What is the PREMIER AWARD?
The PREMIER AWARD for Excellence in Engineering Education Courseware has been introduced to recognize high-quality, non-commercial courseware designed to enhance engineering education.
Why create the PREMIER AWARD?
Multimedia courseware designed for engineering education is being developed by many academicians who deserve recognition for their outstanding contributions to enhancing engineering education. Too often these developers find little reward, either financially or institutionally, for their superb and time-demanding efforts. In addition, the use of multimedia technology in the classroom is expanding rapidly, yet many faculty integrating courseware into their classes are unsure of indications of quality.
The SYNTHESIS Coalition and NEEDS, along with our founding sponsor John Wiley & Sons, Inc., developed the PREMIER AWARD to promote successful courseware, as well as provide models of excellence for educators planning to incorporate or develop courseware in the future.
What is Courseware?
Engineering courseware is computer-based educational material that can be used to assist engineering students in their learning process. For this award, courseware should cover significant breadth and/or depth of material. Courseware can be used in lectures, during recitation sections, as self-paced study, as reference material for the student, or as exercises for the student to perform alone or in a group. Typically, courseware takes advantage of multiple media, such as graphics, photographic images, sound, video and animation to illustrate engineering concepts, devices, or practices. Courseware will often include features such as hyperlinks or hypertext which permit users to explore related information or greater depth of information as they are interested.
What is Quality Courseware?
Quality courseware is reliable, tested courseware that can be incorporated and will add value to a student's learning environment. In addition, the courseware should take advantage of the medium to provide an enhanced learning experience beyond the traditional textbook and chalkboard models. Courseware can be greatly enhanced by the context for which it is designed and in which it is used. Hence, quality courseware includes recommendations for effective pedagogical applications.
If you'd like more information about the Premier Award or how to become a sponsor, please contact the NEEDS Project Director, Brandon Muramatsu, via email at mura@needs.org or by telephone at (510) 643-1817.
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