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MASSIVE OPEN ON-LINE COURSES IN ENGINEERING

MASSIVE OPEN ON-LINE COURSES IN ENGINEERING. n. Al- mutawaly , Mohawk college, Hamilton, ontario m. piczak , Mohawk college, Hamilton, Ontario. MOOCs in Engineering. Remote delivery/Distance/Blended Asynchronous/Synchronous MOOC: M: “massive” class cohorts

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MASSIVE OPEN ON-LINE COURSES IN ENGINEERING

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  1. MASSIVE OPEN ON-LINE COURSES IN ENGINEERING n. Al-mutawaly, Mohawk college, Hamilton, ontario m. piczak, Mohawk college, Hamilton, Ontario

  2. MOOCs in Engineering • Remote delivery/Distance/Blended • Asynchronous/Synchronous • MOOC: • M: “massive” class cohorts • O: “open” to anyone often with no prereq’s. • O: “on-line” delivery typically asynchronous • C: “courses” collection of instructional content

  3. Success In Traditional Classroom

  4. Attractions • MOOCs attractive when: • Class sizes traditionally large = 35,000 • Limited instructor contact • Paper & pencil demonstration of cognitive ability suffices • Tuition costs = obstacle • Students spatially separated from delivering institution • Extending the brand beyond local area • Glitter of windfall cashflows • Many assume F2F simply translates into MOOC • Capital cost avoidance for bricks and mortar • Democratization of education • Elevating level of human capital on planet

  5. Weaknesses • Pedagogical approach – fact accumulation, problem depth, discussion/argument • Class size – delivery, evaluation, drop out rates, influence of one person on millions • Achieving learning outcomes (design, hands-on skills/labs) • Isolation & lack of attachment to course, campus, institution • Long term ability to monetize ‘free’ education • Not generally favoured for any number of ‘pet’ reasons

  6. But If Others Are Doing It, Then…

  7. Platforms

  8. MOOCs by Stakeholder 1. Accrediting Bodies: Design elements/skills, labs 2. Institutions: financial potential 3. Students: flexibility/convenience, unlimited access to material, global connections, pride in presenting credentials from world renowned institutions

  9. Empirical Assessment of Completion Rates • Disciplines: engineering, management & ‘other’ courses • Dependent variable: completion rates, dataset n = 111 • Independent variables: • Class size • Academic discipline • Evaluation method • Delivery platform • Course duration • Data from Ph.D. thesis; adopted by British Department of Innovation & Skills, European Commission

  10. Deficiencies On Dependent Variable • Completion rates = primary dependent variable • Free riders, stay-at-homes, seeking alternate information source • High no-show (40-50%) • New metrics yet to be constructed

  11. Study Findings Completion Rate = f(class size, discipline, evaluation, delivery platform, duration)

  12. Class Size & Academic Discipline

  13. Course Duration

  14. Conclusions & Discussion • Study completion rate (14%) in agreement with others (4 -15%) • For completion rates: • Class size: significant impact (high 1-R2) • Discipline: differential impact (not significant) • Evaluation method: no significant effects • Platform: no significant effects • Course duration: negatively proportional across all subjects (significant)

  15. Recommendations for Engineering • MOOCs may lend themselves to engineering courses • Basic engineering courses, consider experiment kits/simulation software to capture lab components • Advanced engineering labs, consider compressed lab formats • To satisfy accrediting bodies, adopt MOOCs CAREFULLY to ensure all competencies satisfied • More MOOC research be conducted

  16. At The End Of The Day… “ one Coursera course = more students than I would teach in a lifetime… ”

  17. MASSIVE OPEN ON-LINE COURSES IN ENGINEERING n. Al-mutawaly, Mohawk college, Hamilton, ontario m. piczak, Mohawk college, Hamilton, Ontario The end Questions

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