Development and Implementation of a MOOC Introduction to Engineering Course
- Conference
- Location
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Salt Lake City, Utah
- Publication Date
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June 23, 2018
- Start Date
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June 23, 2018
- End Date
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July 27, 2018
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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First-Year Programs
- Page Count
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18
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--30317
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/30317
- Download Count
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515
Paper Authors
Benjamin Emery Mertz Arizona State University
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 is currently a part of a lecturer team at Arizona State University that focuses on the first-year engineering experience, including developing and teaching the Introduction to Engineering course. He also teaches Thermo-Fluids and High Speed Aerodynamics for the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at ASU. His interests include student pathways and motivations into engineering and developing lab-based curriculum. Recently, he has developed an interest in non-traditional modes of content delivery including online classes and flipped classrooms.
Haolin Zhu Arizona State University
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. After receiving her Ph.D., Dr. Zhu joined Arizona State University as a full time Lecturer and became part of the freshman engineering education team in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. She currently holds the title of Senior Lecturer and focuses on designing the curriculum and teaching in the freshman engineering program. She is also involved in the NAE Grand Challenge Scholars Program, the ASU ProMod project, the Engineering Projects in Community Service program, the Engineering Futures program, and the Global Freshman Academy. Dr. Zhu also designs and teaches courses in mechanical engineering at ASU, including Mechanics of Materials, Mechanical Design, Mechanism Analysis and Design, Finite Element Analysis, etc. She was part of a team that designed a largely team and activity based online Introduction to Engineering course, as well as a team that developed a unique MOOC introduction to engineering course for the Global Freshman Academy. 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.
Amy Trowbridge Arizona State University
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.
Alicia Baumann Arizona State University
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 Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. Currently, she focuses on enhancing the curriculum for the freshman engineering program to incorporate industry standards into hands-on design projects. She is an instructor for the Introduction to Engineering program, Engineering Transfer Success program, Engineering Futures program, and the Electrical Engineering department at ASU. She is a winner of the Fulton Top 5% Teaching Award and was nominated for Badass Women of ASU. Her philosophy boasts incorporating large scale systems engineering techniques into collegiate engineering curriculum to better prepare upcoming professionals and develop a student’s resume from day one. Her goal for the Society of Women Engineers at ASU is to foster an environment engaging women to achieve self-independence while creating a network of supportive female professionals.
Abstract
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.
Mertz, B. E., & Zhu, H., & Trowbridge, A., & Baumann, A. (2018, June), Development and Implementation of a MOOC Introduction to Engineering Course Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30317
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