An innovative approach to asynchronous learning using Mallard: application of Java applets in a freshman course

The goals of the authors´ work have been to enhance the learning environment of their students and to increase the productivity of faculty by freeing them from the drudgery of grading homework and quizzes, as well as the time required to record and compute grades. They have achieved these goals by means of the highly interactive World Wide Web (WWW)-based learning environment provided by Mallard and by the development of several Java applets within the Mallard environment to enhance the learning process. These Java applets are the subject of this paper. They include the ability to draw timing diagrams and graphs whose data points can be communicated to the server for grading. Java applets have also been written to simulate a simple microprocessor, and a whiteboard has been implemented as an applet for synchronous communication with online tutors. The authors also present some interesting student survey results on Mallard and Web-based instruction