Talk:OER university/Planning/OERu 2012 Prototype/Mathematical Journey/Design blueprint
From WikiEducator
Start a new discussionA course which personalizes authentic math learning for each individual learner (1)
There have been no changes to this discussion for at least 14 days. If it is concluded, you may want to write a summary.
Wow, I'm really impressed with the ideas for this course. I had been assuming this would be a conglomeration of basic math topics which learners would need to step through linearly. But no, each learner gets a chance to figure out what they need to work on, and then works with someone to design a learning plan. That's just how it should work! I do hope we can solve the scalability issues with how to do this with many 100's of learners at a time. It is so just what people need!
And not only is the course personalized, the learner gets to work on an authentic math-related problem. Yay!
I agree with Wayne that the course will need a strong collection of tutorials to support the use of technology, which will be crucial to a learner's success. I would think that spreadsheet tutorials will be needed for openoffice.org Calc (and maybe including a version for LibreOffice as well...which comes standard on more recent versions of Ubuntu), and also for MS Excel..and any others which are commonly available (as a learner should be encouraged to use whichever they have readily available).
Are there useful, openly licensed tutorials for WolframAlpha? It seems to me that it would be pretty intuitive for someone who already knows math, in particular math symbols, but could be quite daunting for a beginner....but oh so useful once they get the hang of it. Do you use the Google calculator much in your math instruction?
I'm happy to help out. Let me know. I plan to check back often.
Alison
Thanks, Alison! Yes, the tutorials will be important. We need to update our current Excel tutorials anyhow. And, I've been wanting to do a tutorial for OpenOffice. I'm not very familiar with LibreOffice- will check it out. As for WolframAlpha- will check. I agree it is a bit daunting at first.
I've not used the Google calculator much in our courses.
Help will be most appreciated!! --BettyHD 14:49, 17 March 2012 (UTC)
Just to clarify, LibreOffice is related to OpenOffice (wp says it's a fork of OpenOffice.org). As far as I can tell Calc works the same in both; I use Calc almost exclusively. The difference will come out in how you access various commands, as LibreOffice is standard in the newer version of Ubuntu (which has a different GUI). I think we can use the WE community to help us determine whether one tutorial will work for learners using Calc in varying operating systems.
I did a search on "Wolframalpha tutorial". A few items came up, including the intro by Stephen Wolfram, but nothing that's specific just to math. I think it'd be pretty simple to explain how to use it and the information available in the results screen.
In the version of this course at ESC, do you find that learners need help with how to type an equation into the computer (or calculator, for that matter)? Do you explain this in your Excel tutorial?
Just some further thoughts.
Alison
From a course design perspective, it would be relatively easy to develop a generic spreadsheet resource with "activity tracks" for different spreadsheet software applications (Excel, the LibreOffice and OpenOffice suites.)
Similarly, I think it would be worth the effort to have a generic suite of tutorials with assessment and activity tracks for different subjects, eg Math, Statistics, Accounting etc. In this way we will be able to reuse the materials for multiple contexts.
There are a number of resources we could use as a starting point -- for example, Module 4 of COL's Computer Navigators Certificate Course. These materials are available under a CC-BY-SA license and would be relatively easy to convert into wiki format.
Great suggestions on developing the spreadsheet tutorials. These will be helpful for many learners. Can you talk more about teh activity tracks?
--BettyHD 14:52, 17 March 2012 (UTC)
Hi Betty,
The activity tracks sound more elaborate than what I'm suggesting ;-).
Imagine a wiki learning page, for example, teaching how to enter a function in a spreadsheet. The page may include a demo or screen cast. At this point we can provide three links to separate subpage - one for each of the different software packages.
Similarly, a task oriented activity embedded on the wiki page might include optional streams for each of the software packages, or subject specific examples.
Structuring the course in this way (i.e. separate wiki sub-pages for the different software packages) will make it easier to reuse the materials for different contexts.
So nothing too elaborate -- just thinking carefully about how best to structure the wiki pages to maximise reuse and to minimise upstream maintenance.
Yes- this sounds like a great way to organize the spreadsheet tutorials and activities.
Hi Wayne,
Great idea--do one tutorial, with branches or on-the-page selections (e.g., click the appropriate down-arrow) for different situations (different software as well as different learning tasks). It seems quite doable, and as you say would likely be easier to maintain.
I took a quick look at the current CNCC spreadsheet materials. Nicely done. Betty indicated that ESC has an Excel tutorial which needs updating. Shouldn't be too hard to take the best parts of each and put them together into one tutorial, which can be added to as the needs arise. I will likely have a need for a spreadsheet tutorial for an intro stats class to start in Sept, so we can try out the branching for differing learning tasks :)
I'm very willing to help with this.
