Introduction
In "The Road Not Taken", poet Robert Frost concludes by noting: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." At Rockhurst University, the Department of Political Science has definitely chosen to take "the road less
traveled” when it comes to how the Internet is utilized on our campus. In choosing this path, our department offers a model of how the Internet can be used to enhance teaching and to encourage research in an institution that is student-centered and seeks to prepare active and responsible citizens for the
world of the 21st century.
The Internet And Its Impact On Higher Education
Today, the Internet is dramatically changing the world of higher education. For students, the Internet offers a bewildering array of totally online courses and degree programs that are available at the touch of a finger on the Internet. For $45.00, VirtualStudent.com will prepare a totally online degree
program in a wide variety of majors. Lifelonglearning.com has a database of more than 9,500 accredited courses. Under the heading "Political Science", Lifelonglearning.com lists 330 totally online undergraduate courses from seventy-three colleges and universities. Other Internet sites -
Blackboard.com, NewPromise.com, and TeleCampus.edu - offer even more general and political science courses from schools in the United States and throughout the world.
In carefully examining these online political science classes, we were deeply disturbed by what we found. Too many of the political science offerings on the Internet strike us as intellectually deficient. For our department, the primary issue is education of our students. We want those in our classes to
be able to engage in critical thinking and to develop excellent oral and written communication skills. And most importantly, we want our students to become active citizens who will make a difference in the world of the 21st century. All too often, this is just what we didn't find in the totally online
political science courses available on the Internet.
What did we find on the Internet? We found significant numbers of courses that rely on streaming-video lectures and the ubiquitous multiple-choice test. There were no limits on how many numbers of students such courses could accommodate. For all too many institutions, such courses are primarily a good
way to generate revenue streams. For teachers, lectures can be recorded and face-to-face contact with students can be kept to a bare minimum if indeed there is any personal contact at all. For students, such courses are ideal if you merely wish to fulfill an academic prerequisite with the bare minimum amount
of work necessary. All too often what we found in terms of course content was boring and would do nothing to stimulate intellectual curiosity or to prepare students for lives of active citizenship.
We must acknowledge that some of the courses we examined offered dazzling online graphics and high-quality videos. But was this education focused on student learning, or was it merely entertainment? For our institution and for our department, mere eye candy is not terribly attractive. So, we examined some new
and different ways to bring the Internet and online learning to our campus.
Rockhurst University And The Internet
Founded in 1910, Rockhurst University is located in Kansas City, Missouri and is one of the twenty-eight Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States. Presently, Rockhurst has a total enrollment of roughly 3,000 students. Included in this number are 2,137 undergraduates with 1,366 attending full-time
and 771 attending part-time. More than 900 students are engaged in a variety of graduate programs. On the main campus in Kansas City, the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Management are located. There are 88 full-time faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences (53 percent are tenured) and 27
full-time teaching faculty members in the School of Management (74 percent are tenured). The School of Management offers the M.B.A. Degree and is a leader in that area in Kansas City. Because of a period of administrative changes in the deans' and president's positions, the Board of Trustees took the lead in
bringing the world of the Internet to Rockhurst University. In May 1997, a Technology Task Force was formed. The work of this task force resulted in the creation of a new Director of Computer Services position. This position was filled and a new Instructional Technology Committee was established. This
committee proposed a three-year technology plan which was approved by the Board of Trustees and implemented.
From 1997-2000, significant technological changes occurred on the Rockhurst campus. Endowment was tapped to fund a three-year plan that cost almost $7 million. All faculty and student computers were significantly upgraded. Altogether, 450 new Pentium II 400 Mhz personal computers were purchased to upgrade all
faculty members to the same platform and to replace all computers in the student computer labs. 174 of these new computers were given to faculty. In addition, a new Webserver and WebCT software were purchased and installed for Web-based courses. Finally, satellite capabilities have been increased and
bandwidth augmented to extend video and audio capabilities to the Rockhurst web presence. During the 1999-2000 academic year, Rockhurst was awarded a $1.75 million Title III grant by the U.S. Department of Education. Part of this money will be used in the next three years to support further Internet
infrastructure development and part of it will be used to support continuing faculty development in this area.
