Reflection on Teaching and Learning: From Books to MOOCs and BeyondMei-Yan Lu, Ph.D., Department of Educational Leadership

College of Education, San Jose State UniversitySan Jose, California, U.S.A.Mei-yan.lu@sjsu.edu

Agenda• Quick audience survey• Challenges in California• Why MOOCs?• Experiment of MOOCs at San Jose State

University (SJSU), spring 2013• Beyond content delivery• Moving forward• Discussion • Q&A

Where is San Jose, California?

San Jose, California – The Heart of Silicon Valley

• South of San Francisco• San Jose is the 3rd largest city in California, 10th largest

city in the United States• Population in 2011: 967,487 residents• California State University is the largest university

system in the United States, and most affordable university with 23 campuses and seven off-campus centers, almost 450,000 students, and 47,000 faculty and staff.

Quick audience surveyAre you…

• K-12 education (e.g., School Principal/CEO, Administrator, Teachers)

• Ministry of Education

• Higher Education (e.g., Professor/Faculty, Dean, Administrator, Graduate student)

• Parent of teenagers

• have multiple roles

Quick audience surveyHow long you have been

working in education?

• 1-5 years

• 6-10 years

• 11-20 years

• 21-30 years

• 31 years and beyond

Quick audience surveyHave you heard about MOOCs

(Massive Open Online Courses)

• Yes

• No

Quick audience surveyHave you taken MOOCs

courses…• Yes

• No

Reflection on teaching and learning

Classroom is changing

Credit: Dr. Charles Y. Cheng, Broadlearning Inc., Hong Kong (2011)

Classroom is changing

Credit: Dr. Charles Y. Cheng, Broadlearning Inc., Hong Kong (2011)

Classroom is changing

Credit: Dr. Charles Y. Cheng, Broadlearning Inc., Hong Kong (2011)

Classroom is changing

Credit: Dr. Charles Y. Cheng, Broadlearning Inc., Hong Kong (2011)

Classroom is changing

Credit: Dr. Charles Y. Cheng, Broadlearning Inc., Hong Kong (2011)

Classroom is changing

Credit: Dr. Charles Y. Cheng, Broadlearning Inc., Hong Kong (2011)

Something remaining the same

Credit: Dr. Charles Y. Cheng, Broadlearning Inc., Hong Kong (2011)

Technology in the Classroom

Credit: Dr. Charles Y. Cheng, Broadlearning Inc., Hong Kong (2011)

Challenges…• We tend to teach

the way we were taught.

• We tend to teach the way we learn.

Challenges in higher education in California

More challenges in higher education in the United States

Challenges in higher education in California

• Soaring tuition

• High demand in college enrollment

• Low graduation rate in state universities

• In the past 5 years, to graduate with an undergraduate degree from San Jose State, it typically takes ______ years.

Looking for silver bullet to solve problems in higher education

Is MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) the silver bullet

for higher education?

San Jose State University (SJSU) and Udacity Pilot Project, Spring 2013

• California Governor Jerry Brown asked Udacity to help to improve access to higher education

• Udacity supported three classes created by professors at SJSU

• Developmental Math (entry-level math, Algebra review), College Algebra and Elementary Statistics.

• Why these three courses were selected?

San Jose State University and Udacity MOOCs Pilot Study

• Developmental math class: only 29% passed, versus 80% for in the face-to-face class

• College Algebra: 44% versus 74% passed in the face-to-face Algebra course

• Elementary Statistics: 51% students passed versus 74% in the same in-person, face-to-face Statistics course

What are the possible causes to contribute the lesser favorable result?

What was missing?

• Press release answer.

• A Course Design Strategy (Instructional Design).

Lessons Learned from Udacity & San Jose University. 

• 1. Analyze learner and learner contexts.

• 2. Establish clear and concise assignment guidelines and expectations.

• 3. Establish upfront the channels and avenues of communication. Create instructor presence and a sense of community where students will be more likely to feel comfortable asking for help.

Moving Forward --

• “Failure is the mother of success.”

• ~ Chinese Proverb

• “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”

~ Thomas A. Edison

From parents’ perspectives

Summer of 2013

• Dennis Yang, President of Udemy, a MOOC provider has suggested that MOOCs are in the midst of a hype cycle.

Education is beyond content delivery…

• The culture aspects

• The relationship/mentorship between instructor and the student

Questions and answers

Dr. Mei-Yan LuDepartment of Educational Leadership San Jose State UniversitySan Jose, California, USA Mei-Yan.Lu@sjsu.edu

What is instructional design?• Usually, this is an one full semester

course.

• Let’s have an compressed experience…

Instructional Design: ADDIE model