Overview

Dates:  August 2006-May 2007.

During the 2006-2007 academic year, a group of faculty in Engineering investigated the use of tablet PCs in teaching, specifically to seeking to connect theoretical lecture material and practical applications that students need to be successful. The faculty hoped to build a knowledge base of best practices in teaching with tablet PCs by involving faculty teaching a variety of courses and sharing their experiences.

Fellows Activities

This Fellows program was conducted from September 2006 to May 2007. . Faculty attended a day-long orientation with hands-on demonstrations of specialized software for teaching and sharing student responses by Dr. Beth Simon. Monthly meetings promoted successful tablet PC use, as participants discussed their experiences in the classroom, shared their experiments with different software and presentation techniques, and monitored student reactions. Students in the classes were regularly polled both formally and informally about their experiences, and these reactions were discussed. Faculty set goals for their classes, and assessed their efforts in reflective writings, which formed the basis for several presentations.  Fellows received a $1,250 stipend for completing the orientation activities and a second $1,250 stipend in May 2007 after completing the remaining Fellows activities.

Outcomes

The group collaborated on a report “Transcending the Traditional:Using Tablet PCs to Enhance Engineering and Computer Science Instruction” to be presented at the Frontiers in Education Conference, October 2007. A link to the conference proceedings will be posted after the conference.

The team has identified excellent uses of tablet PCs in class, both for students and for instructors. Overall, the faculty use of tablets is a clear winner; faculty experimented with different presentation software and all like the ability to write while facing the students, to use color, and to save their notes. Even faculty members who state that they love blackboards now use a tablet PC as a presentation device. Everyone answered “positive” or “extremely positive” to questions about how the project improved teaching and student learning. When the students used tablets, there were definite gains in student engagement, and the majority of students responded positively. However, the hurdles to effective student use included logistical and technical problems that were not attributable to the tablets themselves.

An additional benefit of using tablets is that several faculty members stated that incorporating the technology encouraged them to rethink their course and their teaching objectives. Faculty indicated that they were more focused on student learning.

The group presented their results as a panel discussion at the Center for Instructional Technology showcase https://cit.duke.edu/showcase/2007/presentations.html#engineering

Participants

Linda Franzoni
Professor of Practice, Associate Dean for Student Programs
Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Pratt School of Engineering
https://cit.duke.edu/ideas/projects/2007/05/14/tablet-pc-franzoni/

Jeffrey Forbes, Assistant Professor of Practice
Department of Computer Science

Lisa Huettel, Assistant Professor of the Practice
Electrical & Computer Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering

Robert Malkin, Professor of the Practice
Biomedical Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering
https://cit.duke.edu/ideas/projects/2007/05/16/tablet-pc-malkin/

Joseph Nadeau, Associate Professor of the Practice
Civil Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering

Kathryn Nightingale, Assistant Professor
Biomedical Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering
https://cit.duke.edu/ideas/projects/2007/06/29/tablet-pc-nightingale/

Gary Ybarra, Professor of Practice
Electrical & Computer Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering
https://cit.duke.edu/ideas/projects/2007/05/12/tablet-pc-ybarra/