CorrMagnet provides consulting services, develops software products, and conducts training programs to control corrosion of oil and gas industry infrastructures.

STEM-CorrosionTM in the Oil and Gas Industry – 2014-2015 Course Feedback

STEM-Corrosion online course has completed the first year which consisted of four terms. Feedback from participants are summarized in this report.

Figure 1 presents the number of participants in:

  • Corrosion science (class 1 through 15 offered between April 25, 2015 and August 8, 2014)
  • Corrosion engineering (class 16 through 32 offered between September 5, 2014 and December 19, 2014)
  • Corrosion management (Class 33 through 42 offered between January 9, 2015 and March 13, 2015)
 

Figure 2 presents the locations of the participants in corrosion engineering terms.


The following tables present the feedback from the participants.

General Feedback

No. Question Percentage agreement
1 The course provided useful information on scientific aspects of corrosion control in the oil and gas industry 93
2 As a consequence of attending this term, my knowledge on corrosion and its control has increased 91
3 Instructor is knowledgeable in the field 97
4 Instructor’s delivery style and method is appropriate 92

Individual module feedback

Module Question: Materials presented are useful for me Percentage agreement
1 Oil and gas industry –Overview 97
2 Oil and gas industry – Network 90
3 Materials (Metals and Non-metals) 96
4 Main Environmental Factors 97
5 Mechanisms 91
6 Internal corrosion – Model 92
7 Internal corrosion – Mitigation 95
8 Internal corrosion – Monitoring 97
9 External corrosion – Mitigation 95
10 External corrosion – Model 90
11 External corrosion – Monitoring 97
12 Measurement 95
13 Maintenance 92
14 Management 94
  OVERALL 93

Feedback on online nature of the course

No. Question Percentage agreement Remarks
6 Given the constraints of workload, travel restriction, and other commitments, online course such as this is course is a way forward to share knowledge 93
  • For sure, and valuable information in short time to get better all the information.
  • I think the course should be less extended than a year, maybe with longer classes.
7 Things I like about the online nature of the course  
  • The day and time the course was given is suitable for my schedule.
  • No travel necessary.
  • Online tools used worked with little to no difficulty.
  • Valuable information imparted in a short time allowing better use of information.
  • Have the slides before class allows better prepare and understand the class when listening.
  • Less time consuming.
  • Availability to learn wherever you are.
  • The recorded presentation.
  • The course was during my working hour so I could not make it most of the times.
  • The recorded presentations were very useful and I have caught up what I have missed during weekend.
  • The contents of the courses.
  • Not necessary to move from workstation.
  • Very knowledgeable and approachable instructors.
  • Recordings.
  • Uploaded notes.
  • Recordings helpful for review and/or missed class-time.
  • Ample time for Q&A’s.
  • Flexibility of time and place to participate in the course.
  • This type of course is very unique.
  • Less time consuming.
  • Availability to learn wherever you are.
  • Availability to listen again the classes if you want to.
  • Accessible information.
  • Consistent time frame.
  • Ability to reference videos afterward.
  • Nice bigger picture of the elements of corrosion management in the O&G industry.
  • It is easy to manage by my own time (flexible and available anywhere if I can connect to internet).
  • I like the recordings, though would prefer to be able to download them.
  • Online access makes it easy to accommodate the course and trips (business or vacations).
  • Online access has makes it easy to meet and work with geographically distant individuals, a more diverse class is good!.
  • Accessibility to the course.
  • Good sign.
  • Relations with others.
  • Course Tools.
8 Things I would like to see improvement for me to further enjoy this online course  
  • Difficulties to download the presentations.
  • Facilities to download and save on my computer the recorded presentations for future reference to make the material.
  • Resolve the file downloading difficulty.
  • Just some on site pictures related to the course subject makes it easier to comprehend.
  • Class recordings only seem to be available if I was able to attend class, it would be helpful to have access if I missed the class.
  • Often times the sound is intermittent and important key words get missed.
  • Course material handed out with much more advance as opposed to last minute.
  • Difficulty in download of course material.
  • Uninterrupted feed.
  • Sometimes the quality of the sign was poor. Lately it has improved.
  • Difficulties to download the presentations.
  • Facilities to download and save on my computer the recorded presentations for future reference to make the material.
  • To download the file  on WebEx.
  • Inability to download course material.
  • Course material sent much in advance of class time.
  • More case histories.
  • Problem solving forums.
  • More information on cathodic protection.
  • More information on subsea production system – corrosion issues.
  • I cannot download any presentation from the WebEx.  I would suggest providing the course materials by email while sending the invitation for each course.
  • The recordings cannot be accessed if the class was missed.
  • Videos.
  • None that come to mind.
  • Maybe receive the slides the day before the class.
  • Prepare some questions after each module, so we can do some practices after course.
  • This will help us understand and memorize more course contents.
  • Involve some case studies during the course.
  • Sometimes the sound is not clear.
  • Probably due to internet connectivity issues.
  • Sound quality, though this may be in part influenced by my computer.
  • Greater detail in charts/graphs and bullets - find much detail/explanation is missing on notes.
  • Would like to see group problem solving and/or case studies incorporated into course.

