OPEN COURSESUpdate

Remotely Accessible Laboratory Experiments Extending First-year

STEM Opportunities

What has NANSLO set out to do?

Offer critical gatekeeper courses: first semester courses for biology, physics and chemistry, incorporating both core theory and labs

Replicate at CCCS the remote laboratory (RWSL) currently in operation at North Island College in British Columbia.

Integrate RWSL technology with other distance delivery strategies to increase access to these lab science courses for underserved learner audiences.

Open course development: Outcome 3

 Anticipated Progress or Completion

 Quarter 1 (April-June 2011) Quarter 2 (July-

September 2011) Quarter 3 (October-December 2011)

Milestone 3-a      3 BC open courses for biology, physics and chemistry compared with existing CCCS courses.

Similarities, differences identified. Revisions planned for theory portions, inclusion of RWSL and changes to lab kits.

   

Milestone 3-b      Courses revised by discipline panels

Course designer works on courses.

Course designer continues work on courses.

Three adaptable open courses ready for use by anyone as well as localized versions specific to BC and CCCS needs. Lab kits are modified to complement RWSL course labs and revised learning outcomes.

Appendix A, Outcome 3: Three Open Core Courses - Biology, Physics, Chemistry: three existing BC open courses are improved by discipline panels generating three adaptable open courses ready for use by anyone as well as localized versions specific to BC and CCCS needs. Lab kits are modified to complement RWSL course labs and revised learning outcomes.Starting point: BC open courses currently exist.

Our role in the project’s Logic Model

What do we mean by “Open”?

The courses we develop for NANSLO will be: Built on/adapted from open course curriculum developed

through BCcampus “produce adaptable open versions of the courses ready for

use by anyone” (Proposal, p. 2) Developed through an open working process Openly licensed (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0) Supplemented by open resources (e.g. images, diagrams,

software, texts) wherever possible Supported by openly licensed project documents (e.g.

adoption manual, training manual)

Starting points

Open course curriculum developed through BCcampus: Physics Biology Chemistry

Collection of 8-10 laboratory activities per course A bonus is that we have been given permission to utilize

all non-proprietary resources developed by CCConline Courses are currently structured around proprietary

textbooks but the development of accompanying Open textbooks is a natural next step.

Curriculum design process/workplan

Assignment of Course Designer Establishment of Discipline Panels Comprehensive review of existing curriculum resources

by Discipline Panels Redesign of existing curriculum into open core courses:

both generic and localized Selection of resources, texts, support materials, lab

materials, and identification of gaps by Course Designer Evaluation, revision of courses Publication and open licensing of 3 core courses.

Discipline Panel initial work:

Discipline Panel membership confirmed late last spring Discipline Panel members provided with comprehensive

comparison of BCcampus & CCConline course curriculum Panel members compared course overview, learning outcomes

and/or topics, textbook, hours of study, etc. with the goal of establishing rough equivalency between BCcampus & CCConline courses

Conference call conducted with each Discipline Panel on June 30th. During the call, panel members: Established approx. equivalency between BCcampus & CCConline courses Discussed, generally, goals of the first year of the field of study Determined which aspects should be included in the first semester.

Discipline Panel: summer work

Listservs & wikis set up to facilitate discussion & provide an easy-to-edit space to compare documents

Physics & Biology (esp. Physics) were most active Discipline Panels over the summer

Panel members discussed: ‘core’ vs. optional/regional units /topics lab activities which best complement this collection How lab activities might best be revised Other topics of interest

Next steps by Discipline Panels

Physics: Come to consensus about which activities & which delivery formats best

support the lab portion of the course Continue review, suggest revision of labs

Biology Perhaps more discussion about core vs. optional units/labs Continue review, suggest revision of labs Add critical thinking skills for each lab

Chemistry Begin moving the review process forward

Some of this work may be completed during this workshop.

Open working process

You can follow the course design work on the wiki in our open ‘Curriculum Design Workbench’

Progress is updated:month-by-month (https://nanslo.pbworks.com/w/page/41915451/Curriculum-Design-Workbench) ; and day-by-day or week-by-week (https://nanslo.pbworks.com/w/page/45000032/September%202011)

Next steps in curriculum design

Continue to promote Discipline panel discussion Collate panel feedback & recommendations for each of

the 3 courses Using already available resources, select content, texts,

support materials, & lab materials to support curriculum as recommended by panels

Identify gaps between what already exists & what panel members have recommended

Review, feedback, evaluation, revision of courses Publication and open licensing of 3 core courses.

What opportunities lie ahead?

How can we best promote the open courses? How can we leverage the open-ness of the courses

we produce; e.g. How can we engage other partners who will use and improve these courses over time?

How can we sustain the growing expertise of our discipline panels beyond this initial project?

Questions?