Can I Teach One Class in Three Places? Jeff Offutt Software Engineering George Mason University Can We Use Technology to Improve Education, Instead of Just Cut Costs?

of I taught SWE 763, Software Engineering Experimentation In a classroom –1 day per week, 2.5 hours Schedule –3 weeks of lectures –9 weeks in-class discussions of research papers –2 weeks student project presentations GMU FHE 2012 © Jeff Offutt2 This was a traditional class in a regular classroom Focused on research Mostly PhD students

of Department chair at Link ö ping University in Sweden asked me to teach the class to their students No … but I could teach it at Mason … Could I use the Internet to also teach in Sweden? GMU FHE 2012 © Jeff Offutt3 Mostly asynchronous Multi-universityOnline One class, three universities George Mason Skövde University (Sweden) Linköping University (Sweden)

of —Piazza and Camtasia Same structure with lectures, discussions, and projects Lectures recorded and posted online –Camtasia—Recording voice over PPT –Piazza—Independent free bulletin board for education For each research paper : –Two students wrote summaries and evaluations –One student “dissented” –Other students joined the discussion Each student designed and performed an experiment –Classmates comment on experimental design –Submitted a research paper –Presented to the class, conference style (synchronous) GMU FHE 2012 © Jeff Offutt4

of vs Comparison GMU FHE 2012 © Jeff Offutt5 Time per week2.5 hoursAvg 5.5 hoursDepthTired students Time to reflect & re-read Feedback on design 6 minutes per student 30 to 120 minutes Project Quality25% published 25% published / 50% publishable Students comments Very positiveMore positive

of 13Summary GMU FHE 2012 © Jeff Offutt6 Can I Teach One Class in Three Places? Can We Use Technology to Improve Education, Instead of Just Cut Costs? Jeff Offutt Software Engineering George Mason University Yes!

of 13EXTRAS GMU FHE 2012 © Jeff Offutt7

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of 13Students 14 students from George Mason University –8 PhD students –5 MS students (1 CS & 4 Software Engineering) –1 visiting PhD student from Brazil 5 students from Linköping University (Linköping, Sweden) 2 students from Skövde University (Skövde, Sweden) Origin country : –6 Americans –4 Swedes –2 Indian –2 Chinese –1 each from Brazil, Argentina, Pakistan, France, Russia, Iraq, Africa GMU FHE 2012 © Jeff Offutt9

of 13Challenges Merging students GMU FHE 2012 © Jeff Offutt10  Not feasible for students to get on other university’s CMS  Impossible for Swedish students to enroll at GMU  Piazza is free and independent Course credits  The credits are different at Swedish universities  Swedish students often get the credits for “theory” (lectures) without “practice” (homeworks) Motivation  Graduate school in Sweden is free  All grades are Pass/Fail – you either get the credits or not  No penalty for not getting credits  Two Swedish students “dropped” near the end

of 13 … Challenges Criticism GMU FHE 2012 © Jeff Offutt11  Swedish students are more willing to criticize than American  American students are more critical than most foreign students Time zones  Six hours difference weren’t important online  Deadlines were “COB in Virginia, 23:00 in Sweden” Personal connections  Two students commented that they missed getting to know their classmates in person  Four said they “talked” more because the rest of the class wasn’t looking at them

of 13Results After the first weeks, students did not differentiate based on university –They were all together Much more feedback on their experimental designs than in the traditional classroom setting –2008 : 6 minutes presentation, 6 minutes Q/A –2012 : 1 page document, hundreds of words and a full dialogue More discussion –2.5 hours per week in the classroom –Over 5 hours per week online –Time to reflect made for deeper comments and better understanding GMU FHE 2012 © Jeff Offutt12

of 13 … Results Student course evaluations ( max = 5 ) –Rating of teaching : 4.93 (2008)  4.79 (2012) –Rating of this course : 4.71 (2008)  4.83 (2012) More publishable papers –2008 : 15 papers, 4 published (26%) –2012 : 19 papers, 2 published, 2 submitted, 5 being revised for submission (21% + 26% … 47% publishable work) –The worst paper in 2012 would have been above average in 2008 GMU FHE 2012 © Jeff Offutt13

of 13Summary I was shocked at how well the course worked The success has nothing to do with the topic This model can be used by any class that features discussion and thinking –Engineering … science … liberal arts … Both Swedish universities, and numerous Mason students, have asked me to do it again GMU FHE 2012 © Jeff Offutt14 You should try it too !