ONLINE LEARNING

Regarding your article in the winter 2004 magazine on online courses, the conclusion of the Mellon project that “online learning does no harm” could be dangerous. Being a teacher, and of course having been a student, I agree that using technology to enhance the learning process—with some course content and extra material online—is a good thing.

But there was no discussion in the article about the potential for cheating (to put it bluntly). Perhaps students participating in and interviewed for the study were not comfortable revealing anything about such potential (or perhaps all UC Davis students are angels). But I know someone well who needed a course to get their degree (at a reputable state university) and was unable to pass the course until they took the online version; they sat with their roommate and had them do the tests and even help do written communication with the instructor. These were not normally “bad” or devious people, just a couple of bright students.

Of course cheating is possible in classroom courses as well, but no matter what the technology, it seems to me easier to get away with it online.

What frightens me about the results of the study is the conclusion that online courses are less costly and that “as enrollment grows and budgets for new classrooms shrink, online learning is being given a more serious look.” I fear the rash of online schools will eventually render degrees less meaningful at best. I know teachers are overworked, I know schools are underpaid, but please, let’s be sure to cover all the bases, consider all the ramifications, before embracing the allure of high tech, lower cost (but maybe lower value) learning.

Editor’s note: You’re right—we didn’t cover the issue of cheating in our story about online learning, and it is an important issue—especially as these courses become more prevalent. For the Mellon courses discussed, cheating wasn’t possible: All the examinations were given in class. For the chemistry lab, though, pre-lab quizzes (to acquaint students with the experiment) and followup lab reports are done online. But this is only a small portion of the students’ total course grade, and instructors collect copies of the students’ data as students leave the lab to ensure that each uses his or her own data in the lab report. Cheating isn’t an issue just in online work, as you note. “Take-home” exams, essays, and unsupervised project work are frequently part of the traditional courses. Instructors do their best to be vigilant, and students are expected to behave responsibly. Students who do not are reported to Student Judicial Affairs.

I read the article in the winter issue of UC Davis Magazine on online learning [“Class Without Walls”] with interest. You presented a broad coverage of a complex issue, and I am pleased that this material is out there in an important campus magazine.

I would like to follow up on this subject with some additional information about a study very similar to the Mellon project you reported on.

I came to Davis in 1967, spending my first 10 years in the Office of Medical Education, where I had responsibility for the use of all types of technology in medical school instruction. I went on to spend six years chairing the newly formed Division (now a department) of Computer Science then returned to work on technology support of learning and designed several courses to test some of these concepts. In the past 10 years, I have design several courses that provide alternatives to pure lecture mode instruction. One, Introduction to Computers (for non-majors), had a fairly large enrollment (about 125–175) each quarter offered, with a waiting list. I tried to expand it by having a separate room with TV presentation of lectures (switching the students weekly between TV and live rooms) and then subsequently designed an online version of the class, which was offered starting in about 1993 or so. We did a study comparing this online class with the lecture course (both are still offered, though I don’t teach either any more). The study appeared in a publication that can be found online at www.openrct.org/papers/distance-learning97.html.

This analysis showed that students in the online version of the course did just as well as matched students in the lecture version, and they evaluated the experience very positively. Improvements to the course content for online delivery have further enhanced this class. This course was not included in the Mellon study you reported on because much of the analysis included in that study had already been done for this course.

Hybrid or fully online courses at UC Davis face a number of barriers, both academic and administrative. Current national and international studies suggest that if positive, proactive steps are taken to promote actively the development or adaptation of more courses for such alternative forms of instruction, the campus could achieve significant increases in enrollment without compromising the quality of learning. I hope that your article will stimulate thinking along these lines.

GRANDPA GILMORE

The winter 2004 article about Gilmore Hall/John W. Gilmore underscored wonderful memories of my grandfather.

His debates with the College of Hawaii regents over education of native peoples was part of a lifelong advocacy against the “curse of prejudice.” He loved students and colleagues from near and far. As a small boy I recall Thanksgiving dinners at his Rice Lane home where the large living room bulged with family, friends and lively conversation about diverse subjects.

