A Title III Strengthening Institutions grant for $1.7 million focused on infusing technology into general education courses was awarded to UCA in October 2001. A major initiative for Year Four was to incorporate DyKnow Vision software into three general education courses, psychology, kinesiology, and health education. The instructor tool-of-choice was the tablet PC, while students used laptops with Wacom Graphire graphics tablets.
Our investigation of the configuration of classrooms using DyKnow Vision found that the typical arrangement included a data projector, an interactive white board, a tablet PC or laptop for instructors and desktops, laptops, or tablet PCs for students. We decided to pilot a different configuration which consisted of a wireless environment with a tablet PC for the instructor and laptops with Wacom Graphire graphics tablets for students. We tested the viability of transmitting DyKnow Vision panels directly from the instructor’s tablet PC to the students’ laptops.
To determine the success of our study, we compared students’ perceptions of their experiences using beginning and end of semester satisfaction surveys; compared grades and retention rates of pilot courses with traditionally delivered sections of these same courses taught by these same instructors; and conducted interviews with instructors involved in the project.