No matter how many learning styles his students exhibit, Steven Click uses technology to reach each and every one of them with the information they need.

The Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor teaches 4640/5640 Highway Engineering with a flair that has earned him this year’s Exemplary Course Award from the Institute for Technological Scholarship. Like a hybrid car, this hybrid course draws power from two sources — in this case, traditional lecture and technological support.

	Dr. Steven Click

“Dr. Click’s course rose to the top because of his simplistic design and functionality,” says Jessie Daniels, Distance MBA production manager and member of the selection committee.

Peek inside Click’s classroom and you will see charts, figures and text projected on the wall that match information in student textbooks. Those students who do not learn best through traditional lectures will have had time to look at lecture notes, worksheets and additional text on the web before and after class.

Outside the classroom, students complete homework and quizzes online and have grades and feedback as quickly as five minutes after the assignment is due. If students want to talk with others or work on a team project, they have their own e-mail tool accessible to the class only.

“My students always know where they are at and what grades they have earned,” says Click. “In the course specific e-mail, there’s no spam and no distractions when they are trying to talk with other students. All the elements of the course increase the quality of communication.”

Click stretches the capabilities of WebCT, a web-based course management tool, to excel in the five areas evaluated by the committee before awarding the Exemplary Course Award: learning and accessing multiple learning styles, interaction and collaboration, assessment and evaluation, meaningful use of technology and learner support.

“Students do not have to ‘learn’ WebCT in order to get the materials they need; in fact, the course software fades into the background given his natural organization and layout,” Daniels says. “In addition to his lecture notes and online homework, Dr. Click offers a posting area for job and internship opportunities for his students, given many of his students are juniors and seniors. He has designed a course that works perfectly to meet his goals and objectives for his course.”

Click earned his doctorate and master’s degree in Transportation Engineering from North Carolina State University. He holds bachelor’s degrees in Civil Engineering and mathematics from Tennessee Tech.