文章基本信息

标题：Massive Open On-line Courses in Engineering
本地全文：下载
作者：Nafia Al-Mutawaly ; Michael Piczak
期刊名称：Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association
出版年度：2015
出版社：The Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA)
摘要：spectrum of terms including remote, distance, blended and massive on line courses (MOOCs) capture the latest trends in teaching/learning from JK to the Ph.D. level. These pedagogical approaches involve combinations of face-to-face, asynchronous, and synchronous delivery of courses to class sizes that can surpass 300,000 students per offering. MOOCs, typically asynchronous, represent an attractive delivery paradigm for small and large institutions alike as economies of scale hold out visions of significant cashflows, promotion of a School’s brand to previously unreachable audiences, democratization of higher education, and enrichment of the planet’s knowledge capital. MOOCs, however, are not without their challenges including: significant commitment and up-front costs, wading into uncharted territory, defense of academic integrity/brand image, handling of hands-on laboratory content and poor completion rates. From students’ perspectives, MOOCs present an attractive and viable alternative permitting study in the convenience of their home accessing resources from the world’s finest academic institutions at competitive costs. This paper will examine the concept of MOOCs with a focus on course completion rates (dependent variable) as a function of class size, academic discipline, evaluation methods, delivery platform and course duration (independent variables). The presented data set (n= 111) is partitioned into three knowledge domains: engineering, management and others to quantify completion rate differences across the three identified categories, with emphasis on the engineering discipline. The paper will also present best practices for delivering engineering courses/labs based on a MOOCs model. Lessons learned from blended/distance course delivery experiences at McMaster University, Bachelor of Technology Program, are extended into the MOOC environment.