For Rockhurst faculty members, a key turning point was a "Teaching at a Distance Workshop" held for all interested faculty members on June 24, 1998. All faculty who attended were paid a stipend of $200 and 35 of the 109 full-time teaching faculty members participated. The President of Rockhurst -
the Rev. Edward Kinerk, S.J. - was just joining Rockhurst and he attended the workshop and gave the technology initiative his endorsement and full support. Proposals for teaching initiatives were sought and a grant competition was sponsored by the Deans' Team. By the fall of 1998, fifteen grants were awarded.
The grants were given to faculty from both the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Management. Five grants were given to faculty to develop new Internet-based courses and the remaining grants were given to faculty to develop Web pages, utilize the Internet in new ways, and enhance existing courses.
Grants ranged from $1,500-$2,000 with $500 provided for resources.
For the School of Management, the grants stimulated the development of a totally online M.B.A. Degree. Totally online graduate courses are now being taught year-round. Under Dean William Haefele, the College of Arts and Sciences adopted a different approach. Totally online undergraduate classes would be
offered only in the summer to serve the needs of Rockhurst students. In the regular fall and spring semesters, Web-enhancement would be possible in courses but no totally online undergraduate courses would be offered. This policy was developed to make sure that student-learning remained the key focus of
undergraduate A&S courses and that undergraduate A&S courses would maintain high quality and make time available for critical thinking and reflection. The new Information Technology Committee was created to assist in making sure that Rockhurst maintains the highest possible standards with respect to
the Internet and Web-based instruction.
The Department Of Political Science And The Internet At Rockhurst University
Dr. Smist, Chairman of the Department of Political Science, attended the June 24, 1998 "Teaching at a Distance Workshop". On July 9, 1998, Dr. Smist submitted a proposal to the Deans' Team to develop Web-based courses for the Political Science Department. In the fall of 1998, Dr. Smist was awarded a
$2,000 grant to develop an online American Government course and was given an additional $500 to purchase resources. Initially, Dr. Smist was a functional illiterate when it came to the Internet. To assist those on the faculty who like Dr. Smist were functionally illiterate when it came to the Internet, a
special faculty course was set up to correct this deficiency. Taught by Cheryl McConnell, the key faculty member developing the totally online M.B.A. Degree Program, this course began in January 1999 and continued for the entire spring semester. Although this special faculty course was intense and
covered an incredible amount and array of material, all who fully participated in this course learned how to navigate and use the Internet effectively. For those looking to use the Internet to its fullest potential, proper training and education for faculty is absolutely essential.
In developing a totally online American Government course, Dr. Smist proceeded slowly and with deliberation. During the summer of 1999, Dr. Smist used WebCT to enhance two summer classes. Students still met in the traditional classroom but WebCT was used to post discussion threads and to point students
towards Internet resources. Similar Web enhancement of courses was used by Dr. Smist in three classes in the fall of 1999 and two more classes in the spring of 2000. To assess these efforts, the WebCT discussion threads and assignments for all seven courses were printed out and reviewed by faculty
participating in a Carnegie Faculty Seminar sponsored by Rockhurst's Center for Teaching Excellence. In addition, every student who was enrolled in these courses was surveyed both before the class started and after the class had been completed. The feedback that was obtained was invaluable in making
adjustments and improvements.
