Please choose your delivery country and your customer group
This study explored differences in learning opportunities for students taking a course via the communications technology satellite (CTS) and students who were taught via live presentations. The CTS, launched in 1976, is capable of broadcasting anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. Part of the CTS project, sponsored by the National Library of Medicine, involved the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry. The original plan was to telecast by CTS from Lexington, Ky., to Denver, Colo., and Seattle, Wash. Equipment malfunction, however, required instructors to come to Bethesda, Md., and present the course live to University of Maryland students for 3 hours and then broadcast the course to Denver and Seattle the following 3 hours. The course dealt with computerized analysis of dental practices, the custom design of dental offices, and management principles. Information to evaluate the course presented via CTS was obtained from an attitude questionnaire (characteristics of the lecturer, course content, feedback, course objectives, and presentation mode), a 20-item objective test (principles and concepts taught in the course regarding equipment and facility design), and an evaluation sheet used to rate preliminary office sketches developed by all course participants. Comparison data on students who participated in the CTS project and on students who received live presentations indicated that all students were similar in attitudes and performance.