JVER v28n2 - Distance Education and Career and Technical Education: A Review of the Research Literature

Distance Education and Career and Technical Education: A Review of the Research Literature

Chris Zirkle
The Ohio State University

Abstract

Distance education, due to recent technological innovations, can provide almost the same instructional contact and interaction for the student as traditional settings. The growth of distance learning opportunities has allowed students to access courses and degree programs at their convenience. Educational institutions are creating new approaches to course delivery and degree requirements and to improving their programs with new technological tools. These issues have begun to affect career and technical education (CTE) programs, primarily at the postsecondary level.

Research studies on distance education have been criticized on a variety of fronts. Research on distance education in CTE is in its beginning stages. To date, there has been no collective analysis of this distance education research in CTE. This research synthesis reviews previous studies on distance education in CTE, organizing them into topical categories. This synthesis highlights the important aspects of these studies and provides recommendations for further research.

Introduction

The methods utilized to deliver education are constantly affected by technology; therefore students have many options available to them. Distance education, particularly those programs utilizing telecommunications technology, can have almost the same instructional contact and interaction for the student as traditional settings ( Galusha, 1998 ). Technology has driven the growth of distance learning opportunities, as students who are "time bound" due to job or travel difficulties, or "place-bound" due to geographic location, can now access courses and degree programs at their convenience ( Zirkle, 2002a ).

Parallel with these technological changes, colleges and universities have recently faced changes impacting the nature of courses and degree programs they offer. Increasing competition for students and calls for improved "ease of access" have driven institutions to create innovative approaches to course delivery and degree requirements ( Lewis, Snow, Farris & Levin, 1999 ). Students want to pursue degrees without relocating due to family responsibilities or in order to retain current employment. Cries for accountability from legislators and taxpayers have energized a focus on quality. In response, many educational institutions are seeking to improve their programs with new technology tools ( Zirkle & Shoemaker, 1999 ). These issues have begun to affect career and technical education programs, primarily at the postsecondary level.

Problem Statement

Determining the impact of distance education on career and technical education presents many challenges. Despite its long history, distance education has not been the subject of extensive educational research ( Zirkle, in-press ). Early forms of distance education utilized written correspondence and instructional radio and television and played a relatively small part in the educational process. Therefore, most researchers paid little attention to distance education efforts. With the growth of the Internet as an educational resource ( Paloff & Pratt, 1999 ; Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2003 ) and the resulting explosion in distance education, this situation is changing.

To date, the research that has been conducted on distance education has been somewhat less than systematic. Phipps and Merisotis (1999) found much of the research on distance education to be of questionable quality, with poor validity and reliability, and a lack of control of extraneous variables and "reactive effects". According to the study, research in distance education also tends to focus on individual courses, rather than entire degree programs, and does not address the differences between the distance and non-distance student. Distance education research also has yet to investigate many of the areas defined by various leaders in the field ( Birnbaum, 2001 : Holmberg, 1987 ).

Research on distance education in career and technical education has been limited, despite recommendations for research direction more than two decades ago ( Oliveira & Rumble, 1982 ). More recently, Wonacott (2001) discussed the implications of distance education for career and technical education and found many issues related to research, including access, costs, and effectiveness/appropriateness.

In addition to the lack of a clearly articulated strategy for research on distance education in career and technical education, there has been no comprehensive analysis of what research has been conducted on the subject. The problem, the absence of a compilation and analysis of research on distance education in career and technical education, is the focus of this research synthesis.

Overview of Distance Education

While the Internet and other technologies have created interest in distance education, it is not a new phenomenon: it has been a mode of teaching for over a century ( Moore & Kearsley, 1996 ). Correspondence schools have been operating in the U.S. since 1910. Launched in the early 1920's, educational radio was an early medium for instruction in the U.S. In 1969, the opening of Great Britain's Open University ushered in a new era utilizing television and related media for instructional delivery. In the U.S., recent estimates calculate distance education courses in the academic year 1997-98 at 54,470 with about 1.66 million enrollments ( Lewis, Snow, Farris, & Levin, 1999 ). Countless colleges and universities are engaged in distance education; some of the more notable ones include Penn State University's World Campus, Nova Southeastern University, The University of Wisconsin, and the University of Texas TeleCampus.