In the summer of 2000, Dr. Smist taught two totally online Political Science classes: "American Federal and State Government" [PS 1100], the basic freshman American government introductory course, and "Media Politics" [CT 3860/PS 3860], a junior-senior level upper division course that was
crosslisted under both Political Science and Communications. For both these courses, the number of students allowed to enroll was set at sixteen. At Rockhurst, summer school classes are offered each summer in three distinct programs (two five weekday sessions and one eight weeknight session). In recent years,
there has been a dramatic decline in enrollment in the traditional summer courses. In the summer of 1999, for the first time two totally online classes were offered in Psychology and Theology and these two classes were again offered in the summer of 2000. All six of these totally online classes offered to
undergraduates by the College of Arts and Sciences reached the class limit quickly and were closed. Waiting lists existed for each course. This development occurred at the same time traditional summer course offerings were struggling to get necessary minimum class numbers. The limiting of enrollment in online
courses to sixteen students was designed to ensure that quality teaching and student-learning is the key goal of such courses and not primarily the numbers of enrolled students and revenue that can be generated.
What type of student enrolls in a totally online undergraduate A&S course at Rockhurst University? For these courses, the students have for the most part been traditional undergraduates who have wanted to take a summer class to get ahead in their degree program. In addition, those in the Political Science
classes had a mean cumulative GPA of 3.75. This means that academically the very best Rockhurst students were attracted to such classes. Traditionally, a good number of Rockhurst students come from St. Louis, Omaha, Topeka, and other towns and cities far removed from Kansas City. An Internet course enables
such students to take a Rockhurst course while they are at home during the summer. For those students still in Kansas City, an online class allows them to hold a day job to make money while permitting them to take a Rockhurst online class that they can complete when it is convenient. Other schools have
reported that those enrolled in online courses tend to be older than traditional undergraduates; that has not been the case at Rockhurst.
The Internet and Its Impact On Higher Education
Before beginning the totally online Political Science courses at Rockhurst in the summer of 2000, students attended a pre-course preparation session. Here the course syllabus was reviewed, necessary course handouts were distributed, and students were told how to access WebCT and the course Web Site. (See
Appendix for course syllabi) For both classes offered, a 500 point grading scale was used. 100 points or 20 percent of the grade was the Internet component of the class. Students were expected to participate in every discussion thread and lecture posted by the "Instructor". 50 points would be
awarded for participation in every discussion thread and lecture and 50 points would be awarded for the quality of the response. For example, in PS 1100, twelve discussion threads and ten major lectures were posted by the Instructor. Similarly, in CT 3860/PS 3860, twenty-six discussion threads were posted by
the Instructor. The remaining 400 points of credit in both of these courses consisted of written assignments largely based on the assigned course readings and designed to complement the Internet component of both classes.
As we noted above, Internet discussion threads are key components of the totally online political science classes at Rockhurst University. One example of a discussion thread was that the students were asked to examine and critically evaluate the Internet Site established by the Westboro Baptist Church
of Topeka, Kansas (www.godhatesfags.com). The pastor of this Kansas church - the Rev. Fred Phelps - regularly pickets the funerals of those who die of AIDS to let the families and friends know that the deceased is condemned to hell. In fact, on the church's Web Site, Matthew Shepard, the college student who
was murdered in Wyoming in a brutal hate crime, is depicted as burning in hell and repenting of his homosexual activities. The Instructor does not comment about this Web Site; the students do first. Typically, undergraduates are repulsed by this Site and some even call for it to be closed down. In the
Instructor responses, students are led to consider how hate Sites are a significant part of the Internet and how difficult it is to regulate "free speech". What standards and criteria do you use? If "free speech" is to be a reality in the United States, do we have to allow Internet
Sites like www.godhatesfags.com to exist?
Two other Internet assignments in PS 1100 required students to access resources available on the Web. First, students went to the www.hpol.org Web Site and accessed three of the Watergate tapes secretly recorded by President Nixon. On this Site, students could
listen to the “Smoking Gun Tape” of June 23, 1972 which led directly to Mr. Nixon’s resignation as President when it was publicly released in August, 1974. Besides being able to listen to two additional Watergate tapes, the Northwestern University professor who designed this Internet Site also
included on the Site a running transcript which students could read as they listened to the tapes. Second, students went to the C-SPAN.org Site and used the “Classroom Material” link to go to an incredible array of resources on the U.S. Presidency. Both these assignments take teaching about
the U.S. Presidency to a new level.
