Transcript MISTIx India - Alex Springer

Alex Springer
MISTIx Ambassador
Overview
• The international MITx student
• Suggestions for improvements
• Future course suggestions
• How to capitalize on MISTIx Ambassadors
MITx Meet-Up Group
• 23 registered, 9 came
• All men, 20-35 years old
• Most have C.S.
background, one from
life sciences
Reasons for Enrolling
• Review/relearn material from undergrad
at the MIT-level
• Passionate about learning new things
• Like the assignments
• Enjoy helping others as “community TAs”
Course Videos
• Video sizes are too large
• Offer lower resolution videos for
downloading
• Post video lengths at the top of lecture
sequence bars
Video
Time
Video
Time
Video
Time
Course Offerings
• Offer class progressions
that build upon one
another
• Ex: 6.002, 6.003, 6.004, etc.
• Synchronize courses
• Offer at the same time
• Summer courses
• Term based course offerings
• Project based courses
Course Offerings
• Students desire advanced and
graduate-level courses
• Student collaboration opportunities
• Integrate unsolved real-world
problems for students to solve
• Crowd source solutions: Poly Math Project
• For pre-reqs, point to resources for
students to learn material before the
course
Course Announcements
• Announce courses from MIT ASAP, even if
a few years off
• Impatient students may resort to starting
their own courses if not offered soon
enough
• 6.003z
Course Certificates
• Special certificates for students who complete
multiple courses in a degree track
• Ex: 6.002, 6.003, 6.004, etc. – The “Online C.S. Degree”
• Graded certificates in addition to mastery
certificates
• Paid certificates with proctored exams
• Second offering of 6.002x
• Worldwide accessibility to test centers
Deadlines
• Experiment with courses with strict
deadlines and no deadlines
• Mixed reactions from students on
• Coursera penalty for extended deadlines
• Keep assignment graders open after
deadlines
• Always include a weekend for exam periods
• Include local time converter from UTC time
Course Content
• Flexibility
• Include future directions
and applications
• Course “Road Map” of future
courses
• Provide extension projects
and labs
• Heavy application focus
• Largest problem for
students is retention
The Student Experience
• Student and Professor
interactions
• Include challenge problems or
tags
• Could even offer an “advanced” certificate
for students who complete all advanced
problems
• Incorporate a badge system for
completing tasks
Course Specific Recommendations
• 6.002x
• Allow more than one circuit
to be saved in circuit building
software
• 6.00x
• Use only one teacher to
teach the entire course
Course Forum
• Keep forums like the first 6.002x forum
• Problems with current forum:
• Difficult to search for topics
• Lots of bugs
• No alerts if your thread gets answered or progress
• Maintain upvoting feature of old forum
• Continue competitions from 6.002x
• Students were given free textbooks for producing videos or
projects
• Create an MITx-type discussion forum for OCW
courses
MITx/edX
vs.
Other MOOCs
• Greater interactivity
• Breadth of courses
• Dashboard for all
current courses
• Advanced subject
matter
• Vibrant discussion
platform
• Truly free – no need
to purchase
textbooks
• Greater difficulty in
courses
• Disliked embedded
quizzes in videos
• Textbooks must be
purchased
• Comprehensive
course notes
Primary Concerns
• Continuity in courses
• Grad-level course offerings
• Proctored exams
• Earlier course announcements
Future Course Suggestions
• Any continuation of C.S. courses
• 6.003x, 6.004x, 6.006x, etc.
• Math:
• 18.06**, 18.03, 18.02, 18.01
• Foreign languages
• Music
• IOS/Android App development
• Bioengineering
Utilizing MISTIx Ambassadors
• Meet with university
professors or high school
teachers
• Give information sessions
• Organize meetups
• Create study groups
• Interact with online
students
• Conduct pedagogical
research
Informational Session
Student Meetups
How to help MISTIx Ambassadors
• Create directed and organized trainings
• Provide support and resources while abroad
• Set specific goals and tasks
• Be open minded about reaching through
different cultures
• Provide opportunity to report results
• Utilize MISTIx alumni for mentorship