Distance education is generally described as a process in which the learner is not physically present in the same location as the instructor ( Distance Learning Resource Network, 2003 ; Steiner, 1995 ). This separation of teacher and learner is fundamental to distance education ( Keegan, 1983 ) and differentiates distance education from all other forms of traditional instruction ( Holmberg, 1978 ). Distance education also has been defined by its component characteristics. Clark and Verduin (1989) listed the following:

• The separation of teacher and learner during at least a majority of each instructional process;
• The use of educational media to unite teacher and learner and carry course content;
• The provision of two-way communication between teacher, tutor, or educational agency and learner (p. 25).

As technology continues to evolve, the definition of what constitutes distance education is likely to do so as well, along with the various descriptors of its component parts. However, the fundamental principle of the physical separation of teacher and learner mentioned in one form or another by various writers ( Distance Learning Resource Network 2003 ; Holmberg, 1978 , 1987 ; Keegan, 1996 ; Moore & Kearsley, 1996 ; Picciano, 2001 ; Simonson, et. al. 2003 ; Steiner, 1995 ; Willis, 1993 ) will likely stay at the heart of any future definition of distance education ( Zirkle, in-press ).

Distance education can occur in a synchronous or "real time" mode that requires the simultaneous participation of all students and instructors ( Distance Learning Resource Network, 2003 ). This interaction can also occur in an asynchronous mode, which does not take place simultaneously.

The technology utilized in distance education can take many forms. These forms generally fall within four options: voice, video, data and print ( University of Idaho College of Engineering, 2003 ). Voice includes audiotapes, radio and audio/teleconferencing. Options within video can encompass videotape/videodisc or satellite video. The data (computer-driven) option includes email, Internet Relay Chats (IRC) and Internet applications such as course software. The print option includes print materials such as study guides, textbooks, workbooks and case studies, usually transferred through traditional mail.

Method

This study is designed as an integrative research review, otherwise known as a research synthesis ( Cooper, 1998 ). This self-contained review offers an overview of the research and provides direction for future research ( Merriam & Simpson, 1995 ; Strike & Posner, 1983 ).

Cooper (1985) listed six characteristics of literature reviews:

1. Focus - defines the material that is of central interest to the researcher;
2. Goals - determines what the researcher hopes the review will accomplish;
3. Perspective - the point of view the researcher takes, either a neutral or advocacy position;
4. Coverage - the extent to which the researcher locates and includes relevant works in the literature review;
5. Organization - how the paper is arranged, either in an historic, conceptual/thematic, or methodological manner, or in some combination thereof;
6. Audience - defines the intended group for the literature review (pp. 9-14).

The characteristics listed above helped frame the inquiry for the literature review. The focus of this literature review was defined as all the research related to the utilization of distance education in career and technical education to meet the goal of providing an initial analysis. This review takes a neutral position, seeking to describe, "What is". An exhaustive review ( Cooper, 1985 ) was conducted, designed to locate all research on the topic. This review is organized according to themes reflected by the types of research conducted to date on distance education in the discipline of career and technical education, which is also the audience for the literature review.

Also guiding the structure of this literature review was the work of Phipps and Merisotis (1999) , who conducted an extensive research synthesis on the effectiveness of distance education. The synthesis categorized the research on distance education into four approaches: descriptive research, case studies, correlational studies and experimental research.

A variety of strategies were utilized to provide a comprehensive focus on distance education in career and technical education. Databases, such as ERIC, Master's Abstracts, Dissertation Abstracts and Education Abstracts were searched. Professional journals, specifically those with foci in distance education and/or career and technical education, were also searched. Proceedings from conferences and meetings were examined as well. Relevant information and studies were categorized and the findings were summarized.

Research on Distance Education in Career and Technical Education

As a result of the literature search, a total of 71 articles and presentations addressing research relevant to the use of distance education in career and technical education were located. Much of the research conducted on distance education in career and technical education is descriptive in nature. Studies that examined student access to distance education, their demographic characteristics, and their perceptions of their distance education experience, as well as faculty utilization and perceptions of distance education typically utilized questionnaires, attitude scales or interview to collect data. Case studies comparing a traditional, on-campus class to a distance education class are common. There are only five studies that are correlational in nature and examine the relationship between two or more quantifiable variables. Experimental studies in distance education and career and technical education were not located in the literature search.

