Supported by

2007

External Research & Programs

Educational Value of Tablet PC’s in Business & Engineering

http://www.uvm.edu/~tabletpc

The University of VermontJames Kraushaar, David Novak, Jeff Frolik, Thomas Chittenden

Faculty and students in the Business and Engineering Schools agree: the integration of Tablet PCs offers clear benefits. The next step of this integration is to conduct a quantitative assessment of the Tablets’ impact on learning (or “the learning environment”). This project focuses on curriculum design as well as developing and employing assessment tools to ascertain whether Tablet use at The University of Vermont should be more pervasive. In particular, we hope to determine how mobile, pen-based computing can enhance both individual and team learning in academia.

We have gathered and are analyzing data on the educational value and validity of Tablets in the curriculum and are looking at their effectiveness for mobility, collaboration, ad-hoc help and team sessions, etc. We are also assessing student adaptation and utilization.

We are using longitudinal data, online surveys, focus groups, student journals/diaries and various other assessment tools to measure learning outcomes.

The School of Business Administration (BSAD) now has over 600 students with Tablets and has revised the curriculum to incorporate their use. This includes revisions to the Junior level required “Management Information Systems” course which incorporated Tablet functionality for data flow diagramming, class notes management, mobile team collaboration projects, etc. The project is investigating how Tablet use impacts students’ understanding of course concepts and their ability to collaborate in team project and classroom settings.

Early results show that students with Tablets are as satisfied with them as students with regular laptops. The Tablets are viewed as having added benefit, especially for equations and graphics. Documents in electronic formats appear to reduce the feedback time and enable students to complete their formal write-ups in a timely and more effective fashion. Faculty have also found that grading electronic assignments is less disruptive than physically collecting, marking up and returning bound versions.

The School of Engineering (SoE) utilizes Tablets in both design and laboratory environments. Students individually and in teams utilize this mobile computing platform for developing electronic log books, project brainstorming, 3-D computer aided design, technical communications, etc. Laboratory procedures have been developed which take advantage of the Tablets’ pen-based entry for mathematical and graphical entries which are cumbersome at best using keyboard and mice. The project will assess the impact on student learning to date and direct the future expansion of Tablet technology in the engineering curriculum.

Tablet-Based Computing Initiative