Course content - course content section that includes text, figures and graphs, example problems, and demonstration videos. Links to other sites provide more detailed material, alternative explanations and discussions of material, and nice graphics. The homework section gives detailed solutions to all assigned problems. Figure 1 General Web Site Structure Used in Internet Courses Assessment is a critical and difficult process for physical sciences. The material covered in lower level physics and chemistry courses is not amenable to an extended discussion format.
Problem solving and understanding sophisticated models to describe nature is the order of the day.
On-line testing for the primary student assessment is clearly not acceptable. The first half of the approach involves a series of five exams during the course of the semester where the students either come to campus and take the exam under the supervision of the faculty member or the University testing center or set up an acceptable testing site where an independent proctor can monitor their work on the exam. The proctor mails the exam back to us for grading. Typically, students pay a small sitting fee to the testing center for the proctoring of their exam. The second half of the testing procedure involves regular quizzes posted on the course bulletin board.