The research on distance education in career and technical education can be categorized into three fairly distinct areas: issues of access to distance education courses and programs: characteristics and performance of students in distance education: and the involvement of instructors/faculty in distance education ( Zirkle, in-press ). This finding is similar to that of the research synthesis conducted by Phipps and Merisotis (1999) . Several of the studies and articles addressed more than one issue (i.e., a student's ease of access to a distance education course and their resulting academic performance), while others addressed only a single issue (student perceptions of the distance education experience, for example). Still other studies addressing distance education were a part of a larger study, such as recent studies on the characteristics of teacher educators and teacher education programs in career and technical education Bruening, Scanlon, Hodes, Dhital, Shao, Liu 2001a ; 2001b ).

Access Barriers to Distance Education

A major attraction of distance education is the ability to learn "anytime and anyplace". While seemingly eliminating the access barriers experienced by traditional students, distance education has its own set of constraints for students. Distance education may be widely available, but it is not necessarily widely accessible, which has sparked much discussion and research into "information haves and have-nots" ( Kerka 1989 , p. 2).

Much of the research in distance education has condensed access barriers into two categories: student barriers and institutional barriers ( Zirkle, 2001 ). Student access barriers are those difficulties experienced by students while attempting to take courses at a distance, while institutional barriers are those obstacles often constructed by educational entities offering courses at a distance.

Institutional Access Barriers.

With respect to institutional barriers, Garland (1993) and Yap (1996) listed several barriers impeding distance education efforts, including:

• program costs
• lack of equipment & support
• scheduling
• resource availability
• instructional concerns
• technical assistance

These institutional barriers have been highlighted in selected career and technical education studies. Program costs have been identified as a barrier to implementation of distance education in agricultural education ( Miller & Miller, 2000 ; Murphy & Terry, 1998 ) and cited in efforts to implement distance education programs in adult and vocational education ( McClelland & Fouza, 1986 ). Equipment availability and support are also related to program costs, and were identified by Ndahi (1999) as a factor in the unwillingness by trade and industrial education faculty to teach at a distance.

Simply offering courses can be a significant barrier. Zirkle (2002b) described trade and industrial education majors who were able to access courses in their major, but were unable to schedule university general education courses they needed to graduate to offering courses at a distance. Scheduling courses at specific times can be a difficulty as well. Classes taught with satellite technology may have limited channels availability on which to broadcast. Finding faculty to teach at "off" times can also be a challenge ( Zirkle, 2001 ). Institutions offering courses and programs at a distance must make certain resources such as advising, library services, and scheduling/registration are available for distance learners. Having information available about programs and courses and competent advising are particularly critical. Flowers (2001) , in a study of technology education teachers, described the need for institutions to better advertise course offerings to facilitate awareness. Trade and industrial education majors, taking courses at a distance, perceived themselves as not as important as on-campus students ( Zirkle, 2002b ).

Instructional issues permeate distance education. Faculty, accustomed to traditional, on-campus, can be resistant to offering distance courses ( Dillon & Walsh, 1992 ). This resistance may be a result of the significant time constraints associated with offering career and technical education courses and programs at a distance ( Miller & Miller, 2000 ; Murphy & Terry, 1998b ; Ndahi, 1999 ; Ragothaman & Hoadley, 1997 ; Zirkle, 2002c ). Many faculty need training in order to move an on-campus class to a distance environment and this training may be scarce ( Ko & Rossen, 2001 ; Murphy & Terry, 1998a ). Some course content-such as the specific psychomotor "hands-on" skills found in many trade and industrial ( Zirkle, 2000 ) and agriculture programs ( Miller, 1997 ) may not be easily taught through distance education. The "soft skills" associated with many business education programs ( Fann & Lewis, 2001 ) may also be difficult to teach at a distance.

Distance education programming relies heavily on technical assistance. The lack of an effective institutional network of technical assistance is a significant barrier. Capable technical support to students when problems arise, assistance for faculty to deliver course material via distance methodologies, and issues of copyright and intellectual property were identified in a study by Zirkle (2002b) that examined both institutional and student barriers to distance education.