Alison
Agreed,
The latest version of the CCNC materials are not too bad and wouldn't be too hard to wikify. If we configure these for multiple reuse scenarios, I think it can support a wide range of learning contexts.
Thinking out loud -- I would prefer a subpage solution rather than using a "down arrow" for a target on the same page. This would make it easier to transclude. For example -- there could be a Spreadsheets for Statistics course (basically a transcluded duplicate of the generic course pages, and then incorporates transcluded pages for the stats activities if you know what I mean.) Much easier to maintain.
Thanks for your offer to help here -- would be a great project for the WE and OERu family.
Yes, I see what you mean. Definitely the way to go for courses which support different contexts.
I'm wondering if we need a fully separate course...learning pathway....for people using different spreadsheet software, at least for the very basic stuff. As we get into it, we'll have to see if there are situations which would make sense for the learner to choose activity directions or screenshots specific to the software they are using, and then that bit gets transcluded into the page. This method would only make sense if it's more common than different.
I haven't used Excel in quite some time, so I'm not sure how different the learning content will need to be.
Alison
Feedback from Wollongong (1)
There have been no changes to this discussion for at least 14 days. If it is concluded, you may want to write a summary.
We particularly looked at the Mathematical Journey blueprint because we are considering proposing a Maths subject in the next round. We wanted to make sure we wouldn't be overlapping. In common with the comments below we think it's a great design. And it does not overlap with our potential offering. MATH131/132 teaches PRIMARY Maths. A Mathematical Journey is going to have a Yr7-10 focus (at least). There's a big difference. Dr Caz Sandison from our Maths Department says:
"This is problem-based learning that should have an appeal to an educated general audience. It will teach people what they need to know for their particular problem. Given that our own education system does problem solving extremely poorly, this would even fill a gap in the Australian system. [Eg. I have found engineering students can pass MATH subjects, but when they have to "use" it in their engineering, they draw a blank 'coz they have been trained to think that Maths is separate to everything else, and they can't see the connection, relevance or use of Maths in their jobs.]"
"A Mathematical Journey seems to me to be a project-based subject, with every student working on their own project. In terms of supervision, this is pretty huge... and would be, even if you only had 20 students! It is student driven (which is a positive thing) but I'm not sure it is quite "do-able" from an admin point of view."
"I have also seen recently that their is a HUGE gap in the background knowledge of the general public. Having no pre-requisite may not be a great thing... even if they just say the people should be competent in basic, primary Maths skills or something."
"Since teaching my MATH131/132 subjects, my eyes have been opened to a whole new cohort of people who simply do not think mathematically. Many are mathsphobic and they have trouble seeing any logic in the Maths. A Mathematical Journey maynot be accessible to these guys. The mathsphobic need hand-holding and a teacher-directed syllabus. They don't have the insight to see where they would need to use Mathematics, partly because they want to avoid it at all costs."
Anyway, I am sure you have considered these things and we are offering to help with getting your course design implemented. The Maths lecturers at UOW have been engaged in creating OERs for some time. They asked me to point you to them: They are video snippets called "Summertime Maths": www.math.uow.edu.au/subjects/summer/index.html These ones do not yet have Creative Commons licensing on them but we are wokring on it, especially if you tell us you might be using them :) Meanwhile there are about 100 other Maths OERs from Wollongong that DO have CC licensing - they are stored on Content Beyond Borders http://oer.equella.com/access/home.do (although i just checked and CBB didn't seem to be working - yike! I'll ask why and see if it can be fixed)
Thanks so much for the feedback and offer of help. I'll take a look at the resources you've shared- thsnks! I agree that there is quite a bit of "unmathematical thinking" happenng in our world. We've createed some courses at ESC that have been successful with learners of a wide range of mathematical backgrounds and attitudes. I'm hopeful that this background will help make this project successful. Khan Academy will be a greeat resource- have you seen his web site? The videaos are also now available as an iPad app.
As an aside, i probably should say more about MATH131/132 - it's aimed at Primary school Maths teachers to provide them with the Maths background to teach Primary school Maths. It's also therefore suitable for parents of Primary school students. It's much lower level Maths therefore than A Mathematical Journey.
Hi Sandra,
BIG thanks for this extremely valuable feedback. It emphasizes the need for clear articulation of the intended learning outcomes of OERu courses and demonstrates the value of an open design blueprint process.
I think the MATH131/132 courses envisaged as a contribution by Wollongong would be a valuable edition to the suite of OERu courses currently on the table.
So what's interesting is whether there will be any sub-units or components where there might be overlap -- read the ability to reuse OER resources.
