Redesigned Course Structure
15-week term
7 sections of 125 students each per year
1.25 contact hours per week (1 lecture)
Four full-time faculty teach all sections of the course. They present one
lecture per week, select from publisher-produced materials to design assignments
and tests, evaluate assignments, respond to students’ individual needs, and rely
primarily on machine-scored tests for grading.
Undergraduate teaching assistants (TAs) assist in the computer lab as
needed.
Summary
In summary, the redesigned course will implement the following changes:
Treat multiple sections as one course using common materials
Reduce lecture time by 50%
Provide for students’ interaction with online resources and with each other
Add undergraduate TAs for student help
Enable faculty to select course materials more appropriate for their
students
Make faculty and TAs available to students via the computer classroom
Allow faculty to interact more directly and individually with their students
online
Institute computer-based testing, which allows for retesting and
self-directed learning,
Increase section size from 75 to 125; reduce section numbers
Albino D Cunha on 11 May 09Although learning resources are often considered as key intellectual property in a competitive higher education world, more and more institutions and individuals are sharing their digital learning resources over the Internet openly and for free, as Open Educational Resources. The OECD's OER project asks why this is happening, who is involved and what the most important implications are of this development."
