{"226711":{"#nid":"226711","#data":{"type":"news","title":"MOOC Experiments with Teaching Strategies","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHaving videos available so that she could learn at her own pace \u2014 that\u2019s what Theresa Sorrentino enjoyed most about her recent online class experience.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe video lectures helped me to better understand the course material because I\u0026nbsp; could watch and pause each one whenever I needed to,\u201d added Sorrentino, a third-year Biomedical Engineering student.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESorrentino was one of 11 Georgia Tech students who made up an on-campus contingent of this summer\u2019s Introductory Physics I massive open online course (MOOC). (There were a total of 17,000 students around the world enrolled in the course.) The on-campus students actually took the course through Tech and earned credit.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis flipped classroom model allowed the Tech students to watch lectures and complete homework assignments online, which freed up class time to work on problems and do other activities together,\u201d said Mike Schatz, the physics professor who led the MOOC. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor example, as part of the course, students were asked to complete five video labs where they recorded a moving object, analyzed it using software, and created a five-minute lab report to share with the class. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen on campus, students were able to do a dry run of their lab reports during the face-to-face time with Schatz, allowing for them to get feedback before uploading their final videos to YouTube. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis exercise was valuable, because we were able to catch some wrong turns and help students improve along the way,\u201d Schatz said.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESorrentino is quick to share that being part of the small cohort of on-campus students was a plus.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere was good camaraderie among us,\u201d she said. \u201cAlso, there was greater accountability. If you didn\u2019t get your work done, it was easily noticed, which was a good incentive to keep up with the class.\u201d\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAside from the flipped model and the video labs, this course experimented with video white board illustrations as another way to teach the material. The illustrations cover everything from the differences between length and time measurements to friction. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI thought they were great,\u201d Sorrentino said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it was because they were a novelty or if I am just a visual learner, but the video illustrations made it easier to understand the information being taught.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe five- to 15-minute videos were primarily created by several undergraduate students, which allowed the students to become engaged in the teaching process, Schatz said. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFrom writing the script and creating the storyboard to editing the footage, each video took about eight to 10 hours to complete. The team is still producing videos, with the goal being to have a library of about 100.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe MOOC will be offered again beginning Aug. 19, and will run for 16 weeks. Schatz\u2019s approach to teaching the course will be similar but with a few changes. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne change will include more frequent testing. This summer, peer-evaluated lab reports, homework, and a final exam contributed to the students\u2019 final grades. In the fall, there will be more frequent testing (weekly quizzes and a midterm) and less weight placed on the lab reports.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTesting will be spread out, so students will know where they stand in the course, and we will be able to see if they\u2019re grasping the material,\u201d Schatz said. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlso, the number of on-campus students taking the course will increase to six sections of 30.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cWe want to find out what it takes to successfully scale up the course to handle all the Tech students who may want to take the course,\u201d Schatz said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor more information, email \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:michael.schatz@physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchatz\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHaving videos available so that she could learn at her own pace \u2014 that\u2019s what Theresa Sorrentino enjoyed most about her recent online class experience.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Having videos available so that she could learn at her own pace \u2014 that\u2019s what Theresa Sorrentino enjoyed most about her recent online class experience."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2013-08-05 15:05:01","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:38","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-08-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-08-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"226701":{"id":"226701","type":"image","title":"Introductory Physics I MOOC Video Line Drawing","body":null,"created":"1449243566","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:39:26","changed":"1475894899","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:19","alt":"Introductory Physics I MOOC Video Line Drawing","file":{"fid":"197435","name":"mooc_line_drawing.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mooc_line_drawing_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mooc_line_drawing_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":178341,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mooc_line_drawing_0.jpg?itok=a3c8BMaY"}}},"media_ids":["226701"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/c.gatech.edu\/166WHsa","title":"Introductory Physics I MOOC"}],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"70701","name":"Introductory Physics I MOOC"},{"id":"52391","name":"massive open online courses"},{"id":"68221","name":"Mike Schatz"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"70691","name":"video line drawings"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:amelia.pavlik@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAmelia Pavlik\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}