| In this study, the costs and benefits of incorporating Web-based materials as a supplement to the traditional classroom were identified and estimated. To estimate the instructor's costs of incorporating Web-based materials, seven developers created supplemental modules to teach dynamic optimization. In addition, five ready-to-use interactive applets were provided to the developers for use in their modules.;Nineteen instructional design students evaluated the seven modules, identifying positive and negative aspects of each module. Important design features identified were appearance, layout, graphical representations, and content. Time necessary to create the testing module was 189 hours. Because of the programming and instructional design experience the author gained in this study, an estimate of costs of creating a similar module is 65 hours, or a reduction of 124 hours.;The testing module was tested on 119 students in three undergraduate agricultural economics classes. An ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was used to test the significance of the student's learning function and allocation of time on performance on the posttest. Perhaps because of the limitations of the study, the results of this regression indicated no significant difference between learning with or without the Web-based material.;Students felt the Web contributes positively to learning, and they supported using the Web as a supplement to the traditional classroom, citing convenience and the ability to learn at their own pace as reasons. However, students also perceived disadvantages to the Web in the classroom, including unreliability of some information on the Web and lack of interactivity with the instructor and other classmates.;Inclusion of interactivity and graphical representations resulted in high costs relative to the benefits perceived by the instructor. However, these costs would be much lower when incorporating simple text materials. Two secondary results of particular interest were noted for both instructors and students. First, 47% of students felt computer skills would not help them progress faster on the job. Second, 51% of students felt the quality of distance education is not as good as the quality of classroom education. |