Student Access Barriers

The characteristics and personal situations of students enrolled in distance education courses can present barriers to effective learning and success in distance education environments ( Hillsheim, 1998 ). These student access barriers can be defined as follows ( Galusha, 1998 ):

• Costs and motivators
• Feedback and teacher contact
• Alienation and isolation
• Student support and services
• Lack of experience/training

While financial issues may affect students' ability to take classes, many students taking courses at a distance may have full-time jobs and/or tuition reimbursement from an employer ( Zirkle, 2001 ). Some students may be more affected by job conflict, since many were employed full-time, and by family time constraints than financial issues ( Zirkle, 2002b ). The personal time required to take classes was more significant than the monetary cost.

Feedback and instructor contact is an integral part of distance education programming in career and technical education ( Dooley, Patil, & Lineberger, 2000 ; Flowers, 2001 ; Murphrey & Dooley, 2000 ; Swan & Jackman, 1996 ; Zirkle, 2002b ). The interaction between instructor and student has been perceived as positively related to student learning ( Miller & Webster, 1997 ).

Without interaction, a sense of student isolation is a likely result. As much as possible, students want to be a part of the larger school community ( Galusha, 1998 ). Flowers (1991) and Zirkle (2002b) noted students' sense of isolation, and the lack of interaction with fellow students, respectively, in their distance education programs.

The availability of student support services to the distance learner is essential ( Birnbaum, 2001 ). In studies of career and technical education programs in teacher education, Irani, Scherler, Harrington, and Telg (2000) and Zirkle (2002b) , effective advising was cited as a key to students at a distance getting appropriate courses needed for graduation and teacher credentialing.

Characteristics and Performance of Students in Distance Education

Studies have found that postsecondary distance education students were more likely to be older and female, and to have significant family and work responsibilities ( Halsne & Gatta, 2002 ; Ross & Powell, 1990 ; Rovai, 2002 ; Sikora & Carroll, 2002 ). Distance students are also more likely to be pursuing an associate degree primarily through a community/technical college ( Sikora & Carroll, 2002 ).

Several career and technical education studies have examined various demographic attributes of learners in distance education. Thompson, Orr, Brooks and Thompson (2000) found the majority of the students in their distance Bachelor's degree program in Vocational Education to be female. Wright and Thompson (2002) described students in their distance education program for two-year nursing and allied health professions as older, adult learners with family and work commitments. In a study of a Master's degree program in Continuing and Vocational Education, Oehlkers (1999) found all the students to be female, with an average age of 38. Zirkle (2002b) found 60% of the respondents in his survey of inservice and preservice trade and industrial teachers to be between the ages of 32-45 and pursuing a bachelor's degree. Tucker (2000) noted a significant age difference between students on campus (average age 23 years) and distance students (average age 37 years) in the two groups of students in her business communications course.

Student Perceptions of the Distance Education Experience

Studies have documented both the favorable perceptions of students involved in distance education ( Bozik, 1996 ; Hilgenberg & Tolone, 2000 ; Wagner, Werner, & Schramm, 2002 ) and the unfavorable ( Bower, Kamata, & Ritchie, 2001 ; Rivera, McAlister, & Rice, 2002 ; Thomerson, 1995 ). Studies in career and technical education have attempted to measure student satisfaction with distance education courses. Many have reported positive student experiences with distance education ( Dooley, Patil, & Lineberger, 2000 ; Misko, 2000 ; Mudge & Way, 1999 ; Pool, 1996 ; Pucel, 1987 ; Swan & Jackman, 1996 ; Thompson, Orr, Brooks, & Thompson, 2000 ; Thompson, Thompson, & Orr, 2002 ). Some studies have reported mixed results. Kelsey, Lindner, and Dooley (2002) , in their study of a collaborative doctoral program in agricultural education between Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University found that students were satisfied with the instructional design, faculty, and other students in the program, whereas they expressed dissatisfaction with isolation, inaccessible resources and materials, the registration process, and the amount of time to complete course requirements. Early childhood special education majors ( Gallagher & McCormick, 1999 ) were also satisfied with distance courses, but expressed a preference for the traditional classroom.