This process will also enrich our networks tacit knowledge and experience in how we can map courses and curricula on a global qualifications framework or competency matrix (without presuming any paradigmatic preference ;-))
Exciting times - -we're making the future happen!
Spreadsheet tutorials (1)
There have been no changes to this discussion for at least 14 days. If it is concluded, you may want to write a summary.
I did a little work to lay out some possible modules for the spreadsheet tutorials. See Spreadsheet tutorials/Content design.
I've included two "existing" module layouts:
- based on the CCNC module 4 OpenOffice Calc based materials hosted on the Commonwealth of Learning website (the materials Wayne suggested in the earlier discussions).
- based on an Calc-based tutorial on WE, which I started a few years ago for use with intro stats students. (The two modules that I completed offer a sense of how these tutorial modules might be created on WE.) I ended up not getting the full tutorial done in time for the students to use, and then my version of Ubuntu changed, and I became daunted by the thought of updating the screenshots. (Definitely one of the drawbacks to providing these tutorials is the recurring software updates.)
Betty, I think it would be good to compare these content module frameworks to the framework used for ESC's Excel tutorial. The idea is to create modules that could be included as needed into tutorials for specific purposes (both software choice and subject). Let me know your thoughts on this.
Alison
A Mathemateical journey is going to be a popular OERu offering! Initial reflections (1)
There have been no changes to this discussion for at least 14 days. If it is concluded, you may want to write a summary.
Hi Betty,
Judging from my experience working in the developing world -- I think this course is going to be very popular and it covers so many relevant skills for a wide range of disciplines. A good blueprint -- clearly ESC is very experienced in the world of asynchronous learning :-).
I really like the blueprint reference to tutorials and support materials for using different technologies (in your case spreadsheets). mmmm -- I think we need an OERu logic model activity for the range of student support tutorials for technology. The OERu will need resources to promote capability development in digital literacy. For example, Module 4 of COLs Computer Navigators Certificate Course covers spreadsheets, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA. We already have good resources for teaching wiki skills, and I suspect we will need resources on how to create and use blogs etc.
Thinking out loud:
- What your your thoughts / recommendations for implementing the initial assessment of quantitative skills. Would this be an objective item test using online technology? I assume the initial test is formative / diagnostic and will not contribute to the final summative assessment?
- ESC are world leaders in developing custom learning plans. Any advice / ideas on how to design this in a way which can scale? I imagine that the learning plan consultation would require the input of a skilled professional to support the learner -- or are there ways of designing this consultation as independant study materials?
- Question of clarity: Am I correct in assuming that the "Weekly blackboard" sessions -- are video recordings of a teacher working through math problems? AKA Khan academy style vignettes -- or are you referring to the Blackboard LMS?
- I think it would be useful to include a high level assessment rubric table which shows how the different components of the summative assessment contribute to the final grade. This will help us think about the assessment services and how the no-cost OERu teaching interfaces with the assessment model.
- This is not a major issue for the prototype offering -- because we will be restricting the number of registrations. However, as a mentioned above, I think this will be a very popular course and it is plausible that A mathematical journey could register thousands of learners for each cohort. I'm not sure that Mahara will scale well in this context -- a community group larger than 50 or 100 learners using Mahara is not going scale. Any thoughts on how we might address the scalability question?
Always a pleasure working with folk who know how to design high quality distance learning!
Thank you, Wayne! Here are some initial responses- need to think through some of your questions further. Your comments have us thnking already about next steps in our own journey.
- Yes, the plan for the initial assesment is that it be online. I'm just getting into Moodle, but am hoping we can build the assessment in there. Yes, this is a formative assessment and will ot contibute to the final summative assessment.
- I've been pondering how to do the learning plan and will be wokring on a template to make it more scalable. Some interactio with an AVI at this point seems essential.
- Actually, for this I was thinking of a Blackboard/Collaborate session. Last fall, I and a colleague did a MOOC which included weekly sessions. I'd like to bring in a person each week who loves math and can share their passion. I thnk storytelling is a powerful way to motivate learning.
- Yes on the rubric- great idea! We'll start work on that component.
- These numbers are challenging! I can imagine creating subgroups within the Mahara server (and eventually, multiple Mahara servers.) Wouldn't that work?
--BettyHD 12:31, 14 March 2012 (UTC)
Hi Betty,
- Yep, Moodle will be able to administer and award a mark for an objective item (MCQ, True / False) type assessment and the OER Foundation hosts a Moodle install. I'd suggest that the development team consider not including the outcome of the initial assessment of quantitative skills because this creates authentication and identity validation issues. We will not have a reliable way of ensuring that the user who takes the test will be the student applying for assessment services at one of the OERu partners. One option to consider is a completion requirement where the learner provides some form of evidence that they completed the test in an e-portfolio -- but that the grade is not counted towards the final grade. At the point of assessment, the OERu conferring institution will be able to validate identity in accordance with local procedures and requirements.
