Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Exchange of Course Modules across Universities Axel Jantsch Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Fundamental Challenges  Competition in research and education drives specialization  → increase in number of specialized courses  → labs have increasingly higher and more narrow competence profiles  Peak competence is very expensive  Education is under economic pressure

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Exchange of Courses and Modules  Enlarges the economic base for peak competence  Increases the selection of specialized course  Increases the quality of specialized courses

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Practical Challenges  Costs and inconvenience of travelling  Should the teacher or the students travel  Course delivery over the internet  Does not deliver the live classroom experience  Professional equipment and operation is costly as well  Lab equipement and tools  Verification of exam results; Student authentication  Cost Model ?

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Exchange of a Course Module  Partners:  Royal Institute of Technology  Danish Technical University (Prof. Jan Madsen)  Course: System Modeling  Supported by SOC-Mobinet (EU) and SOC-SME (Nordic Industrial Fund)  January May 2004

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Objectives  Keep the pedagogic quality  Reduce costs of course operation  Share a course among multiple organizations

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Essence of Good, Traditional Courses  Excellent textbook  Well designed organization  Labs  Exercises  Sequence of activities  etc.  Inspiring teacher

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Main Principles  Improve the textbook with internet technology  Provide an elaborate course organization which leads the student through the course  Give the student control within the course limits  Exploit opportunities of new technology

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Course Template  Length: 16 weeks  3 Phases (Preparation, Interaction, Labs)  Provider, Lecturer  Local Organization, Host

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Phase 1: Preparation  Length: 4-6 weeks  Self study of material  Homeworks  Interaction with lecturer via web/

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Phase 2: Interaction  Length: 1 week  Lecturer is present at host  Lectures  Exercise hours, joint discussion of problems and key issues  Tutorials to labs

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Phase 3: Labs  Length: 8-10 weeks  Labs and projects  Self study  Homeworks  Interaction with lecturer via web/  Exam

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Lecturer’s Responsibility  Provide course material  Exercises, homeworks  Tools, accessible to the student at the host  Labs, projects  Exam  Check exams and rate students  Commit to high on-line availability for students and respond within 24 hours to every question and request from the students

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Host’s Responisbility  Provide local organization  Computer infra structure, net access  Provide local responsible person  Execute the exams

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 The Student Controls Progress  The course consists of chapters  For each chapter the student repeats:  Step A: Read lecture notes  Step B: Interact with teacher  Step C: Solve Exercises and labs  Step D: Explore tools  Step E: Pass check point

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Student - Teacher Interaction   Internet based chat rooms  In person  Teacher responds to requests within 24 hours  30% as traditional lectures  70% in dialog form

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Tools and Labs  Tools readily available via the internet  Easy to install and license, or  Operated by a host and aivalable via the net  Labs to support the self-study process  Labs for each chapter of the course

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Organization Options  Free self-study  Relative schedule with milestones and check points  Controlled self-study with certificate  Absolute schedule (2-3 month) with registration  Milestones, Homeworks, labs, project  Physically controlled examination  Campus based exchange course  Preperation phase  Interaction phase (teacher presence)  Lab phase  Campus based course  Preparation phase (teacher presence)  Interaction phase (teacher presence)  Lab phase (teacher presence)

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Course Template Summary  Course template to accommodate new needs and opportunities  Higher preparation costs but lower operation costs  Gives the student more control while still providing a study skeleton

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Experience  KTH’s System Modeling course given at DTU  Jan – May 2004  3 part template applied  Elements:  Reading instructions  Home assignments  Lectures  Labs  Exam  Student numbers:  26 students registered  17 eventually passed the exam

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 System Modeling Course  Survey and systematic development of Models of Computation  Introduction  Behaviour and Concurrency (FSMs and Petri Nets)  The Untimed Model of Computation  The Synchronous Model of Computation  The Timed Model of Computation  MoC Interfaces  Tightly Coupled Process Networks  Nondeterminism and Probability  Applications  Course Book: ”Modeling Embedded Systems and SoCs”, Morgan Kaufmann, June 2003

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Part I: Home Reading  Home reading and home assignments  6 weeks  Module schedule with deadlines  Exercise server  Interaction via

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Part II: Lecture  Monday  13-15: Lecture on Untimed models of computatio  15-17: Individual questions and discussions  Tuesday  8-10: Lecture on Synchronous models of computation  10-12: Individual questions and discussions  13-15: Lecture on Timed models of computation  15-16:30: Individual questions and discussions

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Part III: Home Assignments  10 weeks  Home reading  Home assignments, exercise server  Exam preparation  Intensive contact by and phone

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Exam  Course provider:  Design of exam  Grading of exam  Host:  Organization of exam: room, student authetication, etc.  Course approval

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Student Feedback  12 students answered  Overall impression (1-5): 3.58  In line or slightly lower than for traditional courses  Comments:  ” There's no similar course at DTU so without your effort we would not have covered the subjects!”  ” I think it is not really possible to have … on topics which are not always straightforward, using the distance learning method”  “It was no problem that the course was distant learning, as the deadlines made you go through the book as the semester went forward”  ”Solving exercises during the course is very good way to get a better understanding of the topics. Automatic checking of exercises is a very nice feature.”  “Many of the exercises are too "computer generated" “

Axel Jantsch, KTH EWME - Stockholm, June 8, 2006 Conclusion  The exchange of course modules is possible and useful, but  It must be very carefully planned, structured and organized  There must be a clear benefit  Main obstacle is the cost model  Costs for external and internal courses are calculated radically different  Many Universities are not able to invest in education  Universities and the education system is not prepared to outsource courses