Learning by doing: Four years of online assessment in engineering education research

This chapter describes the experiences of a team of researchers in the College of Engineering at Penn State who have spent the past several years using the Internet to collect student data. From surveys that were created and posted with little regard for their utility, the authors have reached the point in which they routinely use the Internet to gather quality data from alumni, graduating students, and other populations beyond the college. This chapter will acquaint the reader with these experiences and expose him or her to practical applications of online social science instruments in a higher education environment.