NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
PDF on ERIC Download full text
ERIC Number: EJ1076143
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 27
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1941-1766
EISSN: N/A
Student and Instructor Perceptions of the Usefulness of Computer-Based Microworlds in Supporting the Teaching and Assessment of Computer Networking Skills: An Exploratory Study
Dabbagh, Nada; Beattie, Mark
Advances in Engineering Education, v2 n1 Spr 2010
Skill shortages in the area of computer network troubleshooting are becoming increasingly acute. According to research sponsored by Cisco's Learning Institute, the demand for professionals with computer networking skills in the United States and Canada will outpace the supply of workers with those skills by an average of eight percent per year through 2011, amounting to a shortage of about 60,000 full-time workers each year. This skill shortage is having a detrimental economic effect on the information technology (IT) industry at large. However, teaching and assessing these skills effectively requires a hands-on approach so that each student is individually exposed to an entire network of several computers, network switches, and network routers. This is often problematic in face-to-face teaching contexts due to time, space, and cost considerations and even more problematic in distance learning contexts where students take courses and complete degrees totally online with no physical access to a computer networking lab. Hence, the purpose of this study was to examine the usefulness of Computer-Based Micro-Worlds (CBMW) in supporting the teaching and assessment of computer networking problem-solving skills. It is hypothesized that CBMW may provide: (a) an economically viable method to overcome the difficulty and expense commonly faced when training students to become effective network engineers, and (b) a practical and widely accessible learning method that could help alleviate the skill shortage in the industry. In order to determine the viability of these hypotheses, this exploratory study examined student and instructor perceptions of the usefulness of CBMW in supporting the teaching and assessment of computer networking problem solving skills.
American Society for Engineering Education. 1818 N Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 412-624-6815; Fax: 412-624-1108; Web site: http://advances.asee.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Two Year Colleges; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A