Student Performance in Distance Education Courses and Programs

Student academic performance in distance education has sparked much discussion and debate. For the past two decades, research in distance education has been conducted on comparisons among the different media types available for the delivery of distance education, i.e., print, instructional television, the Internet, etc., and traditional in-class instruction ( Simonson, et. al. 2003 ). The delivery medium itself appears to make no difference in the learning results in students ( Clark 1983 , 1994 ; Verduin & Clark, 1991 ). This finding has been supported by a number of studies ( Cheng, Lehman, & Armstrong, 1991 ; Fallah & Ubell, 2000 ; Gagne & Shepherd, 2001 ; Johnson, 2002 ; Johnson, Aragon, Shaik, & Palma-Rivas, 2000 ; Rovai, 2002 )

In career and technical education, this issue has not been extensively studied. Misko (2000) reported satisfactory performances by vocational education distance students on their course assessments. Tucker's (2000) study of a business communications course, noted distance students did as well or better than their oncampus counterparts. Swan and Jackman (2000) compared the success of students enrolled in distance education courses in a variety of subjects, including vocational marketing, animal science, and agricultural business management, and found no differences in grade point average between the two groups. . In a slightly different examination of student performance, Willis and Joyner (2000) found no differences between on-campus students who took an information technology class online and off-campus students who also took the class online. Petty and Brewer (2002) reported student perceptions of the transfer of training to be equivalent for web-based courses and traditional on-campus courses.

Instructors/Faculty Involvement in Distance Education

Faculty Use of Distance Education . Bradburn and Zimbler (2002) examined the use of distance education by postsecondary faculty. Approximately six percent reported they taught at least one course via a distance education methodology. Twoyear college faculty were more likely to teach courses at a distance, as were part-time and temporary faculty. The study also described the percentage of faculty, by teaching discipline, who taught at a distance. Under the category "vocational," 13.6% of faculty reported teaching at least one course via non face-to-face means.

In K-12 education, very few teachers use technology for distance education purposes ( Kleiner & Farris, 2002 ). While 75% of all K-12 schools had a website, it was used for the school calendar and other information. K-12 teachers use the Internet primarily for research purposes ( Smerdon, Cronen, Lanahan, Anderson, Iannotti, & Angeles, 2000 ). A search of two Internet course developers, WebCT ( http://www.webct.com/ ) and Blackboard ( http://www.blackboard.com/ ), reveals a number of K-12 school systems that are using this method to deliver portions of instruction online. However, research on K-12 teacher use of distance education is extremely limited.

There have been very few studies in career and technical education on faculty use of distance education. Recent studies by Bruening, Scanlon, Hodes, Dhital, Shao, and Liu (2001a ; 2001b ) have examined the use of distance learning in course and program delivery but did not explore specific faculty utilization of distance education. In secondary career and technical education, there is little specific knowledge of school and teacher use of the Internet and distance education. Zirkle (2002c) described career and technical teachers who, as a result of completing an online course, created online courses for their own secondary programs. As with the rest of K-12 education, however, little is known about secondary career and technical education teacher use of distance education.

Faculty Perceptions of the Use of Distance Education . Converting a traditional on-campus course to a distance education model requires significant modification ( Birnbaum, 2001 ; Paloff & Pratt, 1999 ; Picciano, 2001 ). The time constraint and increased workload associated with this conversion frequently appears as a concern in research focused on faculty perceptions of the use of distance education ( Bennett, Priest, & McPherson, 1999 ; Bower, 2001 ; Cyrs & Conway, 1997 ; Graf, 1993 ; Mortera-Gutierrez & Beatty, 2000 ; Schifter, 2001 ).

The significant time required to develop courses has also been a consistent finding in studies involving distance education in career and technical education programs. Studies in agricultural have identified time as a major obstacle in the adoption of distance technologies for program delivery education ( Miller & Miller, 2000 ; Murphrey & Dooley, 2000 ; Murphy & Terry, 1998b ). Studies of trade and industrial/technical educators have also cited a lack of time as a faculty concern ( Ndahi, 1999 ; Zirkle, 2002b ).

Professional development has also been identified as a significant issue with faculty who utilize distance education ( Fender, 2001 ; Milheim, 2001 ; Picciano, 2001 ; Thach & Murphy, 1995 ). Developing courses for distance delivery requires technical knowledge and expertise ( Booker, 2000 ; Cyrs, 1997 ; Fender, 2001 ; Lee, 2001 ; Phipps & Merisotis, 1999 ). Institutional models for professional development and training for faculty have been suggested ( Carter, 1995 : Irani & Telg, 2001 ; Olcott & Wright, 1995 ), but as technology continues to evolve, training for faculty will need constant revision.

