Evaluating the Impact of Social Media in 4th year Computer Engineering Courses

• Author / Creator

  Zhang, Jiajia

• The University of Alberta ECE department offers a computer security course CMPE 420, and a capstone design course CMPE 440 for 4th year Computer Engineering students. In 2009, we deployed educational technologies to enhance the learning experience in both courses. In CMPE 420, a class blog is used to introduce a critical perspective on the security of built systems. In CMPE 440, Wikis and Tablet PCs help streamline the design and construction of the capstone projects. Our goal in this thesis is to evaluate these interventions through in-class surveys. For CMPE 420, we have developed an instrument to identify differences in experience among students and determine the blog’s impact on student learning. In CMPE 440 we employ an instrument based on Technology Acceptance Theory. The results indicate that our interventions are successful with the course blog and the Wikis, but TPCs are not really successful.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Social Media
  • Technology Acceptance Theory
  • Computer Engineering Courses

• Graduation date

  Spring 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3Z945

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.