Session S2J 1-4244-0257-3/06/$20.00 © 2006 IEEE October 28 – 31, 2006, San Diego, CA 36 th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference S2J-14 Implementation of an International Web-Based PSI Course: A Case Study Yusuke Morita 1 , Jean Kenne 2 , Akinori Nishihara 3 , Minoru Nakayama 4 , and Billy V. Koen 5 1 Yusuke Morita, Associate Professor, Nagasaki University, ymorita@nagasaki-u.ac.jp 2 Jean Kenne, Visiting Scholar, Tokyo Institute of Technology, kenne@cradle.titech.ac.jp 3 Akinori Nishihara, Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology, aki@cradle.titech.ac.jp 4 Minoru Nakayama, Associate Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology, nakayama@cradle.titech.ac.jp 5 Billy V. Koen, Professor, The University of Texas at Austin, koen@uts.cc.utexas.edu Abstract - An international Web-based Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) course has been implemented as a pilot study between the United States and Japan. Totally, 22 Japanese students participated in the authentic programming course as non-credit students via the Internet. Students from both countries could use the same learning management system, automatic test submission system, and application server. 10 Japanese students who completed the course answered a six-category questionnaire prepared to investigate the level of motivation, difficulty of contents, communication media, proctors, sense of presence, and learning mode. As a result, they exhibited strong motivation to study abroad and dependence on the proctors who supported their learning on site. However, two issues were recorded: First, since Japanese students were non-credit participants in the course, other incentives to motivate their participation were found necessary. Second, some initial network communication trouble to access the Application Server frustrated the Japanese students. These represent but a few of relevant issues pertaining to cross cultural instructional systems. Index Terms – Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), International, Web-Based Course, Higher Education INTRODUCTION Web-based learning environments offer opportunities for students to learn skills and knowledge. Students explore the course material at their own pace anytime, anywhere. More than 4,800 distance learning programs are provided via the Internet [1]. It is important for distance learning courses to design based on an efficient educational methodology [2]. Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) is one of the most effective methods to support students on asynchronous e- Learning [3]. PSI method was described that (1) the go-at- your-own-pace feature, which permits a students to move through the course at a speed commensurate with his ability and other demands upon his time, (2) the unit-perfection requirement for advance, which permits the students to go ahead to new material only after demonstrating 100% mastery of that which preceded, (3) the use of lectures as vehicles of motivation, rather than as sources of critical information, (4) the related stress upon the written word in teacher-student communication, and (5) the use of proctors, which permits repeated testing, immediate scoring, almost unavoidable tutoring, and a marked enhancement of the personal-social aspect of the educational process [4]. In the method, proctors who were excellent students of the course in the past guide the students through the course by face to face communication. The essential feature of the PSI is the use of proctors for a significant part of the teaching responsibility [5]. Koen [6] implemented the first PSI course to evaluate the method in engineering education. Some other researchers have also explored the usage of PSI. Recently, Yamazaki [7] implemented a PSI course and developed a system using data- base. Kogo [8] also carried out a web-based PSI course and evaluated the system. Morita et al. [9] described the relationships between students’ learning style and learning progress in a Web-Based PSI course. Recently, Koen [10] suggested the idea for an international web-based PSI course. It is an international collaborative research project which implements an international web-based PSI course to further evaluate the PSI methodology across cultural barriers. However, to our knowledge, successful international web-based PSI courses have not been reported yet. Therefore, the aim of the present was to implement and evaluate an international web-based PSI course between the United States and Japan, and to investigate the challenges associated with the international course. METHOD Figure I shows the overview of the international web-based PSI course. A web-based PSI course of the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin) was used as an international collaborative project with Tokyo Institute of Technology (TITech) in Japan. 12 students in summer session and 10 students in fall semester, totally, 22 students from TITech participated in the authentic programming course as non-credit students via the Internet. This course served not only the students who were in Japan, but also students who were in the US as usual. Contents of the course, system supporting students, and proctors’ roles were as follows. For the purpose of this study, student’s feelings about the course were investigated using a six-category questionnaire prepared to investigate student’s motivation, difficulty of contents, communication media, proctors, sense of presence, and class mode. Also, to estimate the student’s ability, prior