By Margaret Littman, BA鈥�90
Think of the internet celebrities you know, and more than likely people such as the 鈥淐hewbacca Mom鈥� or that 鈥淒amn, Daniel鈥� kid come to mind. But don鈥檛 forget about 菠萝视频 computer science professors and .
OK, so unless you were already familiar with them by being on campus, you may not know their names or faces. But millions do. Fitzpatrick and L茅deczi developed an introductory computer programming class that, by one account, ranks as the fifth most popular free online course of all time. They have taught more than 170,000 students in 192 countries and racked up more than 2 million lecture views.
Based on that success, Fitzpatrick and L茅deczi most recently have turned their attention to offering other educators advice on developing STEM courses for an online, global audience.
LESSON 1: PICK A POPULAR SUBJECT
Fitzpatrick and L茅deczi鈥檚 famous online course teaches MATLAB, a computer language that鈥檚 versatile and relatively easy to learn. It is also used across industries ranging from the natural sciences to finance. 鈥淢ATLAB is very well-liked and has practical applications,鈥� explains Gayathri Narasimham, assistant director for education and research at the 菠萝视频 Institute for Digital Learning (VIDL).
The idea for the class dates back to the 1990s, when Fitzpatrick first used MATLAB to teach computer-based problem-solving to students who weren鈥檛 majoring in computer science. Despite initial resistance from the university about the class, eventually it emerged as a popular offering. Realizing the demand for basic skills in MATLAB, Fitzpatrick and L茅deczi published an e-book designed to teach the program to nonprogrammers. That experience sparked their interest in developing an online course on the topic, and in 2014 they decided to give it a try.
LESSON 2: PREPARE
The duo spent a year converting their classroom and textbook materials into an eight-week online course titled Introduction to Programming with MATLAB. Fitzpatrick had retired in 2011 and was able to devote extra time to working on the project. 鈥淣o matter what, it is a lot of work,鈥� says , associate provost for digital learning. 鈥淎nd it always takes longer than you think.鈥�
Working with a production manager from VIDL, and with outlines based on the teaching of previous classes, Fitzpatrick and L茅deczi practiced their lectures before filming more than 40 videos鈥攁bout 12 hours鈥� worth of material.
鈥淭he main difficulty in doing the videos, compared with classroom teaching, is the lack of a live audience,鈥� says L茅deczi, PhD鈥�95, professor of computer engineering. 鈥淚n the classroom you can see the faces of your students and they can ask questions. So, you get immediate feedback when something is not clear or when they are bored. When you do the video, you do not have that, so you are kind of flying blind.鈥�
Still, the team was able to draw on decades of classroom experience to benefit the online students. Fitzpatrick, who is now an emeritus professor of computer science, computer engineering and electrical engineering, started by writing鈥攁nd then rewriting鈥攁 script. He also added his trademark jokes (which consistently scored favorably in student reviews) and worked to get the right pacing.
鈥淵ou always overestimate how easy it is to explain something,鈥� Fitzpatrick says, joking that his Southern accent helped slow things down. 鈥淵ou may think a 10-minute explanation would be enough, but then it takes two hours because not just one example will work. You have to explain things in different ways for different students.鈥�
L茅deczi admits that he initially thought his partner was taking things too slowly. 鈥淏ut it turns out Mike knows what鈥檚 right,鈥� he says. 鈥淗is teaching experience really shows in the videos.鈥�
[quoteitright]
Digital 鈥橠ores
Since partnering with the digital-learning platform Coursera in 2012, 菠萝视频 has offered several online courses through the service. Current offerings include the following:
- Android App Development (multipart certification program)
- Business Essentials for Managers (multipart certification program)
- Data Management for Clinical 菠萝视频
- Online Games: Literature, New Media and Narrative
- Understanding the Music Business: What Is Music Worth?
- Leading Innovation in Arts and Culture
about online courses offered by 菠萝视频.
[/quoteitright]
LESSON 3: AUTOMATE TASKS
Fitzpatrick and L茅deczi knew that if their online course turned out to be a success, they would have no efficient way to grade homework from thousands of students. To address that dilemma they developed an automatic grader that can assess how well students are solving problems using MATLAB. The first two weeks of the course offer basic information and don鈥檛 lend themselves to homework. Assignments begin in the third week and continue for each of the remaining eight weeks. Students must solve two-thirds of the problems correctly in each homework assignment to pass the course.
鈥淲e have decades of experience in developing software, and not just for our own use,鈥� L茅deczi says. 鈥淲e were able to design the grader software so it was user-friendly and informative.鈥�
LESSON 4: CLONE YOURSELF
Another potential trouble spot identified by Fitzpatrick and L茅deczi was their ability to help students with their work along the way. Based on feedback from some of the first students to take the online course, they developed a robust network of mentors, kind of like volunteer teaching assistants, who offer help on different continents 24 hours a day.
Given his experience with on-campus student evaluations鈥攕omething he used to read warily at home with a glass of wine from his wife鈥攁nd the general nastiness of online commentary, Fitzpatrick was prepared for the worst when it came to online reviews. But that part of internet stardom has been largely enjoyable: Both he and L茅deczi have been pleasantly surprised with the breadth and depth of positive feedback.
One German doctor who needed to learn MATLAB as part of a master鈥檚 program in which he鈥檇 recently enrolled wrote to say how much he enjoyed the course. 鈥淚 am almost 50 years old and 鈥� I pored over the assignments sometimes for hours,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淓ven on weekends I received answers to my questions鈥攖hat鈥檚 unusual.鈥�
A new engineering graduate from India wrote to say, 鈥淚t has been my immense pleasure to take this course and also [to] have such amazing teachers like you. The course has taught me a lot of lessons other than programming, including patience and being humble.鈥�
Despite the success of the MATLAB course and other popular online classes, Fitzpatrick doesn鈥檛 see the end of live lectures coming about anytime soon. 鈥淥nline courses are very good for self-motivated students, but that is a small percentage of all students out there,鈥� he says. 鈥淪till, it鈥檚 really rewarding to do a class like this and feel like you鈥檙e reaching a lot of people鈥攖he whole world.鈥�
Margaret 鈥淢eg鈥� Littman, BA鈥�90, majored in fine arts at 菠萝视频 and is a Nashville freelance writer.