Implementation of a Method to Assess Student Progress/performance in an Interactive, Internet-based, Self-learning Tool

1 Brian Daku, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N 5A9, [email protected] 2 Heidi A. Diefes-Dux, Department of Freshman Engineering, Purdue University, 1286 Engineering Administration Building, Room 206 West Lafayette, IN 47907-1286, [email protected] Abstract  An interactive, multimedia, self-learning tool has been developed to teach the basic concepts of MATLAB. This tool, referred to as M-Tutor, is available on a CDROM for individual student use. It was designed to alleviate the time limitation of learning to using MATLAB in engineering courses. But the logistics of delivering, supporting, and evaluating a CDROM-based tutorial in large lower division engineering courses can be overwhelming. The approach taken here was to modify M-Tutor to run in a Terminal Server environment to permit internet delivery. An obvious difficulty with an internet-based tool is assessing student progress and performance. This has been addressed by keeping track of both the material accessed and the exercise performance. The instructor can use this information to monitor student progress and identify difficulties, or it could be used as part of a for-credit evaluation procedure. The paper reviews M-Tutor and its Windows Terminal Server implementation. Focus is on the implementation of the method used to assess student progress and performance.