): learner-instructor, learner-content, and learner-learner interactions. However, we also believe that instructorcontent interaction is an integral part of effective webbased distance education courseware. Specifically, instructor content interaction involves modification and revision of course materials to reflect informational changes and to address student assessment of courseware. In designing our courses, we utilized the distance education model that contains the addition of instructor-content interaction. The new model served
as our guide during development of content pages, assignments (group projects, etc.), and communication structure. Visual representation of information was an important component of the transitional process of converting traditional course materials into Internet-based courseware. Key concepts for visual representation were selected during developmental meetings between the content expert and graphic designer. The content expert provided input with regard to which concepts were most in need of visual representation, whereas the graphic designer was responsible for the creative aspects of each visual concept. The graphic designer then used a combination of techniques to develop the visuals, including digital photography and a variety of software packages. Visuals were developed to include interactive components discussed previously: thought questions, animations, hyper-text pop-ups, and hotspots/rollovers.
Assess Your Performance and Success A summary of University of Arkansas student responses to Purdue system course evaluations is shown in Table 2. The average response to all statements (45) and the average response to core statements across the university, college, and department were numerically higher following implementation of the Internet-based courseware into the on-campus poultry production courses. The greatest differences occurred with the Broiler and Turkey Management class. Changes in concept mapping scores are shown in Table 3. Qualitative assessment of the pre- and postcontent knowledge concept maps suggested that the web-based instruction was effective in increasing students’ understanding, as measured by conceptual hierarchy, inclusion of cross-links, and use of examples. However, students were unable to identify valid relationships, and the average number of student answers remained far below the total possible answers. Interview transcriptions revealed three themes and patterns: 1) 50% of the interviewed students indicated that they felt student-to-student interactions had increased, 2) 100% of the interviewed students indicated that they felt student-to-content interactions had increased, and 3) 100% of the interviewed students indicated that they felt that various components within the print-based content took on the role of teacher.
DISCUSSION The poultry industry has undergone increased worldwide growth, and there has been an increase in the domestic and international demand for poultry production information. However, the number of institutions offering poultry programs has declined substantially in the last 20 yr (Beck, 1998). As proposed by Pardue (1997), distance education has the potential to serve an increasingly broad and geographically diverse group of learn-
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EMMERT ET AL. TABLE 2. Purdue system course evaluation student responses1 Broiler and turkey production2
Breeder and layer management3
Parameter
Before
After
Before
After
All questions4 University core5 College core5 Department core5
4.81 85.0 87.3 79.0
4.87 90.0 95.0 87.0
4.55 67.3 70.3 63.0
4.91 96.0 97.0 91.0
1 The poultry production courses were evaluated by students using a series of 45 statements in a Purdue system format. 2 The Broiler and Turkey Production course was evaluated four times before (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000) and one time after (2001) the incorporation of Internet-based courseware. Average student enrollment was 24 and 22 before and after incorporation of Internet-based courseware, respectively. 3 The Breeder and Layer Management course was evaluated three times before (1998, 1999, 2000) and one time after (2001) the incorporation of Internet-based courseware. Average student enrollment was 32 and 25 before and after incorporation of Internet-based courseware, respectively. 4 Numbers reflect the average response (5 = strongly agree, 1 = strongly disagree) to the series of 45 statements before or after incorporation of the Internet-based courseware. 5 Numbers reflect a percentage comparison among the poultry production courses and all courses at the university, college, or departmental level for a series of six core item statements that must be included in all course evaluations at the University of Arkansas. The core item statements are: 1) I can understand my instructor’s spoken English, 2) instructor motivates me to do my best work, 3) instructor explains difficult material clearly, 4) course assignments are interesting and stimulating, 5) overall, this course is among the best I have ever taken, and 6) overall, this instructor is among the best teachers I have known.
Eggs to be sampled
Breakout procedure
are candled on
necessitating use of the
to assess
Appearance of egg
which may not contain
which if normal indicates that a
Day 10-12
Visible signs of embryonic development
which may contain a
Live embryo is present
Visible dead embryo
in which examination of
Broken eggs
may reveal presence of
Blood spots or milky yolk
may reveal presence of Normal yolk, no signs of fertilization
resulting in
resulting in
which is counted as
resulting in
resulting in
Classification as Infertile
Classification as Fertile
Early Dead (period I mortality)
which is counted as
FIGURE 1. This figure illustrates a sample concept map from the hatchery module of broiler and turkey production. Main ideas are connected by linking words to clarify meaning and establish relationships.
