Using A Blended Format For Professional Development Courses
Eugene Rutz · 2020
Abstract NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Session 2222 Using a Blended Format for Professional Development Courses Eugene Rutz College of Engineering University of Cincinnati Introduction The University of Cincinnati provides a graduate certificate in computer science for continuing engineering education. The program is designed for degreed engineers who 1) need computer science and information technologies skills for their current jobs and / or 2) individuals who wish to obtain a masters degree in CS but who do not have an undergraduate degree in that field (see www.eng.uc.edu/css). The courses in the certificate program have traditionally been provided in a classroom-based format. To accommodate the schedule constraints of the target population, content was developed to be presented via the web utilizing the Blackboard course management system. However, given the nature of much of the content (significant amounts of programming), it was concluded that a completely web-based course would not meet the needs of many of the students. In order to provide personal instruction, programming help, and opportunities to interact with the instructor, each course has a standard meeting time (evenings after normal working hours) for students to meet with the instructor in a computer lab. The paper describes the creation of the blended course and the presentation of a representative course. Initial student reaction to this format is also presented. Development of Course Content The courses in the certificate program in computer science were developed specifically for working engineers and scientists. Some of the courses have an equivalent course taught to traditional graduate students, while other courses are tailored to a student population that does not have the same background as the traditional computer science graduate student. Courses in the certificate program include: • Object Oriented Programming • Data Structures and Discrete Mathematics • Design and Analysis of Algorithms • Computer Architecture and Organization • Software Engineering • Unix • Database Theory • Computer Communications • Operating Systems Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education