Independent Study

Distance Education: Roots in Independent Study

University System of Georgia Independent Study has collaborated with faculty in academic departments throughout the System to provide distance education for many years. Provision of academic undergraduate courses through correspondence has been a mission of continuing education centers in state universities for decades. It enables people who because of other family and work obligations would otherwise be unable to participate in higher education to earn academic credit. University System of Georgia Independent Study provides self-directed learning opportunities to earn academic credit. As technologies have developed and become more affordable in audio, video, and most recently, computers, independent study programs have expanded the learning opportunities now available at a distance. The print medium is still the mainstay of independent study programs, but multimedia learning materials are enhancing the teaching and learning experiences in independent study programs as they are in campus classrooms.

Self-Directed Learning

With all of the distance education options that are springing up in higher education, independent study remains unique in offering students an opportunity to engage in self-directed learning. In addition to the flexibility of learning at a distance, independent study provides flexibility in timing. Students in University System of Georgia Independent Study enroll in courses for a calendar year and may, with extenuating circumstances, extend the time an additional three months. Approximately 3,500 students who are enrolled in Independent Study are primarily from Georgia, but are also from other states and countries around the globe. An electronic mail system for submission of lessons and for virtual classroom discussions is expected to be implemented by fall 1995. This capability will be an alternative to regular mail for written assignment grading and interaction with the instructor and is expected to shorten the time required for students to receive feedback.

New Technological Capabilities

The new instructional studio/classroom at the Georgia Center offers technological capabilities that enable Independent Study to collaborate with faculty in University System academic departments to produce self-directed learning programs. Faculty are able to teach students in the distance education classroom and produce tapes for later use in Independent Study. While Independent Study courses for credit have been focused primarily in the humanities, technologies now enable faculty in the sciences to teach through Independent Study.

For example, University System of Georgia Independent Study has collaborated with Keith Karnok, a crops and soil sciences professor at The University of Georgia, to produce a video laboratory supplement to a turfgrass management course scheduled for this summer. The Georgia Center's Department of Television Services taped various expert presentations on topics such as: turfgrass growth characteristics, seed quality and identification, insect identification, and disease identification. The course utilizes a laboratory kit that provides students hands-on experience. Slides in the classroom are incorporated into the videotape and improve students' identification skills.

Independent Study has also collaborated with the Georgia Center's Evening Classes and Television Services to produce a history video course. "History 252, American History from 1865 to the Present," taught by Joseph Coté of UGA's Department of History, was taped in the Center's instructional studio/classroom. The arrangement allowed Coté to incorporate computer graphics, overheads, and other visual materials throughout his lecture to the students present for the Evening Classes course; these same visuals will be available to the students who will participate in the course through the Independent Study videotape.

The new visual dimension of the history course for Independent Study increases student interest. Graphics, slides, original newspaper clippings, and memorabilia, always available for students in the classroom, have rarely been part of Independent Study materials. Multimedia will be used to improve existing courses and to develop new courses. For example, a videotaped course in art, "Art 200: Appreciation of the Visual Arts," conducted by William Squires of UGA's Department of Art, was arranged by Evening Classes and will be available this fall through Independent Study.

Computer Tutorials and Discussion Groups

The Independent Study marketing course "Principles of Marketing, MKT 360," utilizes a computer tutorial using the LOTUS 1-2-3 program. The course, taught by Kevin Ellis of UGA's Small Business Development Center, prepares the student for the "business world." The tutorial shows the student how to solve problems using the computer programs, which are graded as assignments.

Computer-mediated discussion groups will be part of a child and family development course taught by Diane Hodson of UGA's Department of Child and Family Development. Hodson plans to moderate discussions with students, a dialogical element characteristic of her on-campus courses. The new version of this course should be ready for registration this summer. Electronic Course Guides

In addition to stimulating learning opportunities through multimedia, Independent Study currently offers an electronic version of a select number of courses to improve completion of written assignments for submission. Undergraduate courses in religion, anthropology, political science, and child and family development are now available on diskette as well as in print. Print and electronic versions of new and revised courses such as management, office management, and German were made available this spring. For students who have access to a DOS computer with WordPerfect 5.1 or more advanced versions, the electronic course guide offers a number of advantages including ease of completing assignments and the ability to save personal copies of lessons submitted. The electronic course guides will be used in the e-mail lesson submission when it is implemented next year.

Self-directed study for academic credit through Independent Study is not new, but the technological initiatives to enhance teaching and learning opportunities in Independent Study are new. Faculty and student input and feedback have been instrumental in development of these improvements, particularly with the electronic course guide.

For More Information

For more information, contact Carmen Shuler White, University System of Georgia Independent Study, 1030 Chicopee Complex, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-3603, 706-542-3243. E-mail: cwhprofs@uga.cc.uga.edu

Return to the Table of Contents.

Web administrator:  webmaster@gactr.uga.edu

All contents copyright (C) 1996.
University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education
All rights reserved.

Last revised: 1/31/96; 4:07:24 PM

URL: http://www.gactr.uga.edu/GCQ/gcqsum95/indstudy.html