Distance Teaching as a Graduate Course on Information Systems and Design
Ping Zhang
A graduate distance course on Information Systems Analysis and Design was designed and delivered under the guidance ofthefollowingfour beliefs: (1)an effective education is a learner-centerededucation; (2)distance students are more likely to experience situated learning and problem-based learning; (3)eriforced learning should enable distance learners to achieve higher learningperformance andsatisfaction; and (4) the drivingforce behinda distance course is the effective learning of subject topics. not the enforcement of state-of-the-art distance education technologies. The course was wellpresentedandreceived. Students reporteda very satisfactory learning experience. This paper describes in detail the course planning, actual delivery, learning results. and technology use. Different distance course models are also introduced. Experiences. lessons learned. andpractical suggestions can help other distance instructors to deliver effective distance education. The author concludes with a discussion of several important distance education issues.
Ping Zhang is an assistant professor in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University. She has published papers in the areas of information visualization, user interface studies, computer simulation, and technologyassisted education that appeared in journals such as IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications, Simulation, Decision Support Systems, Journal of Research on Computing in Education, and several international andnational conference proceedings. She has received a teaching award from UT Austin and the best paper award from the International Academy for Information Management. Dr. Zhang has a Ph.D. in Information Systems from the University ofTexas at Austin, and M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Computer Science from Peking University, Beijing, China.
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