- I'm looking forward to see how the learning plan design evolves -- this is going to become a valuable feature / option for OERu delivery.
- Aaah -- your "Blackboard" refers to synchronous web conferencing. It will be good to trial these technologies for OERu delivery in the prototype context. A few things we will need to consider in the design:
- The OER Foundation will not be able to host Blackboard /Collaborate. The Foundation only uses open source software as a matter of policy.
- There is an open source web conferencing system - BigBlueButton. I've not used the system much - -so we would need to do a little testing, see how it scales etc.
- If ESC is running the OERu prototype in parallel mode with full tuition students on campus -- you could provide web conferencing access using your own system (but ESC will need to carry that cost). This may not be possible for all OERu partners
- The disadvantage with synchronous web casting for an international context is to find a suitable time for 24 time zones. The only way to create a reasonable window is to schedule two sessions for each planned conference instance - -One for the Americas and the Pacific, another slot for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
- Web conferences be recorded -- but not the same as the live event.
- Drawing on our own data from the Learning4Content courses, in cases where web-conference were scheduled - -attendance was low around 15% of registered participants.
- I think expose learners to individuals with a passion for maths -- In terms of reaching the maximum number of OERu learners, I think short video vignettes with carefully designed peer-2-peer reflections will be more effective.
- Regarding scalability of social platforms and dividing learners into groups -- this is not a infrastructure limitation. Platforms like Mahara can accommodate thousands of learners. The challenge is the administrative load for an AVI to allocate groups and the practical limitations from the learners perspective to read thousands of posts.
A few more things for us to think about ;-). Also we will have the advantage of limited scale prototypes to help us gauge the ration of AVIs needed for different pedagogical designs.
All your comments on the synchronous web conference make sense. I have a Blackboard/Elluminate room, so cost is not a concern. The short podcasts are a great idea. My grad student, Susan Fall, is coming to Saratoga in April to do some podcasts. Our goal is to engage the learners in as many ways as we can.
Perfect :-)
For the prototype offering ESC will use a Blackboard/Elluminate room --- we must just remember when we develop the generic resources that it is designed as an "option" taking into account OERu institutions who many not be able to offer the service. We can easily configure this into the design.
For the prototype offering, does ESC envisage:
- Running the OERu version in parallel with full-tuition students (quite doable with the OERu model ;-))?
- Are you planning to cap the number of OERu learners for the prototype or would you like to run the prototype as a massive open course? (Again - -both options would work well for the prototype -- just good to know in advance for designing the course materials. If you get 500 students signing up for the synchronous session --- you want to be sure the technology and budget can accommodate this. I think Math course has the potential for drawing very large numbers.)
W
I've been thinking about the place of the weekly synchronous sessions and I think it may be cleaner to not highlight them for this course. I still plan to do the weekly sessions, but it may be better to include them as one of the resources, rather than have them as a listed component of this prototype course. (I remvoed that bullet from the blueprint.)
As for providing concurrently in the college for credit, the answer is yes. We have what is called a "Learning Opportunities Inventory" or LOI, for offering studies such as this that are available collegewide.
As for capping, am open to either way. When we did the MOOC, we got a lot of interest, but not many who engaged at a level that would be sufficient to gain college credit. So, I'd be comfortable with leaving the course open, with the expectation that the number moving fully toward the credential will be a workable group.
--BettyHD 14:53, 17 March 2012 (UTC)
Hi Betty,
That's a good suggestion -- i.e. offering the synchronous webcasts as an optional feature. You could easily integrate this with ESC's parallel full-tuition version (LOI) without this being a "requirement" for other OERu partners should they offer the course.
I'd keep this as a bullet point in the blueprint indicating that it is an option.
It would be good to have a few mass open prototypes for the OERu running (I'm thinking about doing the same for the "Why Sustainable Practice" course at Otago Polytechnic.)
When offering the prototype we could cap the number of assessment scholarships for the prototype to a workable number and allocate spaces, for example, on a first-come first-serve basis when learners register. This can be communicated at the OERu registration point and we could ask learners to indicate whether they will be applying for assessment.
It will good for OERu to collect data on the conversion rate of a free learning course to formal assessment. I think learners join MOOCs for a variety of reasons and they may not be representative of the target population an OERu course would attract. It will be interesting to see if the engagement required for college credit will be different in the OERu course environment - -especially for learners who join with the intention of gaining college credit.
Can't wait to see these courses running and to see what the formal assessment conversion rate might be.