In the "Media Politics" course, one discussion thread focused on an April 19, 2000 Larry King interview with CBS anchor Dan Rather. Students had to go to the CNN Internet Site, read the Larry King interview with Dan Rather, and critique it. This assignment made students aware of the tremendous
resources available on the CNN Internet Site and also gave them new insight into the beliefs and mindset of Dan Rather. Two other assignments for this course involved specific postings on media Internet Sites. First, students were required to go to the Associated Press Internet Site and read the "No Gun
Ri" story that won the Pulitzer Prize this year. Then, students were to comment upon the controversy generated by the story and questions raised about the veracity of the witnesses cited in the story. Second, students were required to go to the Internet Site of the "Kansas City Star" (www.kcstar.com)
for two different postings. In the spring of 2000, the "Kansas City Star" had run a major three part investigative series on AIDS in the Roman Catholic priesthood. In the third story, the "Star" disclosed that a former Jesuit President of Rockhurst University had died of AIDS. The story in
the "Star" was the first time this was publicly disclosed and caused considerable controversy and debate in the Kansas City area. On its Web Site, the "Star" had posted the entire series along with significant additional material including reader responses. The "Star" series had
stirred up considerable controversy. We wanted students to critique the "Star" series and the supporting and supplemental materials on its Internet Site. Finally, the ombudsman of the "Kansas City Star" had written a column earlier in 2000 raising with viewers six ethical dilemmas
for news reporters and editors and had solicited reader and editor responses. We posted the six cases without telling the source and solicited responses to the cases from the students. Then, after the entire class had responded, we posted the reader and editor responses published in the "Kansas City
Star" by the ombudsman and had our students compare their responses to those of the readers and editors.
Creating the assignments described above takes a considerable amount of time. In addition, to maintain class interest and attention, Instructor responses to all student postings were made within twenty-four hours. Such feedback is also time-consuming but is absolutely necessary. Student reaction to all the
Instructor Internet postings in both of the summer 2000 classes was extremely positive. In addition, the initial Internet responses generated student-to-student interaction as well as Instructor-to-student interaction. The quality of these exchanges equaled discussions conducted previously in the traditional
classroom setting.
The first two totally online Internet Political Science classes at Rockhurst University have shown us that the Internet can be used effectively in the teaching of courses at an institution that values student-learning and that is student-centered. Although it is difficult if not impossible to develop oral
communication skills in an Internet course, Internet courses can be used to develop written communication skills and to elicit critical thinking. By limiting class size to sixteen students, Rockhurst University enabled the focus in the Internet courses to remain on the students and their learning. Such a
focus is typical of the traditional undergraduate courses offered at our institution in the regular fall and spring semesters. Not surprisingly, good and effective teaching on the Internet demands considerable time and effort from the Instructor. But the feedback from the students during the course and the
formal course evaluations by students afterwards demonstrate that students not only enjoy the freedom and flexibility offered by such Internet courses but also believe they are as intellectually challenged and stimulated as they would be in a typical undergraduate course on our campus. The Internet cannot
make a bad teacher a good teacher but it can allow a good teacher to reach out to students in a new way and to tap incredible resources that are being more fully developed each passing day on the Internet itself.
Conclusion
Recently, Stephen L. Talbott, the editor of the e-mail newsletter NetFuture observed in comments to the "New York Times" on November 25, 1999: "The computer is our hope if we can accept it as our enemy. As our friend it will destroy us." As Lisa Guernsey of the "New York
Times" noted, what Talbott means by this is that only when people consider the computer their enemy do they pull away from it. That act of pulling away can bring a feeling of freedom and a new appreciation of the personal, the creative, and the natural. As Talbott himself notes: "The computer gives
us the opportunity to assert ourselves against it. That is a gift." At Rockhurst University, we in the Department of Political Science have approached the Internet and online learning from a perspective very close to Talbott's. And, in comparison with other political science departments, we have
definitely chosen to take the path that is "less traveled". We feel comfortable with that choice and decision and we encourage other departments and institutions to do likewise.