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INTERNET-BASED DISTANCE EDUCATION TABLE 3. Changes in concept mapping scores
Category Valid relationships Conceptual hierarchy Cross-links Examples
Total possible answers1
Average number of student answers Pre-exposure2
Post-exposure3
55 13 14 30
0 2.81 0 7.47
0 9.20 11.20 10.35
1 The number of possible answers for each category was established using an expert concept as a guide; the expert map was not made available to participating students at any time during the study. 2 Pre-exposure responses were gathered before students were exposed to the Internet-based courseware. 3 Post-exposure responses were gathered after students were exposed to the Internet-based courseware.
ers and may be particularly important for meeting higher education needs in the field of poultry science. In fact, Hogle et al. (2000) recently reported that distance education and instructional technology are popular topics among poultry science departments and faculty. In Arkansas, the development of ACTA resulted in increased administrative interest in developing introductory agriculture courses for distance education. The goal of ACTA, which is a partnership of nine community colleges and three University of Arkansas System 4-yr institutions, is to use distance education technologies to provide expanded agriculture-related educational opportunities to students throughout Arkansas and to support the development of an Associate’s Degree in Agriculture (offered by participating community colleges). Each institution is responsible for developing introductory courses to be offered to member institutions, which reduces course redundancy and best utilizes the expertise of instructors at member institutions. Moreover, ACTA supports a seamless transfer of credits for students at 2-yr colleges who elect to pursue a baccalaureate degree at one of the 4-yr institutions. Poultry production was targeted as a needs area because many potential students are unable or choose not to travel to UAF for post-secondary education, and yet would choose to study poultry science due to the predominance of employment opportunities in the region. After identifying the need for distance education courses in poultry science, we undertook a project (supported by a USDA Higher Education Challenge grant) to develop an Internet-based introductory poultry science curriculum (Broiler and Turkey Production and Breeder and Layer Management). The Internet was chosen as the delivery vehicle because it is asynchronous, readily accessible, and supportive of visuals and interactive activities. Computer-based instruction is also flexible and able to meet the needs of traditional students in rural or international settings as well as non-traditional students with time constraints. Our goals were to enhance the quality of existing poultry production courses at the University of Arkansas and to provide poultry production educational opportunities to a diverse group of domestic and international learners, including students at other institutions (including, but not limited to ACTA partners), industry employees, and private individuals.
As a result of this project, two web-based poultry production courses were developed. Course modules in Broiler and Turkey Production include poultry industry historical overview, hatchery operation, housing, brooding management, grow-out management, introduction to physiology, introduction to nutrition, and financial aspects of poultry production. Course modules in Breeder and Layer Management include introduction to poultry breeders, broiler and turkey breeder genetics, rearing broiler breeders, reproductive anatomy and egg formation, broiler breeder management, turkey breeder management, and commercial egg production. The physiology module from the Broiler and Turkey Production class is available for review at: http://www.uark.edu/campus- resources/anscmatr/demonstration/ physiology/index.html. We found that the most effective way to maintain and update the courseware is through a three-step process that involves student review (for technical errors, missing graphics, etc.), instructor review, and revision by the departmental communications specialist. Through articulation agreements, each participating institution in ACTA lists distance education offerings from other institutions in its own course catalog. Students enroll in the distance education courses at their own institution, and, therefore, tuition and fees are assessed and credit is granted according to the policies of each institution. Formal policies for enrollment and credit have not been developed for institutions not participating in ACTA; it is possible that individual agreements would have to be made with institutions wishing to make the UAF courses available to their students. The courseware has been made available to employees of various Arkansas-based companies and to individuals; in these instances, users are interested in obtaining information, rather than taking the courses for credit. Our Internet-based poultry production courses are among a selection of courses from which students attending ACTA community college partners may choose to satisfy a requirement for general agricultural courses. How the courses would contribute to the curriculum at other institutions would vary. Students attending colleges lacking poultry science departments (or courses) but located within regions of intensive poultry production would be expected to benefit from exposure to poul-
