The college has had two problems with its laboratory science courses, both open to a single solution. One problem is that, as a result of 6 years of no state equipment funding, most of the courses (many of which are new) have only minimal equipment to support instruction and laboratory activities. This equipment is too scanty when science is proliferating and student knowledge and interest are declining. The other problem is that providing equal educational access to residents of six outlying counties requires delivering courses through distance-learning teleclassrooms. Off-campus students, however, lack access to science laboratories for laboratory experiments and procedures. The college seeks to develop the IDEALS system, which uses a combination of computers, internet, software, and broadcast technology to enrich each laboratory science course while providing off-campus students with fully effective laboratory experiences. The system matches computer software, Internet websites, and other resources with each learning objective and laboratory activity in 11 science courses. Content learning is enriched by graded assignments using these resources. Off-campus students use these resources to effectively emulate live laboratory activities. All students have the same laboratory reports, learning activities, and tests. Four biology and astronomy courses can be converted during the first 2 years, with the remaining seven courses converted during the following 18 months. Ten evaluative activities will answer three questions: the magnitude and the quality of these new learning activities and their impact on student learning. *
