Redesigning a Freshman Engineering Course to Promote Active Learning by Flipping the Classroom through the Reuse of MOOCs

Abstract

MOOCs have made it possible not only to provide quality open education for any learner worldwide, but also to rethink the way on-campus teaching is delivered. The materials produced for a MOOC can be consumed by on-campus students before arriving to the classroom, using class time to do activities that promote active learning, following this way a flipped classroom strategy. This paper presents the experience of redesigning a first-year engineering course with a large number of students (over 400 each year), in which MOOCs are reused, and a flipped classroom strategy is implemented, dedicating most of traditional lecture time to do hands-on, interactive activities. The results show an increase in students' motivation, both in the use of MOOC content outside the classroom, and in the realization of hands-on, interactive activities inside the classroom. In relation to the teacher, having information on students' previous work outside the classroom, and on students' work in the hands-on, interactive activities carried out inside the classroom, allows understanding better the differences between groups, tailoring the explanations during class time, and providing proper reinforcement activities to be done after class.