Feedback on online presentation

No. Question Feedback, Percentage
9 I listen to the recorded presentations  
9.1 When I miss the class 70
9.2 After the class to clarify the points 20
9.3 Many times 10
9.4 Sometimes when I have time 10
9.5 Sometimes if I have a doubt 50
9.6 Infrequently  
9.7 Never  
10 Based on the experience so far  
10.1 I agree that issues identified in “Corrosion science” and “Corrosion Engineering” terms have been addressed and improvements have been made (Percentage agreement) 70
10.2 I will recommend this online course to my colleagues 100
10.3 I would recommend this class if it were offered as traditional onsite course 33
10.4 I will not recommend this course (please specify the reasons) 0

Feedback on course schedule

No. Question Percentage Suggestion Remarks
11 Most appropriate frequency of the class is    
11.1 Once a week on Friday (as it is) 90  
11.2 Once a week on (specify the day)    
11.3 Daily (to cover all modules continuously)    
11.4 Continuously (e.g., one class per module) 10 One class per module once a month or 2 weeks Full module every 15 or 21 days
11.5 Please specify   Once a week but not during week day working hours; Once a week on Friday or Continuously, the other options would be disruptive.
12 Most appropriate timing of the class is (based on Terms 1, 2, and 3 feedback)*    
12.1 11 AM Eastern Standard Time 67  
12.2 Specify another time (3 PM EST) 17
  • I think it will be the last hour of work and won’t break the day.
  • The course is during working hours (9-10 am, mountain time) on Friday, I can barely make it.
  • If it is possible, I would recommend 11 AM EasternStandard Time on Saturday or Sunday or anytime after work.
12.3 Specify another time (8 AM EST) 17  
13 Most appropriate mode of this online class is    
13.1 As it is - informal (with optional evaluation at the end of the course) 80  
13.2 More formal with routine assignment (with mandatory evaluation at the end of the course)    
13.3 Formal with professional certificate 20  
13.4 Formal with certificate from a recognised university/college    
13.5 Any other mode    

Feedback on course contents and uniqueness

14 Contents of the course are    
14.1 Unique to this course 80
  • Much more oriented in work normal issues than other courses in the market.
14.2 Available, at least in part, in other traditional courses (please specify the course) 20
  • The general corrosion part is available in many corrosion books but the other content is unique for me.
  • I had a post-graduation course that some content was in common.
  • NACE
14.3 Fully covered in other traditional courses (please specify the course)    
14.4 Available, at least in part, in other online course(s) (please specify the course)    
14.5 Fully covered in other online course(s) (please specify the course)    
15 Any other information  
  • Excellent course and excellent instructor.
  • I found the standards & recommended practices very useful.
  • Much more oriented in work normal issues than other courses in the market.
  • I wanted to thank you for the excellent course that you offer and for making corrosion easy to understand.
  • This is a difficult way to teach – you are doing a great job.
  • In depth case studies or relation to “real world” scenarios would be appreciated.
  • I pleased to say this type of opportunity is very good experience to get a clear knowledge about corrosion and control in oil and gas industry. Then I want more practical information about these types of courses.
  • Very useful course and the excellent instructor.
  • Sankara, you are a great teacher and I think the information given in the course is really useful.
  • Overall the course was very well received; course material was concise, presentations were clear and professor was professional/ knowledgeable. I fell it gave a basic understanding to may topics without too much depth.  The variety of topics was numerous and I personally would have preferred a more in-depth course having less topics. Depending on what style of learner a person is, more visual information pertaining to actual case studies, tying all the components of the course together also would have proved useful.
  • Very informative, thank you for taking the time to prepare and teach this course.
  • Excellent course and excellent instructor.
  • Thank you I learned a lot in this course

Acknowledgements

CorrMagnet consulting Inc. would like to thank all participants for attending the 2014-2015 course and for providing feedback and Cindy McConnell, Sandra Wilson, and Nafis Ebrahimi for collecting the feedback and forwarding them.  Special thanks are expressed to our guest lecturers Dr. Tom Jack and Dr. Nihal Obeyesekere.

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