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Developing a Research Agenda for MOOCs in Engineering Education

Developing a Research Agenda for MOOCs in Engineering Education. Don Lewis Millard, Ph.D. National Science Foundation. Disruption Leveling the Playing Field More Bang for the Buck Digital Democratization. Setting the Stage….

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Developing a Research Agenda for MOOCs in Engineering Education

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  1. Developing a Research Agenda for MOOCs in Engineering Education Don Lewis Millard, Ph.D.National Science Foundation

  2. Disruption Leveling the Playing Field More Bang for the Buck Digital Democratization Setting the Stage…

  3. MOOCs focused an intense spotlight on higher education and LEARNING • MOOCs leverage behavior theory: • Bite-sized video lectures/examples • Computer assignments/reinforcement • Assessment/peer discussion • MOOCs have only begun to scratch the surface of the nexus of brain, cognitive science, and education research Disruption Afoot

  4. MOOC learning is highly dependent on prior knowledge MOOC motivation is critical – it determines, directs, and sustains what students do How students organize knowledge in a MOOC - influences how they learn and apply what they know Goal-directed practice, coupled with targetedfeedback, enhances MOOC learning quality (vs. the grade) Self-directed (MOOC) learners need to monitor and adjust their learning approaches (flash cards, problem solving, working with a peer, drawing an image, flowcharting) Intellectual, social, and emotional climate of the MOOC course has significant impact on student perception and outcomes Research-based MOOC Principles * *Adapted from the book: “How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching”

  5. Does this make sense?Based on experience Does it have meaning?Material relevant to the learner Meaning is more significant for longer-term storage Students will remember more if provided less at any given time(average capacity of working memory is 7 chunks) Sense and Meaning

  6. 7032924620 Let’s Test This…

  7. 7032924620 (703) 292-4620 Was This Your Number?

  8. Questions: video interspersed with interactive questions get users thinking, check their understanding, make it fun, etc…ultimately, help students learn. Questions should NOT be there to merely evaluate… Collaboration: great way to learn (supported by research) - students need to use collaboration to enhance learning, not to share answers without understanding them Video Utilization: users retain more if they take notes, draw diagrams, make notecards, and actively try to attach meaning & make sense of the material MOOC Dimensions Acknowledgement: Udacity – from Steve Blank’s “How to Build a Startup”

  9. Content Design (focused on student engagement) Instructional delivery Assessment/Feedback Mentoring Outcomes Need to Focus on Quality

  10. Leveling the Playing Field Can massive open online courses (MOOCs) level out the playing field and make higher education accessible to more students?

  11. One View of the Playing Field Acknowledgement: Michael Crow, President, Arizona State University

  12. Unrestricted registration Ubiquitous access – ability to personalize content MOOCs can be great organizing structures for the vast array of on-line content MOOCs offer first step toward the potential to break from historical time restrictions(various size content, semester/course timelines) Leveling the Playing Field

  13. Data from MOOCs: • IP addresses • Access/Submission times • Assessment results • Context-specific recorded data about the video, lab, discussion, or assessment • Text-field submissions • Discussion boards • Logs – User 56937 paused lecture video 13b at 5:48:30 PM on July 16, 2013, from IP address 194.158.64.0 Fertile Ground for Leveling

  14. 2012 ECE MOOC offering • 154,763 Registrants • 230,000,000 Clicks:Able to zoom out to analyze 1000’s of students or zoom in to follow a single student’s trajectory • Instantaneous Data/Feedback • Enrollment • Participation • Curriculum • Achievement MOOC Data

  15. Evidence-based approach - believing teaching and learning will be advanced by establishing clear rubrics to measure student outcomes and testing experimental efforts to increase it “Artisan” approach - teachers can improve over time through improving their intuition and personal experience (without a need for data-driven reform) Approaches to Reform

  16. Tension between quantitative/qualitative methods: • facts vs. knowledge • skill vs. wisdom • information vs. insight • solution vs. intuition • MOOCs are likely to move the needle further and faster toward quantifiable rubrics and away from qualitative measures • Worthy of Consideration:Are engineering educators measuring the “wrong” things - because the “right” things are not amenable to measurement? Direction of Educational Reform

  17. Increasing the Buck’s Impact Can MOOCs produce more bang for the buck: through helping to reduce dropouts and the time spent in higher education?

