CIT hosts teaching forum

After the introductory speech by Dr. Said Selim, Dean at CIT, presentations were made on different aspects of teaching and assessment.

Dr. Husni Charif, Dean of Student Affairs, delivered the first lecture titled "Useful Tools for Managing Online Courses". The talk started with a brief description of team-based active-learning and ways to handle teams. A grid map of classroom activities, material delivered, participation, and evaluation was also suggested. Given the nature of the course delivery, Demo Software such as ViewLet and SnagIT, Internet resources, and Simulation Techniques using JAVA applets, are shown to be indispensable and highly effective in fostering student-centered learning. In addition, E-grading tools were shown to be very practical when grading and exchanging electronic documents. Two demos depicted how all the presented features can be integrated into a lecture.

Dr. Lamia Abdelaziz and Dr. Mahmood Awan, made a presentation on "E-learning at UD: a case study". The presentation was about their pilot e-learning experience during the Fall 2007 semester. The experience proved beneficial for both students and faculty members. It improved communication between students and the faculty and made students take a more responsible approach to their learning. The recommendation was to pursue this further and make it a University wide practice.

Shafaq Khan and Dr. Naoufel Werghi made a presentation on "Assessing Learning Outcomes: A case study and perspectives". Through a case study they emphasized the importance of the measurement of the student's learning objectives and incorporation of continuous improvements to the courses. They further derived and proposed the framework for the utilization of artificial neural network approach to assess and measure student's learning outcomes.