In this evidence-based practice paper, the development and implementation of a new Introduction to Engineering course developed for the Massive, Open, Online Course (MOOC) environment will be discussed. MOOCs have a number of advantages which make them attractive to many online learners. For one, many of them are free which allows students to learn new skills without paying the high price of college tuition. Since they are often independent courses that are not a part of a degree program, they are open to anyone, regardless of background. They are also open to anyone around the world and so are not limited by geographic proximity to a university campus and are designed to accommodate large numbers of students at any given time, which again makes them very accessible.
In recent years a number of universities and colleges have developed MOOCs. While this space within the educational landscape has garnered interest from many of the top schools worldwide, very few of them have actually provided pathways for students in these MOOCS to achieve college credit. Most of those that have provided such pathways have mostly focused on Master’s level program, not on undergraduate programs. One first-of-its-kind initiative is [Institution]’s [name of program omitted] in which versions of all first year classes are being developed for this MOOC environment with options to receive college credit from [institution]. The Introduction to Engineering course described in this paper was developed for a Fall 2017 launch as a part of this initiative. It is the first Introduction to Engineering course offered with pathways for college credit in this MOOC environment. In an attempt to provide the same quality of education to online students as traditional students, this course integrates best practices such as active project-based learning, multi-disciplinary concepts, contextualizing course concepts within industry practices, e-portfolio documentation of skills, and collaborative peer engagement unlike anything currently available in Introduction to Engineering courses in the MOOC community. This paper will describe the course goals, structure, and design including specific concerns related to designing a course for the MOOC environment. It will also include recommendations for future work based on experiences gained during the initial offering of the course.
Dr. Benjamin Mertz received his Ph. D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 2010 and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 2005. He spent 7 years as a part of a lecturer team at Arizona State
Dr. Haolin Zhu earned her BEng in Engineering Mechanics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and her Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Cornell University, with a focus on computational solid mechanics. Dr. Zhu is an Associate Teaching Professor of the freshman engineering education team in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU). In this role, she focuses on designing the curriculum and teaching in the freshman engineering program and the mechanical engineering program. She is also the Co-Director of the Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP) at ASU. In this role, she focuses on student support and tracking, curriculum, program requirements, as well as programming for current students in GCSP. Dr. Zhu was also involved in the ASU ProMod project, the Engineering Projects in Community Service program, the Engineering Futures program, the Global Freshman Academy/Earned Admission/Universal Learner Courses Program, and the ASU Kern Project. She was a part of the team that designed a largely team and activity based online Introduction to Engineering course. She has also co-developed two unique MOOCs, Introduction to Engineering and Perspectives on Grand Challenges for Engineering for the Global Freshman Academy/ASU Earned Admission/Universal Learner Courses Program. Her Ph.D. research focuses on multi-scale multiphase modeling and numerical analysis of coupled large viscoelastic deformation and fluid transport in swelling porous materials, but she is currently interested in various topics in the field of engineering education, such as innovative teaching pedagogies for increased retention and student motivation; innovations in non-traditional delivery methods, incorporation of the Entrepreneurial Mindset in the engineering curriculum and its impact. She has published over 30 papers and presented at various conferences about her work. She is recognized as an Engineering Unleashed Fellow and won the Fulton Outstanding Lecturer Award for her contributions in Engineering Education.
Amy Trowbridge is a Senior Lecturer and Director of the Grand Challenge Scholars Program in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. Her teaching focuses primarily on first year engineering students, and she is interested in curricular and co-curricular experiences that broaden students’ perspectives and enhance student learning.
Ali Baumann received her master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wyoming before working as senior systems engineer at General Dynamics C4 Systems. She is now part of the freshman engineering education team in the Ira A. Fulton S
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