Distance Education Programs

Engineering Course Web Sites

Electrical Engineering

EE 212 Introduction to Electronic Measuring Systems

EE 438 Antenna Engineering

EE 538 Advanced Antenna Engineering

EE 497C Wireless Communications

 

Engineering Science and Mechanics

E MCH 213 Strength of Materials

 

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

IE 327 Introduction to Work Design

IE 424 Process Quality Engineering

IE 419 Work Design - Productivity and Safety

IE 552 Mechanics of the Musculoskeletal System

 

Nuclear Engineering

NucE 403 Advanced Reactor Design

NucE 408 Radiation Shielding

NucE 409 Nuclear Materials

NucE 420 Radiological Safety

NucE 428 Nuclear Waste Control

ME/NucE 460 Reliability Concepts in Design

NucE 497A Introduction to Nuclear Engineering

NucE 497C Radiation Measurement

NucE 501 Reactor Design

NucE 512 Nuclear Reactor Statics and Fuel Management

ME 515 Two-Phase Heat Transfer

NucE 521 Neutron Transport Theory

NucE/METALS 523 Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Plants

NucE 525 Monte Carlo Methods

NucE 530 Parallel/Vector Algorithms for Scientific Applications

NucE 597B Advanced Thermal Hydraulic Analysis

NucE 597C Professional Topics in Nuclear Engineering

NucE 597D Nuclear Reactor Safety

NucE 597K Nuclear Kinetics and Dynamics

General Information, including all courses

World Campus Home

Overview

Distance education involves the linking of teacher(s) and student(s), through technology rather than face-to-face interaction.  Distance education serves the educational needs of people who cannot come to a Penn State campus due to job, family, time, distance, economic, or other constraints.

Penn State's first distance education courses, developed over one hundred years ago, used the U.S. mail to link students and teachers.  Today, we employ various technologies, including: the Internet, CD-ROMs, videotape, interactive video conferencing, streaming audio/video, videotapes, fax, and e-mail to facilitate the interaction between learners and teachers.  The tremendous technological advances in recent years in computing power, storage technology, and communication links has set the stage for marvelous advances in the quantity and quality of distance education.  Penn State faculty and staff are working to bring you new and exciting learning opportunities through distance education.  In the following paragraphs you will find information about currently available Engineering programs.

How does Penn State College of Engineering deliver distance education courses?

Programs and courses offered by The College of Engineering Continuing and Distance Education office are designed to accommodate working professionals and support their engagement in lifelong learning. To do this, many of the courses are offered with a variety of delivery technologies that allow students flexibility in completing the coursework. It is necessary to have timely and adequate access to a computer and the Internet.

All potential, new, and returning students are always welcome to call the Continuing and Distance Education office at 814-865-7643 for assistance with any issue regarding programs and courses offered.

The College of Engineering Office of Continuing and Distance Education utilizes the services of the World Campus for course registration and billing, but originates and supports all other instructional activities directly from the College of Engineering.

What technologies does the College of Engineering use to deliver courses?

Most courses employ a variety of delivery and communication technologies in support of lectures, labs, assignments, and examinations.

These include:

Most of the courses offered through Continuing and Distance Education in the College of Engineering are group-based and typically taught in concert with a class of resident students from the University Park Campus. Faculty engage students during scheduled face-to-face class time as well as after hours. Many distance education students take advantage of shifting study time to accommodate their professional and family priorities. Faculty are always available for questions and guidance via email and are also available via telephone during normal business hours and/or specified office hours.  Communication by email is responded to as soon as possible, generally at the start of the next business day.

Students often work on engaging projects and assignments in small teams. Team communication and work is facilitated in the Penn State Course Management System called ANGEL. ANGEL is a closed computer environment in which students and instructors can engage in the process of learning. A good analogy for ANGEL is a virtual classroom. ANGEL is not open to the public. It is a private virtual space to work with faculty and other students on course materials and assignments.

How do students gain access to ANGEL?

When you register for a distance education course in the College of Engineering you will also need to establish a Penn State Computer Access ID and Password.

To get an ID and Password new students must complete the:

Computer Access Form.

For distance education courses from the College of Engineering, this completed and signed form must be returned to Deb Zimmerman in the Office of Continuing and Distance Education by fax or surface mail to:

Office of Con Ed Engr

Penn State University

301-A Engineering Unit C

University Park, PA 16801

Phone: 814-865-7643

Fax: 814-865-3969

The Access ID and Password are necessary to log into the ANGEL virtual classroom space. Not all Penn State courses require computing resources or the use of ANGEL. Those courses that do use ANGEL require that each registered student pay an annual Information Technology fee. This fee is generally added to a student's tuition bill and is only due once every 12 months. The Information Technology fee also provides access to many other Penn State computing resources including the Library Services for distance education students. A complete listing of information technology services and features can be found in this PDF brochure.

Undergraduate degrees

We are often asked, "Is it possible to satisfy all the requirements for a Penn State BS degree in Engineering entirely through distance education?"  At the present time, the answer is, "No, it is not possible."  However, a few of the courses required for the general education component of an Engineering degree can be taken through distance education, and a few upper level engineering courses are available through the World Campus. For information, see the Penn State Distance Education page.
 

Acoustics

The Penn State Acoustics program offers graduate courses and a Master's Degree program through distance education.

Nuclear Engineering
The College of Engineering is currently offering selected, graduate-level courses in Nuclear Engineering to off-campus students.  The courses are typically taught by interactive video conferencing, with both live and on-demand streaming audio/video available through the Internet. We will also accommodate students with video tapes or DVDs.
 

 If you're interested in The Nuclear Engineering Program via Distance Education, or any of the courses, please contact us for details about what is being offered and how you can enroll.
 

Surveying

The Surveying program at the Penn State Wilkes-Barre campus offers a number of Surveying courses on the web to distance students.
 

World Campus Engineering Courses

Penn State has established its World Campus to serve the needs of distance learners with programs delivered through technology.  For information about the World Campus and the Engineering courses delivered through it, click on the following links.