<p>Our university has 4 ABET-accredited engineering degree programs. If we could offer one or more of them completely online for $150 to $200 per credit, would there be enough students to make the effort worthwhile?</p>
<p>Probably. You can dupe plenty of people into foregoing the lab experience of an on-campus degree.</p>
<p>What school is this? And how would a BS engineering degree be completely online? What about labs and such? </p>
<p>I’ve seen some masters programs done this way (don’t remember if the student does have to come to campus at various times), but not sure how this would work for a BS and be totally online. Can you elaborate?</p>
<p>University of North Dakota has on-line or distance ABET-accredited engineering degree programs:</p>
<p><a href=“UND Online | Degrees & Courses | University of North Dakota”>UND Online | Degrees & Courses | University of North Dakota;
<p>Note, however, that they typically take 6+ years to complete, and require going to the campus for labs.</p>
<p>Cost is $492.54 to $937.05 per credit, depending on state residency, according to <a href=“Explore 250+ Academic Programs at UND | University of North Dakota”>Explore 250+ Academic Programs at UND | University of North Dakota; . So a student may find local community colleges to be much less expensive for the frosh/soph level courses.</p>
<p>Arizona State University also offers an online ABET-accredited Electrical Engineering program. </p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>But what does ASU do about labs???</p>
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<p>That makes sense.</p>
<p>That’s why I asked the OP how a BS in eng’g could be “completely online” and be ABET accredited. Don’t you have to have labs? If a student has to come to campus for labs, then likely he/she can’t live too far away from campus. It would seem to mostly work for non-trads who can’t attend a traditional campus for most of the year. </p>
<p>UA offers a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering as part of it’s “Bama by Distance” program:</p>
<p><a href=“http://bamabydistance.ua.edu/degrees/bs-in-mechanical-engineering-blended/index.php”>http://bamabydistance.ua.edu/degrees/bs-in-mechanical-engineering-blended/index.php</a></p>
<p>You do have to go to campus for 3 labs (Troy Dothan or Tuscaloosa campus), and you have to take the following courses at another institution or completed them on campus: Calc 2 and 3, Physics 1 and 2 and Chem 1(which makes sense).</p>
<p>Still, with engineering you lose a lot by not being on campus. I can see why many Universities don’t offer it as one of their on-line options. </p>
<p>Despite the common misconception that hands-on laboratories are always superior to virtual labs, distance labs, or kit labs, there is actually plenty of research published in the literature that disputes this claim. In fact, many researchers have concluded from their findings that virtual labs are superior in almost every category except learning to physically operate a particular instrument.</p>
<p>Here are just 10 examples of the “plenty of research” I mentioned:</p>
<p>Corter, J. E., Esche, S. K., Chassapis, C., Ma, J., & Nickerson, J. V. (2011). Process and learning outcomes from remotely-operated, simulated, and hands-on student laboratories. Computers & Education, 57, 2054-2067. </p>
<p>Coble, A., Smallbone, A., Bhave, A., Watson, R., Braumann, A., & Kraft, M. (2010, April). Delivering authentic experiences for engineering students and professionals through e-labs. Paper presented at the 2010 IEEE EDUCON Education Engineering – The Future of Global Learning Engineering Education, Madrid, Spain.</p>
<p>Gomes, L., & Bogosyan, S. (2009). Current trends in remote laboratories. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 56(12), 4744-4756. </p>
<p>Gustavsson, I., Nilsson, K., Zackrisson, J., Garcia-Zubia, J., Hernandez-Jayo, U., Nafalski, A., Nedic, Z., … Hakansson, L. (2009). On objectives of instructional laboratories, individual assessment, and use of collaborative remote laboratories. IEEE Transactions on Educational Technologies, 2(4), 263-274. </p>
<p>Clark, R., Flowers, G., Doolittle, P., Meehan, K., & Hendricks, R. (2009, October). Work in progress: Transitioning lab-in-a-box (LiaB) to the community college setting. Paper presented at the 39th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, San Antonio, TX.</p>
<p>Harms, U. (2008, July). Virtual and remote labs in physics education. Paper presented at the 8th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, Santander, Cantabria, Spain.</p>
<p>Ashby, J. E. (2008, October). The effectiveness of collaborative technologies in remote lab delivery systems. Paper presented at the 38th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Saratoga Springs, NY.</p>
<p>Nickerson, J. V., Corter, J. E., Esche, S. K., & Chassapis, C. (2007). A model for evaluating the effectiveness of remote engineering laboratories and simulations in education. Computers & Education, 49, 708-725. </p>
<p>Bonatti, D., Pasini, G., Peretto, L., Pivello, E., & Tinarelli, R. (2007, May). A novel approach for laboratory activities in e-learning courses. Paper presented at the 2007 Instrumentation and Measurement Conference, Warsaw, Poland.</p>
<p>Finkelstein, N. D., Adams, W. K., Keller, C. J., Kohl, P. B., Perkins, K. K., Podolefsky, N. S., & Reid, S. (2005). When learning about the real world is better done virtually: A study of substituting computer simulations for laboratory equipment. Physical Review Special Topics – Physics Education Research, 1. doi:10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.1.010103</p>
<p>I do not disagree that being on-campus is a superior arrangement. Think of it like the old Sears advertisements. For nearly every product, they had “good”, “better”, and “best” items. Even if on-campus is “best”, being able to get a degree online is “better” than not being able to do it at all. Not everyone can quit their job and relocate their family to enroll in a full-time, on-campus degree program. I have had older students – some even older than me (56 yrs-old) – in my classes because they wanted to get that degree. For most of them, it is very difficult for their families. What if they could stay where they are and keep their jobs while completing the degree? They may not care that it may take a little longer.</p>
<p>Putting aside the pro’s and con’s of an online program…</p>
<p>$150 to $200 per credit would be fairly low (and appealing) to someone trying to complete a BS in engineering. Online has huge potential, and if you can work out the technology and curriculum, it can be very profitable. Using Liberty University as an example: “… with more than 110,000 residential and online students enrolled in more than 450 programs from undergraduate through doctoral, Liberty is the largest and fastest-growing university in Virginia, the largest private, nonprofit university in the United States, and the largest Christian university in the world.” All thanks to it’s online business.". </p>
<p>You can compare that rate’s to UA’s:</p>
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<p>I’m in the UA program, and it seems pretty solid. It just requires (for several classes) an 8-hour lab every third week, on a Saturday. Not a bad deal.</p>
<p>If you were to offer a cheaper alternative, that would be welcomed by many (if it was ABET accredited). My husband is currently searching for flexible ways to complete his engineering degree while on active duty, and even the online options available to him now aren’t going to cut it… </p>
<p>I think for non-traditional students this might work, although I think it could become painfully tedious at times not having that visual and social stimulation you get when attending a brick and mortar school. </p>
<p>Basically, with an online program, you get 100% of the stress of an engineering program with 0% of the fun. It may be hard for students to stay focused and motivated for 4 or 6 years of this. </p>
<p>@fractalmstr Hey now, some of us derive fun from pain and suffering!</p>
<p>Nice math pun there, Boneh3ad. ;)</p>
<p>I’ll be here all week (because I am tired of writing). :-bd </p>