CISCO NETWORKING ACADEMY
EVALUATION PROJECT
E-NEWS
December 2004                                                                                          Volume 1, Issue 1
Welcome to the inaugural issue of the IU-Cisco Evaluation Project
Electronic Newsletter, "E-News"!

This newsletter is another effort by our research team to regularly communicate with participants of the Cisco Network Academy Evaluation Project (also called the IU-Cisco Project). In the next few months, we will use the e-newsletter to update you about the status of the project, to give you a first look at evaluation results, and to invite your input about the process. Toward these ends, we plan to feature information about the progress of the project, details about survey administration, and offer suggestions about increasing student participation in the CCNA Student Surveys.

We welcome your feedback about this Newsletter or any topic related to the IU-Cisco Project, and thank you for your continued participation.


Dr. Alan DennisBest wishes,

Alan Dennis
John T. Chambers Chair of Internet Systems and Principal Investigator
Cisco Networking Academy Evaluation Project
Kelley School of Business-Indiana University
Contents
Evaluation Study Update
As you may recall, Indiana University was commissioned by Cisco to evaluate the Cisco Networking Academy program in terms of the success of its students, the best practices for student engagement and learning as implemented by instructors, and the support provided to instructors

The project is well under way, with participation increasing by the day. We have more than 200 schools involved in the CCNA1 and Comparison Group portions of the study. Approximately 5,000 students have completed the CCNA1 Student Survey and 4,100 students have completed the Career and Education Survey (the Comparison Group Survey). In the early stages of CCNA2, approximately 350 CCNA students have completed the CCNA2 Student Survey.

It's not to late to get involved! Although our participation numbers are good so far, we need more students to take the surveys due to this being a longitudinal study. Please encourage your students to complete these surveys if they have not done so.The CCNA1 Student Survey, Career and Education Survey and CCNA2 Student Survey are all available for students. Please contact us for more information: iucisco@indiana.edu or 1-888-226-9234.
CCNA2 Student Survey- Important Information

CCNA2 students attending Academies participating in the Cisco Network Academy Evaluation Project have the opportunity to earn $10.  CCNA2 students will be mailed a $10 check from researchers at Indiana University if they:

  1. Completed the CCNA1 Student Survey,
  2. Complete all pages of the CCNA2 Student Survey, and
  3. Provide their mailing information on the last page of the survey.
CCNA2 students may access the CCNA2 Student Survey from the Cisco homepage when they are between 50-130% through the course.  Please ask them to click the “Yes” button in the box titled “Please Read Carefully” on page three (3).  This will transfer the students to a secure site on the IU server where they can provide mailing information.  Upon submitting the survey, students’ will earn $10.  This is our way of saying “thanks!” 
In the Next Newsletter
  • Instructor Survey to be introduced in Spring 2005
  • Introduction to our Advisory Board
  • "Meet the Staff"
Humor Break
Stressed out? Need a smile? Click here to visit a web site of humorous technology cartoons by Mark Parisi: http://www.offthemark.com/computers.htm
If you have any questions regarding Comparison Group students or the Evaluation study in general, please contact us: iucisco@indiana.edu or 1-888-226-9234.

E-News is produced by the IU-Cisco Evaluation Project team