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try production information. Additionally, faculty located at universities that currently offer poultry production courses may wish to use our Internet-based courseware as a supplement to their existing course(s). In this way, our courseware would take on the role of a textbook, thereby circumventing the need for formal articulation agreements (i.e., registration procedures, institutional credit, etc.). The total time involved in this project was approximately 3 yr, which included time spent hiring personnel. Support personnel (instructional designer and graphic designer) were half-time employees; therefore, the project actually required approximately 1.5 yr, with the first year dedicated to initial considerations, the teaching assessment, computer interface, and instructional design issues. Each course required 3 to 6 mo of intensive collaboration between the content expert (instructor) and the graphic designer. During this time interactive strategies were planned, content was structured, and key concepts were developed into graphics and other types of visuals. Timelines to develop courseware based on our project could vary widely due to various factors such the as the type of course, skills of personnel, and available budget. For example, the development of certain types of graphics required advanced skills using multiple software programs, as well as creative input from all of our team members. Course authors developing a course alone may find the development of these types of components extremely time consuming, thereby extending development time. However, our assessment indicated that concept mapping alone could establish an intermediate level of interactivity. The Internet-based courseware has been used in both traditional poultry production classes at UAF, and student feedback has been positive. Traditional teaching methods at the university level, namely delivery of material via the lecture format, may not be an ideal system for effective teaching because prevailing teaching styles frequently do not incorporate current research findings on teaching and learning. This mismatch may have serious consequences, including lower grades for students whose learning styles do not correspond with the teaching style, and less interest in the material (Felder, 1988). Students expect technology in the classroom and may learn or retain material to a greater extent if material is presented in an interactive manner rather than in didactic, lecture-only based form (Felder, 1988). Kulik (1994) found that in some subject areas students may learn more and complete lessons in less time with computerbased instruction. Although many other variables could have contributed, student responses to the Purdue system course evaluations (Table 2) suggest that the incorporation of Internet-based materials into the UAF poultry production courses was met with approval. Content of the courses was very similar before and after incorporation of the Internet; therefore, it is likely that higher student evaluations, in large part, reflected satisfaction with the
method of instruction. Changes in concept mapping scores (Table 3) indicate that the combination of interactive components chosen for inclusion in the undergraduate courseware provided effective web-based instruction. It is likely that the wide disparity between the possible number of answers generated by the content expert and the average number of responses by the student participants is due to not only differences in the level of expertise (or understanding) but also to a lack of student familiarity with the process of concept mapping. With practice, the quality of student concept maps would likely improve. Although only three of six participants asserted that concept mapping was a useful learning tool that enhanced their learning experience; all of the participants indicated that concept mapping required them to rethink their ideas about the material. All of the participants indicated they believe the differences in their preand post-content knowledge concept mapping performance was due to a lack of knowledge during premapping. Further, all of the participants asserted that if they were given the opportunity to redo their maps they would add more details. In summary, we have outlined the steps that were followed in producing Internet-based poultry production courseware: assess teaching methodologies, structure content, understand computer interface design, choose key concepts to visualize, address the problem of interactivity, assess your performance and success. In light of increased demands for poultry production information and with recent indications (Hogle et al., 2000) that distance education and instructional technology are popular topics among poultry science departments and faculty, this project appears to be timely. Further, although concept mapping has been heralded by many as a superior learning tool with the potential to revolutionize the design and use of all instructional technologies, we could find no example of its use within a web-based learning environment (Jonassen et al., 1997; Kommers, 1997). Our courseware is an example of an innovative educational product developed using concept mapping.
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Novak, J. D., and D. Musonda. 1991. A twelve-year longitudinal study of science concept learning. Am. Educ. Res. J. 28:117–153. Pardue, S. L. 1997. Educational opportunities and challenges in poultry science: impact of resource allocation and industry needs. Poult. Sci. 76:938–943. Patton, M. Q. 1990. Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods. 2nd rev. ed. Sage Publishing, London. Reigeluth, C. M. 1996. New paradigm of instructional design. Educ. Tech., Res. Dev. 36:13–61. Saba, F., and R. Shearer. 1994. Verifying key theoretical concepts in a dynamic module of distance education. Am. J. Distance Educ. 8:9–24. Seels, B., and Z. Glasgow. 1998. Making Instruction Design Decisions. 2nd rev. ed. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
