A Pre-Calculus Course:
From classroom to online to MOOC
Sarah Eichhorn
Associate Dean, Distance Learning
& Faculty, School of Physical Sciences
• Face-to-Face Course
• Online Course
• Coursera MOOC
• Hybrid Course
Optional
Course Asset Details
•
Video Lectures
– 140 tablet written
narrated PowerPoints
– 6 green screen unit
introductions
– weekly JIT webcam videos
• Assessments
– Traditional final exams
• Similar to textbook
homework problems
• Short answer and multiple
choice versions
– ALEKS Learning Software
• Adaptive learning system
• Individualized paths of
study for each student
• Reevaluates students for
mastery learning
• Final exam with multiple
versions of each problem
F2F vs. Online
Indicators and Findings
• Grades and Final Exams in Pre-Calculus
– Too many confounding factors to analyze grades effectively
– Final exam performance on paired problems shows no discernable
difference between online and F2F
• Time spent on problem solving
– F2F students reported spending 6 hrs/wk on course work
– Online students spent on average 11 hrs/wk in ALEKS
• Instructor/Course Evaluations
– Online students much less happy with course, but has improved
• Common Final Exam for Calculus I and Calculus II
– Online does 2-5% better on Calculus final than F2F students
– In progress: Drill down on individual topics
F2F vs. Online
Online vs. MOOC
• Courses both:
– 10 weeks long
– covered the same content
– had a comprehensive final exam
Online Course MOOC
Enrollment (typical section)
300
45,000
Retention Rate
93%
12%
Pass Rate
75%
8%
Final exam average
69%
72%
Time spent in ALEKS
11 hrs/wk
7 hrs/wk*
F2F vs. Hybrid
The Study
• University System of Maryland
• Embedded repurposed MOOC
content into hybrid course
• Goal “to explore the potential
for MOOCS … to improve
student learning” and “to
understand the conditions that
make use of these materials
more or less effective and
efficient for student learning”
The Results
• 2 out of 6 sections taught as
hybrid with MOOC content
• Hybrid sections were larger
and had less class time
• Hybrid sections were 2nd
and 3rd highest scores on
common course assessment
• ** Several confounding
factors still not studied
• Thank you!
• Questions?