  18. Free Ride: very few studies have been performed to analyze the results on learning – analysis has been limited to a massive number of press articles and blogs A bit of what has been presented has some built-in bias(e.g., those who have produced MOOC offerings) Caution…

  19. Mentoring had a significant positive impact • Stimulated discussion, provided encouragement • Fostered an understanding of individual needs • Advanced critical thinking and problem solving abilities • SJSU Pilot Study:SJSU Evaluation Report • Problem with implementation – politically charged, non-uniform buy-in, rushed… • A faculty member summed up the pilot with: “Udacity has brought to the table ways to make the courses more inquiry-based and added real life context” One Example - SJSU MOOC Pilot Study

  20. MITx Circuits MOOC offering: 155,000  7,157 (4.6%) approximately 40 years worth of students! Students requested website be kept up at the end of the course Students developed a text viewer for mobile devices to augment MITx platform Students stridently pushed for enhanced personalization - extending homework and exam deadlines “Shaky hand drawings” were preferred to polished slides Students in the Driver’s Seat

  21. Promise of “Big Data” https://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/mit-and-harvard-release-de-identified-learning-data-open-online-courses

  22. Digital Democratization Are universities ready to commit themselves to digital democratization?

  23. MOOCs are forcing universities to increase the importance of teaching – as part of core mission Need to shift mindset from merely presenting material - to providingfocused guidancealong withopportunities to put knowledge into practice (universities do this best) – building metacognitive skills Key Inflection Point: When a MOOC-based ENG program of study leads to a degreefrom an accredited institution Digital Democratization

  24. Take advantage of theemergence of the learning sciencesand their application to educational practice MOOCs need to develop ways toincorporate higher order skills (problem identification, innovation in design, critical thinking) Create new business models- that effectively combine instructional quality, lower cost, and increased access(unlimited scalability of MOOCs) MOOC Opportunities

  25. MOOC 2.0 • Focus on typical students (vs. top performers) • Leverage campus resources/local environments (e.g., hybrid, flipped classrooms) • Credentials/Certification (whole course?) • Personalized pace - highly motivated students are not limited by semester timeframe • Increased formative feedback • Integration of social networking/learning – monitored discussion boards, continual formative feedback • Improve impact beyond CS • Anything, Anywhere, Anytime, Anyone Increasing the Value of a Buck

  26. Moving Forward Where do we need to go?

  27. Khan Academy (“Circuits 3” Example) Why did this catch on?

  28. Embedded Validation… If R1 = 4, R2 = 2, Rn = 4: Rtotal = ? Rtotal = Rtotal=([R1║R3]║ R2) = ([2]║2) = 1

  29. Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program (IUSE) Program Description: NSF 14-7513 Opportunities

  30. Increase student retention in engineering Improve students' STEM learning outcomes Generate knowledge on how students learn and on effective practice in undergraduate engineering classrooms Broaden participation in engineering Prepare students to participate in engineering for tomorrow IUSE Objectives

  31. Projects that build on fundamental knowledgein undergraduate engineering education and prior R&D • Research on design, development, and wide-spread implementation of effective engineering learning/teaching knowledge and practice • Foundational research on student learning • Knowledge generating exploratory efforts IUSE Potentials

  32. Research on Engineering Education (REE), PD 10-1340 http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503584 EHR Core Research (ECR), NSF 13-555http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13555/nsf13555.htm Cyberlearning and Future Learning Technologies (Cyberlearning), NSF 14-52http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2014/nsf14526/nsf14526.htm Other Funding Opportunities

  33. Opportunity Abounds We need more coordinated, comprehensive research studies and sharing of data…

  34. Opportunity Abounds Which is why we’re here!

  35. Thanks dmillard@nsf.gov

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