Faculty Spotlight
August - September 2002: Mike Guidry
Challenges of Teaching with Technology
He developed both a website and the software for online quizzes in order to support the course, which was intended for non-science majors. Without pressure, he offered it to the students as a supplement to the textbook. Remember, the technology landscape for students at that time was less rich than that of today's Internet-connected dormitories. To his surprise and delight, 90% of the students used these online offerings.Noting the success of these online tools, he and a colleague, Tina Riedinger, decided to create a deliberately web-enhanced course in 1997. In response to their advertising of the new course, students signed up in large numbers, reversing a worrisome decline in the numbers. They added sections of the popular offering, accommodating 600 students. But each year they have to turn students away. Clearly, this web-enhanced format is a way students like to learn.
Mike continued his development work and eventually an interested
publisher found out about the website. A book company representative
came to Michael's office to demonstrate his wares, and was, in
turn, shown the web-based materials. That rep called the home
office to report the discovery, and soon publishers in the field
of astronomy were visiting the Nielsen Physics building to view
this new approach to teaching astronomy.
Eventually Michael and his colleagues signed with Brooks/Cole, a publishing house that specializes in the sciences, mathematics, statistics, computer science, and engineering. Working with this company, Michael and his team created "Online Journey Through Astronomy," a self-contained astronomy course that does not use a printed textbook. The online course is innovative in many ways, and ahead of its time in being untethered to a physical textbook. The company believes that universities will soon move toward this kind of educational resource, with its 350 animations and its effective instructional design. Please visit the online astronomy course.