Phase I

In the fall of 2002, CCRC completed an external evaluation entitled Student and Faculty Experiences with Learning through Simulated Information Technology Enterprises (L-SITEs), Phase I. This is an Advanced Technological Education program managed by Regional Technology Strategies, Inc. under a grant from the National Science Foundation. The program offers a simulated business experience to business and information technology students who can work together over the Internet to wire buildings, develop web-marketing strategies, and conduct other business transactions. The evaluation utilized faculty interviews and student and faculty surveys to provide feedback to L-SITEs and NSF about overall satisfaction of participant with the curriculum and the implementation process. L-SITEs Phase II is currently being launched, and CCRC will also evaluate the implementation of this grant, which involves the wider dissemination of the simulated enterprises curriculum through the participation of faculty and students at up to 60 additional community colleges.

The Phase I report is available on the L-SITEs web site at: http://dl.jcc.kctcs.edu/lsites/Project/LSitesFirstPhaseFinalEval.pdf

Project Staff:
Vanessa Smith Morest, Assistant Director for Postsecondary Research -- CCRC, Teachers College Columbia University

Gretchen Koball, Program Coordinator-- The Workplace Center, School of Social Work, Columbia University

Phase II

L-SITEs Phase II is an extension of L-SITEs Phase I, which was evaluated by CCRC in 2002. L-SITEs is an Advanced Technological Education program managed by Haywood Community College, Waynesville, NC under a grant from the National Science Foundation. The program offers a simulated business experience to business and information technology students who can work together over the Internet to wire buildings, develop web-marketing strategies, and conduct other simulated business transactions. Phase II seeks to refine, expand, and institutionalize the use of the L-SITEs curriculum beyond the original eight community colleges responsible for its development and piloting. Our Phase II evaluation will draw on interviews and surveys to assess faculty and student experiences with the program. The research design for this study incorporates several improvements over Phase I by using pre- and post- on-line surveys with students and conducting multiple interviews with program faculty.

For more about L-SITEs, see http://dl.jcc.kctcs.edu/lsites.