Studies in career and technical education have addressed faculty training and professional development for distance education. ( Miller & Carr, 1997 ; Murphy & Terry, 1998 ; Ndahi, 1999 ; Schofield, Walsh, & Melville, 2000 ; Zirkle, 2000 ). Franklin and Kaufman (1999) described Indiana State University's Course Transformation Academy, a professional development program for faculty teaching at a distance. The impetus for this program came from Indiana State's initiative to develop a number of career and technical education-related degrees at a distance, in an articulation agreement with the state's system of two-year colleges ( Indiana State Commission for Higher Education, 1997 ). Programs of study included industrial technology, automotive technology, mechanical technology and career and technical education ( Zirkle, in-press) .

Compensation and incentives for involvement in distance education efforts have been mentioned as a faculty concern ( Lynch & Corry, 1998 ; Picciano, 2001 ; Saba, 1998 , 2000 ; Wolcott, 1999 ). This is likely due to the time constraints associated with developing courses for distance delivery and the need for continual professional development.

The compensation and incentives issue has also been described in career and technical education studies on distance education. Murphy and Terry (1998) noted the lack of reward system for using distance technologies as an obstacle to their use in an agricultural education program. In a study of the diffusion of distance education technologies in the College of Agriculture at Texas A&M University, Murphrey and Dooley (2000) listed incentives as a critical issue.

Conclusions and Recommendations for Research on Distance Education in Career and Technical Education

Through the past two decades, the dearth of research on distance education has been fairly well documented ( Holmberg, 1987 ; Phipps and Merisotis, 1999 ; Simonson, et al. 2003 ). In addition, as noted by Phipps and Merisotis (1999) , much of this research has been limited to case studies of a particular distance education course, examinations of student or faculty perceptions in a particular distance education course, or barriers to accessing distance education courses. Very little specific research has addressed learning outcomes and student achievement in distance education courses, especially when compared to traditional courses. ( Zirkle, in press ).

This review of literature found that research on distance education in career and technical education reflects many of the concerns voiced by Phipps and Merisotis (1999) , i.e., the research has been focused on individual courses, not programs, and has not examined differences between traditional and distance learners. Also, little is known about career and technical education instructor/faculty use of distance education. Additionally, there has been little research regarding the use of distance education in career and technical education teacher education, an area where innovative programming would seem to be warranted.

From a methodological perspective, most of the studies were descriptive in nature, again reflecting the findings of Phipps and Merisotis (1999) . Case studies of a single course were common, and very few attempts have been made to conduct correlational research. No experimental research was located.

This shortage of all types of research on distance education in career and technical education may be attributed to relatively recent interest on the subject by career and technical education researchers ( Wonacott, 2001 ). Also, distance education efforts in all types of educational institutions are still in their beginning stages. However, growth is likely.

Based on this literature review, some recommendations can be made:

• With respect to access, those institutions offering career and technical education programming at a distance, should determine what, if any, institutional barriers exist that may keep students from accessing these courses and programs
• Begin to conduct rigorous, structured research of the effects of distance education on student performance and achievement at all educational levels, including
• K-12 education
• Two-year community and technical colleges
• Baccalaureate education
• Teacher education
• Graduate education

On a methodological level, this research should begin to address the concerns voiced by Phipps and Merisotis (1999) and others, by moving toward correlational and experimental research where appropriate and possible.

• Examine the effects of distance education effects at the individual course, program of study, and institutional level (if applicable)
• Compare these effects to similar courses and program levels offered through traditional methods (i.e., in-class, on-campus settings)
• With respect to faculty involved in distance education in career and technical education, studies examining the extent that faculty actually utilize distance education would be welcome. There are very few studies addressing this issue, and information regarding the extent of use would provide insight into how (and perhaps why) faculty do or do not use distance education.

Perhaps more than any of the academic disciplines, career and technical education programs utilize technology to a high degree. It would appear distance education and career and technical education are a good match ( Zirkle, 2002a ). However, as this review demonstrates, more research needs to be conducted to determine the most effective ways to utilize distance education in the delivery of career and technical education programming.

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The Author

Chris Zirkle is an Assistant Professor in the College of Education, The Ohio State University, 283 Arps Hall, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1120. Phone: 614-247- 6227. Fax: 614-292-0102. E-mail: zirkle.6@osu.edu .