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 · 743.4KB86 downloads



Viewed by 293 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

MOOCs and academic libraries: a chance or a problem? An overview
Testoni, Laura
Massive open online courses(MOOCs) are online courses free and open to anyone: the MOOCs enrollement is essentially unlimited. Purpose of this essay is to offer an overview on the debate about the development of the ...
Match: MOOC

Multi-faceted support for MOOC in programming
Vihavainen, Arto; Luukkainen, Matti; Kurhila, Jaakko
Many massive open online courses (MOOC) have been tremendously popular, causing a stir in academic institutions. The most successful courses have reached tens of thousands of participants. In our MOOC on introductory ...
Match: MOOC

The battle for open: How openness won and why it doesn’t feel like victory
Weller, M.
With the success of open access publishing, Massive open online courses (MOOCs) and open education practices, the open approach to education has moved from the periphery to the mainstream. This marks a moment of victory ...
Match: MOOC

The Open Translation MOOC: Creating online communities to transcend linguistic barriers
Beaven, Tita; Comas-Quinn, Anna; Hauck, Mirjam; de los Arcos, Beatriz; Lewis, Timothy
One of the main barriers to the reuse of Open Educational Resources (OER) is language (OLnet, 2009). OER may be available but in a language that users cannot access, so a preliminary step to reuse is their translation ...
Match: MOOC

Massive numbers, diverse learning
Littlejohn, Allison; Hood, Nina
MOOCs provide education for millions of people worldwide. Though it is not clear whether everyone can learn in a MOOC. Building on the typology of MOOC participants introduced is in Chap. 3 , and we explore the claim ...
Match: MOOC

A social network perspective on peer supported learning in MOOCs for educators
Kellogg, Shaun; Booth, Sherry; Oliver, Kevin; McGreal, Rory; Conrad, Dianne
A recent phenomenon in the MOOC space has been the development of courses tailored to educators serving in K-12 settings. MOOCs, particularly as a form of educator professional development, face a number of challenges. ...
Match: MOOC

Design for collective intelligence: Pop-up communities in MOOCs
Garreta-Domingo, Muriel; Sloep, Peter B.; Hérnandez-Leo, Davinia; Mor, Yishay
Many current authors point toward the heightening of networked individualism and how this affects community creation and engagement. This trend poses strong challenges to the potential beneficial effects of collective ...
Match: MOOC; Spain

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

The rise and fall of the “Massively Open Online Courses”
Laaser, Wolfram
The paper summarizes the actual debate about “massive open online courses” (MOOC), a concept that swept over like a “Tsunami” to European educators and universities since its first development in 2008. The ...
Match: MOOC

MOBIMOOC 2012: A new tree structure for the delivery of Connectivist MOOCs
Rodriguez, Osvaldo C.
Based on the explicit principles of connectivism (autonomy, diversity, openness and interactivity) and on the activities of aggregation, remixing, repurposing and feeding forward resources and learning, connectivist ...
Match: MOOC