John has been the Engineering Librarian at the University of Toledo since 2001. He is the library liaison for the entire College of Engineering. Previously he was employed as a librarian in an environmental engineering firm in Toledo, OH. His main research interests are information literacy and engineering librarianship. He served as Director of the Engineering Libraries Division of ASEE from 2016-2018.

This article presents the results of an investigation into the qualities and qualifications sought in distance education leaders by institutions of higher education in the United States. The researchers examined 191 distance education leadership position announcements posted by online sources between 1997 and 2010. Content analysis of these announcements suggests that distance education leadership in higher education requires preparation at the graduate level and a variety of academic and administrative experiences and skills including leadership, program evaluation, technical expertise, teaching, and course development. Leadership responsibilities are equally broad within a range of strategic, operational, and instructional areas.There has been tremendous growth in distance education programs across the United States in the last two decades. Davies, Howell, and Petrie (2010) suggest that distance education is gaining acceptance as a feasible and essential educational experience for students. The increased interest in distance education in higher education institutions as a delivery system for flexible learning has resulted in increased visibility and accountability for institutions and administrators (Milligan and Buckenmeyer 2008). Wherry and Windes (2010) posit that there is a recognition of the value of online distance education to students Correspondence should be sent to John Nworie,

This paper describes the long-term re-development of an introductory graduate research methods course. The initial design is presented, followed by the two re-design phases. Phase 2 introduced additional inquiry-based strategies such as concept mapping and multiple levels of peer collaboration. Phase 3 incorporated competency-based techniques as well as additional technical, social, and instructional support. Assessment results, student feedback, moderate to strong relationships between scores on key assessments, and design principles support the assertion that the Phase 3 course is an improvement over the Phase 1 version. Limitations and further research are presented.

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This paper describes the implementation and the results of an online project-based learning (PBL) pedagogy in an advanced fluid mechanics course in a mechanical engineering technology program. This work is a close collaboration between engineering and education faculty and the engineering librarian, and aligns with the new research areas identified by the National Engineering Education Research Colloquies and the ABET Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Technology Programs Criterion 3 (student outcomes, SLO 1 to 5) and Criterion 5 (curriculum, discipline specific content C, D and E). Students were required to work in teams to design and dimension a heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) duct system, a real-world expression of engineering thinking. Students applied information literacy skills to identify relevant engineering codes and standards, such as ASHRAE, and used previously learned content knowledge from various courses to finalize the project. The PBL exercise was chosen as a culminating experience and in support of engineering competencies development. The results showed improvements in the flow of air in ducts content knowledge, professional communication skills, and the ability to collaborate as part of a team, including improving one's ability to work with other students on assignments, listening to the ideas of others, learning from the ideas of others, and evaluating the ideas of others. The students unanimously agreed that the project improved their heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) knowledge beyond the classroom as well as their information seeking skills. Based on the students end of semester course evaluation, this PBL exercise improved their readiness for the workforce.

Costly exchange programs are not the only way to achieve global competence. This paper describes a model for the use of collaborative and cost-effective course assignment to develop global competence among student. We used this model to develop and implement a technology-mediated local-global experience between two undergraduate programs: American Teacher Education and Israeli Hotel, Food and Tourism Management. The 2-year collaboration was built on a three-layer pedagogical model: Layer 1 (instructor collaboration), Layer 2 (joint task), and Layer 3 (student collaboration). Three hypotheses were tested with pre-and post-project survey data: increased assessment and global competencies self-efficacy for American students; and, increased global competencies self-efficacy for Israeli students. Year 1 results supported the hypothesis for Israeli students but failed to support both hypotheses for American students. Subsequent refinements to the three collaboration layers were made. Year 2 results supported all three hypotheses, establishing the potential value of this pedagogical model to implement effective technology-mediated local-global international experiences. Limitations and further studies are discussed.