Virtual University Courses and Course Management Systems - the faculty perspective - - the administrator perspective - Seminars on Academic Computing Wolfgang Bauer, Physics&Astronomy Michigan State University

W. Bauer, August 5, MSU Physics/Astronomy Service Courses  Annual enrollments PHY183/4:1400 (3/3 lecture sections) PHY231/2:1600 (4/3 lecture sections) LBS164/267: 400 (1/1 lecture sections) ISP205:1400(6 lecture sections) ISP209: 300(2 lecture sections) ISP215: 100(2 lecture sections) CBI 300 Total5500  Can one use the Internet to teach some of these students physics and astronomy?

W. Bauer, August 5, Project(s) History  1992: Presidential Faculty Fellow Award (k$500)  1993: NSF-ILI grant (k$45+45) to improve lab/lecture sequence in LBS (Bauer, Benenson, Westfall)  1995: MultiMedia Physics CD  1997: lectureOnline (Kortemeyer)  1997: Virtual University courses PHY231c, PHY232c  1998: cliXX Physik CD (Germany)  1998: HHMI grant (M$1.8, McGroarty)  1999: Advanced Placement Physics  2000: MSU-deal with Apex Learning  2000: NSF-ITR grant (M$2.1) for lon-CAPA (Kortemeyer, Bauer, Kashy 2, Speier)  2001/2: 5 more grants in connection with lon-CAPA  2002: (in the interest of full disclosure) signed contract to write conventional paper-based introductory physics textbook

W. Bauer, August 5, Virtual University Physics Courses  Lots of html pages, lots of pictures and diagrams  Video clips (~100) of lecture demonstration Different sizes to accommodate band width access variability  Interactive applets (~60) to explore parameter spaces  Several hundred individualized homework problems requiring numerical answers Immediate feedback Customized help for most common errors Prevents simply copying between students  Large bank of multiple choice exams  Reflection and Reinvention: This was a heck of a lot of work  Gaining Wisdom: What can be done to make this process less work, while providing even higher quality?

W. Bauer, August 5, Enrollments Fall 97: 32 Spring 00: 293 Since Fall 00: Capped enrollment at 200 More than 15% of all MSU VU students.

W. Bauer, August 5, Do they learn better?  Comparison study in Fall 1998: Taught lecture based PHY231 and compared to PHY231c  Same homework assignments, same exams, same grading system  Virtual university students scored slightly higher on all three exams and on FCI baseline test, and obtained slightly higher final grades (2.93 vs. 2.87) on average  One explanation: putting materials on www forces the students to engage in more active learning  Another: VU students are self-selected group  Needed: Controlled study

W. Bauer, August 5, mc 3 : m ultimedia c ollaborative c ontent c reation  Not-so-desirable model (1): Every person has to create a complete course from scratch  Not-so-desirable model (2): Buy complete course off the shelf from a commercial publisher  More efficient: Fully modularized system Semi-independent information units (a derivation, a homework problem, a video clip, an example, a graphic, an applet,...) Common navigation interface Central pool (or synchronized servers) to store virtual resources Drag-and-drop convenience of course assembly

W. Bauer, August 5, Construction of New Courses  Database of individual resources  Drag-and-drop object assembly  Resource meta-data: Author, date, topic Subject categories, keywords Reviewer feedback (colleagues&students) Usage statistics (Price !!!)  May lead to an object economy with multiple feedback loops  Principles of self-organization: Evolution-like selection rules Sum is bigger than its parts NSF-ITR Grant: Investigation of a Model for Online Resource Creation and Sharing in Educational Settings PI: Kortemeyer Co-PIs: W.B., Kashy 2, Speier NSF-ITR Grant: Investigation of a Model for Online Resource Creation and Sharing in Educational Settings PI: Kortemeyer Co-PIs: W.B., Kashy 2, Speier

W. Bauer, August 5, Student Perspective  One size does not fit all  Many different kinds of learners and learning styles  Lectures do not deal with this adequately  Neither do video tapes  Definite need to individualize on-line offerings  BIG advantage of internet, with its branching points (hyperlinks, scripts, interactive exercises, …)

W. Bauer, August 5, Multiple Representations of Knowledge In our daily language the word "momentum" is used to indicate that an object or a person is in motion, and that it will take a certain force to change this motion. A football team, for example, which is on a winning streak is said to have 'momentum going'.  Student can select from pull-down menu:  System remembers preferences and customizes learning experiences for each student => Genetic algorithms Yadda, yadda, yadda...

W. Bauer, August 5, When do Students Work? One day … Homework due at midnight 770 students in class

W. Bauer, August 5, How much does it cost?  Initial cost of course creation can be very high  Acquisition of course management system turns into a costly proposition  Real costs in faculty and staff training  Continuous costs in technology and content support  Hidden costs in making yourself dependent on course management system provider Not just the ever-increasing license fees Also, the need to adhere to a rigid architecture designed by an external entity  On-line education is not cheaper to offer  => It needs to be better (we are definitely talking administrator perspective now!)

W. Bauer, August 5, Support  Students work at all hours  Support needs to be available at all hours Content support (teaching assistants) Technical support  Expensive! MSU Physics/Astronomy: provide open learning lab, staffed with TAs from noon to midnight Pooling of TAs for all introductory courses  Unavoidable? Experiment in VU class chat room: peer instruction, only limited hour of faculty presence

W. Bauer, August 5, Educational Object Economy

W. Bauer, August 5, Educational Object Economy