40 Years of Computing at Newcastle

Department Technical Report Series No. 546

A Self-Taught Computer Engineering Course

J.N. Coleman
D.J. Kinniment
F.P. Burns
A.M. Koelmans.

University of Newcastle upon Tyne. 1996.

Abstract

The application of computer-aided-learning as a direct replacement for, as opposed to an adjunct to lecturing, is still in its infancy in higher education. This paper examines some of the reasons for its slow uptake and then describes a project to develop courseware for a large proportion of the Electronic Engineering syllabus within several UK Higher Education Institutions. The first modules to be completed cover the area of Computer Engineering. We describe the philosophy and design of this courseware, and then report a series of tests in which the examination performance of students using it was compared with that of control groups taught in traditional lectures. The results clearly suggest that carefully-designed courseware can lead to a large reduction in teaching time, with no significant difference in learning.

Department Technical Report Series - 1996
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Technical Report Abstract No. 546, 30 June 1997