In the 1930s he handwrote about 75 pages about his early life, which detail how Americans lived in the 1800s in rural areas, survived, helped each other, worked hard and lived relatively long lives. The original is in the Bancroft Library at Berkeley and is worth reading for historical perspective.

The family called him “Pop.” Pop didn’t shirk domestic duties, raising three sons, training them well in survival skills, love of the land and environment.

Thank you for honoring him.

REMEMBERING DICK

Bob Dunning’s article commemorating Dick Lewis [winter ’04] was personal and very touching. I didn’t know that Dick had passed away, so I was glad to see that he was remembered in such an appropriate manner.

I took one of the first athletic training classes from Dick back when women weren’t seen in a training room unless they were injured. Dick treated his female students with the utmost respect and wasn’t threatened by women who aspired to learn his craft. As an athlete, I also received the magic touch mentioned by Jim Sochor in the article—it seemed that Dick could make any injury feel better.

Many thanks to your magazine and to Bob Dunning for helping me and other former athletes stir up memories of Dick Lewis and what he gave to all of us.

Hats off to Mr. Dunning for his article concerning the passing of Dick Lewis [“The Most Valuable Player,” winter ’04]. From my experience, I know of no other person who has positively affected so many people.

No athlete wants to be in the training room because it usually means something is wrong. But I was in Dick’s training room every day before and after practice and games. He created an environment that brightened every day. His consistency was solid as a rock. And with every departure from the training room, one felt uplifted somehow.

As the years have passed since leaving Davis, I have often reflected on Dick and his influence on others. In his soft, gentle and compassionate way, he was a leader among children. Without one knowing why, one was absorbed by his environment; it just happened because it felt good. What was absorbed was righteousness, goodness, caring, sincerity, hope, courage, compassion, power, strength, integrity and dignity. Years after experiencing this I understood how much of an impact he has had on thousands of people. And how that impact has made those people better today and how their children have been given these gifts as well. Thank you, Dick, for all you are.

I was fortunate to see Dick two years ago and thanked him for his input into my life and creating so much more value out of life for so many people. If he ended up in Aggie heaven, that’s where I want to go.

POLITICAL PLATFORM

We look forward to and enjoy the UC Davis Magazine, however, in the current issue [winter ’04] the interview with and article about Larry Fahn, 50th president of the Sierra Club, seemed to provide a platform for political statements.

We would urge the editors to avoid political statements no matter which side they would favor or criticize. There will be alumni and faculty who will disagree with any such statements, and as such they detract from the quality and enjoyment of the magazine.

PURA VIDA

Reading the article about Oded Shakked (winter 2004--not available on-line), I came across the following sentence: “He signs off with ‘Pura Vida,’ a surfer term for relaxed living in harmony with the ocean. . . .”

This information is incorrect. “Pura Vida” is not a surfer term but an expression that belongs to Costa Rica’s popular slang. I know such a fact because I am a Costa Rican surfer who lives in Hawaii. The term “Pura Vida” has been current in our slang back home since 20 years ago. The term is so characteristic of my country that other Latin people identify other “latinos” as “ticos” when they use it.

Indeed, the term means “relaxed living” and it is used conversationally as a greeting/answering form. For instance, if I meet someone on the street, I ask “Pura Vida?” Such a question would mean “How are you doing?” If the person is actually doing very fine, they would answer “Pura Vida.”

If Mr. Shakked does sign his wines with the term “Pura Vida,” he must have acquired it in one of his surfing trips to the West or the East Coast of my country. To express the same idea with a “surfer term/gesture,” he should be using “Hang loose” with the Hawaiian Shaka sign—the original term that is used by Hawaiians to greet other people.

HISTORY LESSONS

History professor Eric Rauchway’s “Terrorism: a Revolt of Misery,” which appeared in the winter 2004 edition of UC Davis Magazine [not available on-line], tells us Tony Blair is wrong when he says “history provides so little instruction for our present day.” Then Rauchway goes on to cite the anarchist violence of Teddy Roosevelt’s era. Rauchway could have picked a lesson much closer in time. The kamikaze and banzai attacks of World War II are strikingly similar to today’s suicide bombings.