MIT Physics Education Innovation
Ned Franck (left)
Introduction to Mechanics of Heat
John Slater Department Head
Jerrold Zacharias (left) and Francis Friedman
Physical Science Study Committee PSSC

Massive open online courses (MOOC s) ed edX. Alcune riflessioni sul futuro dell’educazione ispirate dall’insegnamento della fisica
Seminario di Formazione
AULA 3.0
UNA POSSIBILE RISPOSTA
ALLA SCUOLA DEL FUTURO
May 27,2013
Dr. Peter Dourmashkin
Physics Department MIT padour@mit.edu

MIT Physics Education Innovation
Phil Morrison
Conceptual: Physics for Poets
A.P. French
Series of Introductory Textbooks
John King
8.01x Hands-on
Take-home
Experiments

MIT First -Year Physics
•   Fall: Number of students = 948
•   8.012 Mechanics designed for Physics majors (165 students)
•   8.01 Mechanics TEAL format (530 students)
•   8.01L Mechanics for students with weaker mathematical backgrounds (72 students)
•   8.02 E&M TEAL format (109 students)
•   8.022 E&M designed for Physics majors (72 students)
•   Spring: Number of students = 835
•   8.011 Mechanics (95 students)
•   8.02 E&M taught in the TEAL format (630 students)
•   8.022 E&M designed for Physics majors (110 students)

MIT Experiment in Active Learning
(Technology Enabled Active Learning)
TEAL Ten Year
Ongoing Experiment at:
A merger of presentations, tutorials, and hands-on laboratory experience into a technologically and collaboratively rich environment

Collaborative learning ( Modeled after NCSU’s Scale-Up Classroom)
9 Students work together at each table of 9 students each
Form groups of 3 students that work collaboratively

Large first-year physics courses have inherent problems
1.
Lecture/recitations are passive
2.
Low attendance
3.
High failure rate
4.
Math is abstract, hard to visualize (esp. Electricity and
Magnetism)
5.
No labs leads to lack of physical intuition

Fall 2001-2
Prototype
Off-term E&M 8.02
Models:
RPI’s Studio Physics (Jack Wilson)
NCSU’s Scale-Up (Bob Beichner)
Harvard Peer Instruction (Mazur)
Spring 2003-Present
Scaled-up
E&M 8.02
Fall 2003-4
Prototype
Mechanics 8.01
Fall 2005-Present
Scaled-up
Mechanics 8.01

MITx: Challenge
The pressures of cost and the potential of new technologies are presenting all of us in higher education with a historic opportunity: the opportunity to better serve society by reinventing what we do and how we do it. It is an opportunity we must seize.
MIT President L. Rafael Reif, Inaugural Address.
9/21/2012

MITx Goals
•   Support the use of digital learning tools and techniques in the delivery of MIT residential programs
•   Support the development of free, openly licensed, scalable, MIT-quality courses to academically talented and well prepared learners worldwide on the EdX platform
•   Further the understanding of best practices in emerging digital and scalable learning environments.

EdX Goals
•   Expand access to education for everyone
•   Enhance teaching and learning on campus and online
•   Advance teaching and learning through research

Xconsortium: Participating Universities
13

8.02x Electricity and Magnetism

Walter Lewin Introductory Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxSLwndRNDI

8.02X Platform

8.02X Discussion Forum

8.02X Platform: Analytics

8.02x Demographics
•   38,163 people registered for 8.02x
•   5,241 attempted the first problem set.
•   3,490 students took the first hour exam.
•   2,459 students took the second hour exam.
•   we expect about 2,000 students to complete the course and receive a certificate signed by Professor
Lewin attesting to their having passed the course.
•

8.02x Geographic Distribiution

8.02x Participants Age Distribution

Age Distribution for all MITx Courses

Enrolled Students for MITx/8.02x/
2013/Spring by ed level and country

Active Students for MITx/8.02x/2013/
Spring by ed level and country

Retention Percentages for MITx/8.02x/
2013/Spring by ed level and country

MidTerm Exam Scores

Discussion Board Student Responses
“Thank you for making this amazing class available for free. I took 2 classes on line before … .Not only
[is] Professor Lewin amazing, of course, but the structure of the class on line is outstanding
[including the] mixture of videos, quizzes, simulations HW, textbook. The electronics class I took was not only expensive but of very poor quality.
This class takes advantage of the best of internet/ java/.. I hope it stays free. I hope for more classes like Physics 8.03 and 8.01 Bravo and thank you again.”

Results and Lessons Learned
2000 students around the world an opportunity to take Professor Walter Lewin’s Spring 2002 8.02 course in depth, and to receive a certificate from
MIT. gained invaluable experience with the edX platform and, by being an early adopter, help shape the capabilities of that platform. experience with an edX course, including how to code problem sets and exam problems, the quality control needed before such problems go “live”, how to moderate discussion boards effectively, how to motivate students

Outstanding Issues less clear is how successful this course is in term of learning outcomes. little information of how to rank the students in terms of ability, other than in a very coarse manner. the edX platform may be able to require students to take the exam for a set length of time in a continuous fashion the online course will not tell us much about the most effective pedagogy putting this kind of course online is no easy task.

Outstanding Issues putting this kind of course online is no easy task. offering it again, complete with an adequately-staffed discussion board, is an expensive proposition. new homework problem online requires the problem, the coding of that problem, extensive testing of that coded problem need new exams for each offering first of many steps in a long journey.

Implications for Residential Education
We are planning on “flipping” residential 8.02 TEAL for two to three weeks in the coming academic year, to see how the capabilities of the edX platform can be used in introductory courses.

Residential Education
Prof. John Belcher TEAL Founder

Next Steps
Video Lectures
Text
Simulations
Problem Solving Videos
Concept Questions
Problem Library

Example: Learning Asset Library
Video Lectures
Text
Simulations
Problem Solving Videos
Concept Questions
Problem Library

Developing MITX Courses first of many steps in a long journey.
Know your audience
Recycle Content
Build community
Get Help!
Quality Control, Good is not good enough
Have fun!

Crucial Issues for Success
•   Get students to diagnose their skill set before the class begins
•   Develop tutorials for students who are missing certain skills, design for retention, support materials
(learning objectives and assets)
•   Passive Learning/Video lectures vs. problem solving: how to facilitate this transition from passive to active learning
•   Good assignments: need the right level
•   Develop community Teaching Assistants
•   Develop materials for future years

Crucial Issue for Success:
•   Need support staff: detailed work flow, program manager,
•   start-up different from steady state
•   two teams: content development, platform development
•   setting proper expectations
•   good communication with students: office hours