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MASSIVE OPEN ON-LINE COURSES

IN ENGINEERINGN. AL-MUTAWALY, MOHAWK COLLEGE, HAMILTON, ONTARIO

M. PICZAK, MOHAWK COLLEGE, HAMILTON, ONTARIO

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MOOCs in Engineering

Remote delivery/Distance/Blended Asynchronous/SynchronousMOOC:

M: “massive” class cohortsO: “open” to anyone often with no prereq’s.O: “on-line” delivery typically asynchronousC: “courses” collection of instructional content

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Success In Traditional Classroom

Many factors predictive of academic success:

Self efficacy Tutoring

Remaining on task Academic advice

Instrumentality perceptions

Personal life factors

Vocational intent Collegiate career centers

Co-op education Communication

Feedback: frequency/quality

Class size

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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

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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

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But If Others Are Doing It, Then…

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Platforms

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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

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Empirical Assessment of Completion Rates

Disciplines: engineering, management & ‘other’ courses Dependent variable: completion rates, dataset n = 111 Independent variables:

Class sizeAcademic disciplineEvaluation methodDelivery platformCourse duration

Data from Ph.D. thesis; adopted by British Department of Innovation & Skills, European Commission

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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

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Study Findings

Statistic Full Eng. Mgmt. Other

Courses 111 30 16 65

Students 4034956 1452708 416044 2175204

Class size 36432 48424 26002 33464

Max. 226652 160000 87000 226652

Min. 168 573 391 168

Compl’n Rate 14.0% 12.7% 19.3% 13.3%Std. dev. 11.3% 10.7% 11.9% 11.3%

Min. .7% .9% 4.4% .7%

Max. 52.1% 52.1% 35.8% 41.6%

Completion Rate = f(class size, discipline, evaluation, delivery platform, duration)

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Class Size & Academic Discipline

Statistic Full Eng. Mgmt. Other

R2 .27 .21 .55 .25

Adj. R2 .27 .18 .52 .24

SE .097 9.7 8.3 9.8

Sign. F* Yes Yes Yes Yes

Intercept* 19.0 18.0 25.9 17.7

Coef.* -.0001 -.0001 -.0003 -.0001

n 111 30 16 65

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Course Duration

Statistic Full Eng. Mgmt. Other

Courses 111 30 16 65

Duration (wks) 6.7 8.2 5.3 6.3

Std. dev. 3.0 4.08 3.6 2.5

R2 .23 .17 .60 .34

Adj. R2 .22 .14 .57 .33

SE 9.0 9.9 7.8 9.2 Sign. F** Yes Yes Yes Yes

Intercept** 22.7 21.7 45.7 30.3

Coef.** -1.45 -1.08 -4.91 -2.68

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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)

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Recommendations for Engineering

1. MOOCs may lend themselves to engineering courses

2. Basic engineering courses, consider experiment kits/simulation software to capture lab components

3. Advanced engineering labs, consider compressed lab formats

4. To satisfy accrediting bodies, adopt MOOCs CAREFULLY to ensure all competencies satisfied

5. More MOOC research be conducted

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At The End Of The Day…

“ one Coursera course = more students than I would teach in a

lifetime… ”

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MASSIVE OPEN ON-LINE COURSES

IN ENGINEERINGN. AL-MUTAWALY, MOHAWK COLLEGE, HAMILTON, ONTARIO

M. PICZAK, MOHAWK COLLEGE, HAMILTON, ONTARIO

The endQuestions