The OER Knowledge Cloud makes use of cookies. By continuing, you consent to this use. More information.
The discrete optimization MOOC: An exploration in discovery-based learning
Coffrin, Carleton and Hentenryck, Pascal Van

Alternate titleIssue No.37 Experiences and best practices in and around MOOCs
PublishedMarch 2014
JournaleLearning Papers
Volume 37, Issue March 2014, Pages 51-56
Publisherelearningeuropa.info
Original PublicationEMOOCS 2014 conference
EditorsUllmo, Pierre-Antoine and Koskinen, Tapio
CountrySpain

ABSTRACT
The practice of discrete optimization involves modeling and solving complex problems which have never been encountered before and for which no universal computational paradigm exists. Teaching such skills is challenging: students must learn not only the core technical skills, but also an ability to think creatively in order to select and adapt a paradigm to solve the problem at hand.
This paper explores the question of whether the teaching of such creative skills translates to Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). It first describes a discovery-based learning methodology for teaching discrete optimization, which has been successful in the classroom for over fifteen years. It then evaluates the success of a MOOC version of the class via data analytics enabled by the wealth of information produced in the MOOC.

Keywords computer science education · discovery-based learning · MOOC · problem solving skills

Published atBarcelona
ISSN1887-1542
RefereedYes
Rightsby-nc-nd/3.0
URLhttp://openeducationeuropa.eu/en/article/The-Discrete-Optimization-MOOC%3A-An-Exploration-in-Discovery-Based-Learning?paper=136477
Export optionsBibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar



AVAILABLE FILES
From-field_37_2.pdf · 743.4KB88 downloads



Viewed by 310 distinct readers




CLOUD COMMUNITY REVIEWS

The evaluations below represent the judgements of our readers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cloud editors.

Click a star to be the first to rate this document


POST A COMMENT
SIMILAR RECORDS

Enhanced peer assessment in MOOC evaluation Through assignment and review analysis
Alcarria, Ramón; Bordel, Borja; de Andrés, Diego Martín; Robles, Tomás
The rapid evolution of MOOCs in recent years has produced a change in the education of students and in the development of professional skills. There is an increasing pressure on universities to establish procedures for ...
Match: MOOC

Similarity and difference in fee-paying and no-fee learner expectations, interaction and reaction to learning in a massive open online course
Cross, Simon; Whitelock, Denise
The new pedagogical opportunities that massive open online course (MOOC) learning environments offer for the teaching of fee-paying students on university-accredited courses are of growing interest to educators. This ...
Match: MOOC

Adapting a MOOC for research: Lessons learned from the first presentation of literature and mental health: Reading for wellbeing
Hodge, Rachael
The University of Warwick’s FutureLearn MOOC Literature and Mental Health: Reading for Wellbeing, which began its first presentation February 2016, was identified as an opportunity to conduct some research into the ...
Match: MOOC

MOOC design principles. A pedagogical approach from the learner’s perspective
Guàrdia, Lourdes; Maina, Marcelo; Sangrà, Albert; Koskinen, Tapio; Mor, Yishay
The debate around Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is much more focused on the social, institutional, technological and economical aspects than on the need for development of new pedagogical approaches that provide ...
Match: MOOC; Spain

European network for open courses peer reviewed quality assessment: A collaborative proposal
Rodríguez-Pérez, Daniel; Cortés, E.; Arias-Zugasti, Manuel; Santa Marta, Cristina; et al.
The Online, Open and Flexible Higher Education Conference Hosted by FernUniversität in Hagen, 29-30 October 2015 Distance teaching universities (DTU) have always offered open learning courses in the form of short and ...
Match: MOOC; Spain

Digital Learning Objects for teaching computer programming
Topali, Paraskevi; Mikropoulos, Anastasios
The evolving character of learning technology has fostered changes in the way that the learning material is produced, stored, manipulated and experienced. The result was the development of reusable learning content, ...
Match: computer science education

Socioeconomic status and MOOC enrollment: Enriching demographic information with external datasets
Hansen, John; Reich, Justin
To minimize barriers to entry, massive open online course (MOOC) providers collect minimal demographic information about users. In isolation, this data is insufficient to address important questions about socioeconomic ...
Match: MOOC

Massive Open Online Courses for development (MOOC4D)
Balaji, Venkataraman
Presented by Dr. Ventakaraman Balaji, Director - Technology and Knowledge Management, Commonwealth of Learning, at a Faculty Workshop on a MOOC on Life Skills for Engineers, Kanpur, India, 27 November ...
Match: MOOC

Opportunities and threats of the MOOC movement for higher education: The European perspective
Schuwer, Robert; Jaurena, Ines Gil; Aydin, Cengiz Hakan; Costello, Eamon; et al.
The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) movement is the latest ‘big thing’ in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) which threatens to transform Higher Education. Both opportunities and threats are extensively discussed in ...
Match: MOOC

MOOCs: A learning journey
Smith, Becky; Eng, Min; Cheung, Simon K. S.; Fong, Joseph; et al.
MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) have been radically changing the direction of online education in the last few years. Although sharing many common features, there has been an emergence of two distinct varieties of ...
Match: MOOC