Grant for $77,000 includes HP wireless equipment and cash award to improve student achievement

Tri-State University was selected as one of 39 two- and four-year colleges and universities in the United States and Puerto Rico to receive a 2008 HP Technology for Teaching grant, which is designed to transform teaching and improve learning in the classroom through innovative uses of technology. 

Tri-State received an award package of HP products and a faculty cash award valued at more than $77,000. The Wade Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering received 21 tablet PCs and will use them in the fall thermodynamics course. Each student will have a laptop with specialized software for the course.

The tablets will be loaded with DyKnow software, which offers teachers a platform for keeping the class engaged while monitoring individual learning. The HP tablet PCs complement DyKnow software by giving students multiple formats for note taking and classroom response.

Wade Department professors Dr. Ramiro Bravo and Dr. Brett Batson, Department of Computer Sciences professor Bill Barge, Chief Information Officer Michelle Dunn and instructional technologist Julie Cottin made up the project team.

“The main idea is that students do not need to take notes, because anything that happens in the class is being recorded,” said Dr. Bravo, the project leader. “It is possible to interact with the students because every computer is connected to the network and each student can respond individually to the problem posed.”

A goal is to transform the classroom environment into one with more dynamic, active participants, Bravo said. “The idea is to engage everybody,” he said. “They are stimulated to participate.”

Another aim is to measure the results of students using DyKnow in class against those in  regular classes. “I will teach one class with DyKnow and one without it to measure how successful the system is in the learning process,” he said.

The tablet PCs stay with the students for the entire semester for use in all their engineering classes. That creates the added benefit of familiarizing students with the tablet PC. “They really get used to using the tool if they get to keep it. It helps them learn to use the tablet efficiently,” he said.

The equipment will work well for mechanical engineering instruction. “This is a fundamental class, and this equipment is going to be very useful,” Bravo said. “The department’s goal is to develop professional mechanical engineers who design every type of machine, from very small ones to huge ones for airplanes or ships. They are involved with anything that moves or involves transformation of energy. In thermodynamics we discuss how to transform energy, especially heat, to make it useful to mechanical work.”

“The project team brought very clear goals to the table to use HP technology in ways that will bring active, transformational learning strategies into engineering classrooms,” said Kelly Trusty, TSU grants consultant. “The prospect of engaging students in new ways is very exciting.”

“We are moving toward becoming a campus which utilizes portable computing devices, and this is another step in that direction,” said Dr. David Finley, Vice President for Academic Affairs.

HP is awarding 149 two- and four-year colleges and universities, and K-12 public schools in the United States and Puerto Rico more than $7 million in mobile technology, cash and professional development as part of the 2008 HP Technology for Teaching grant program. Since 2004, HP has contributed a total of $60 million in HP Technology for Teaching grants to more than 1,000 schools in 41 countries worldwide. During the past 20 years, HP has contributed more than $1 billion in cash and equipment to schools, universities, community organizations and other nonprofit organizations around the world.

“Around the world, HP partners with pioneering professors and schools to discover how technology can improve student success,” said Sid Espinosa, director of Global Social Investment programs at HP. “While technology is not the answer to every educational challenge, we have witnessed its incredible and transformative impact in the classroom. This innovation is happening every day as teaching and learning are fundamentally changing.”

More information about the 2008 HP Technology for Teaching program and grant recipients is available at www.hp.com/go/hpteach.   

More information about Tri-State University is available at www.tristate.edu.

Tri-State University, an internationally recognized, private, independent, co-educational institution, offers associate, baccalaureate, and master degrees in programs to students in engineering, mathematics, science, computer science, business, teacher education, communication, criminal justice, golf management, social sciences, and various other fields of study. TSU is a member of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association and offers 21 varsity sports. Founded in 1884 and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, TSU operates a 400-acre main campus in Angola, Ind. with off-campus centers in Angola, Fort Wayne, South Bend, and Merrillville, Ind.