From MOOCs to SPOCs and from SPOCs to flipped classroom

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1 From MOOCs to SPOCs and from SPOCs to flipped classroom Carlos Alario-Hoyos, Iria Estévez-Ayres, Carlos Delgado Kloos, Julio Villena-Román Department of Telematic Engineering, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid Av. Universidad, 30, 28911, Leganés (Madrid), Spain {calario, ayres, cdk, Abstract. The concept of SPOCs (Small Private Online Courses) emerged as a way of describing the reuse of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) for complementing traditional on-campus teaching. But SPOCs can also drive an entire methodological change to make a better use of face-to-face time between students and teachers in the classroom. This paper presents the redesign and evaluation of a first-year programming course in several engineering degrees, with over 400 students overall, through the reuse of MOOCs as SPOCs on campus, combined with a flipped classroom strategy aimed at promoting active learning. Results from a students self-reported questionnaire show a very positive acceptance of the SPOC, which includes both videos and complementary formative activities, and an increase of motivation through the combination of the SPOC and activities implemented in lectures to flip the classroom. Keywords: MOOCs, SPOCs, flipped classroom, programming course. 1 Introduction MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) have brought major changes to traditional education. On one side, they provide access to quality courses from top Universities to any learner worldwide [1]. On the other side, they can be reused [2] to complement residential courses [3] under the name SPOC (Small Private Online Course) [4]. In addition to serving as a complement to face-to-face classes, it is possible to reuse MOOCs in a more integrated way to support flipped classroom strategies [5], where students work in the theoretical concepts (mainly watching videos and doing basic exercises) before going to the classroom, and then class time is used to work in practical and applied activities with the objective to promote a more active learning. This paper presents a successful case of reusing MOOCs as SPOCs, this being the core for a flipped classroom strategy in which lecture time is reallocated to do handson activities that promote active learning. The case refers to a first-year programming course taught in several engineering degrees, with more than 400 students enrolled per year average. Both SPOC and flipped classroom strategy are evaluated through a questionnaire filled out by students in the middle of the semester to know their opinions on the usefulness of these innovations and their effect on students motivation.

2 2 Case study: Systems Programming Systems Programming is a first-year second-semester programming course of four bachelor s engineering degrees at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) (Spain); it is taught in both English and Spanish. Typically, more than 400 students enrol this 15-week course, which has two sessions per week: a 100-minute lecture in large groups (up to 120 students) and a 100-minute laboratory session in small groups (up to 40 students). This is the second programming course students take after a basic programming course in the first semester. Java is the programming language used, as it is also the language used in the first semester programming course, so students are supposed to already have the background on the syntax and basic control flow instructions. One of the main problems encountered by Systems Programming teachers is that, even though the theoretical explanations are important, this is an eminently practical subject, and there is little time for practical activities (100 minutes per week). Furthermore, it is difficult to get more time for practicing as theoretical sessions follow a strict schedule, and take place in large classrooms of up to 120 students. Before starting the course 2016/2017 teachers decided to redesign the structure of large group classes reusing MOOCs as a SPOC, this being the core of a flipped classroom strategy focused on hands-on activities and the promotion of active learning. 2.1 First phase: MOOCs In 2015, teachers from the Departments of Telematics Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC3M began the development of three five-week MOOCs on Introduction to Programming with Java. These three MOOCs cover the syllabus of the first basic programming course (first semester), and of Systems Programming (second semester). The three MOOCs are deployed in edx and form an XSeries (sequence of interrelated courses) ( Part 1, Starting to Code with Java, focuses on the programming basics and goes from imperative programming to object orientation; Part 1 was developed in 2015 and has run thrice so far. Part 2, Writing Good Code, focuses on error detection and correction, going from low-level development to high-level design, including, among other topics, debugging, testing, complexity, software engineering and ethical issues; Part 2 was developed in 2016 and has run twice so far. Part 3, Fundamental Data Structures and Algorithms, focuses on linear and non-linear data structures, as well as on basic and advanced algorithms applied on them; Part 3 was developed in 2017 and has run once so far. These three MOOCs are offered in English (videos also include subtitles in both English and Spanish) and together add up more than 300,000 enrollees in the several runs, with Part 1 the most successful MOOC. Although videos are an important part, a special emphasis was put on having many interactive activities supported by edx built-in tools, external tools integrated in edx (e.g. Blockly or Codeboard), animations and simulations [6]. The quality of the educational materials in these MOOCs has been improved through learners contributions, who act as critical reviewers.

3 2.2 Second phase: SPOCs The three MOOCs were used to create dedicated SPOCs for Systems Programming, one in English and another one in Spanish. The SPOC in English has entirely reused contents from the MOOCs. The SPOC in Spanish has partially reused contents from the MOOCs, but some videos were re-recorded in Spanish, and some assignments were translated to Spanish. Both SPOCs are equivalent and share the same structure. With the contents of the three MOOCs it was possible to create SPOCs that cover 100% of the Systems Programming syllabus. The SPOCs are deployed in an Open edx instance, hosted at UC3M servers. Only students enrolled in Systems Programming can access this SPOC and there is no relationship between the students who use the SPOCs and the learners enrolled in the MOOCs. 2.3 Third phase: Flipped classroom The SPOCs made it possible the restructuring of large groups classes to put into practice a flipped classroom strategy. Students were told to watch videos and do some assignments before coming to class. This way, they got sufficient knowledge to quickly review the main concepts at the beginning of the class, and then, have time to do practical activities. Large group classes were redesigned as follows: First, there is a brief presentation of the highlights of the session with time for questions (about minutes). This part has a twofold purpose: students who watched the videos and did the assignments at home some days ago refresh them, while student who did not watch the videos nor did the activities at home have at least a basic background to continue with the following parts. Next, students are presented a set of exercises in which they must code small programs (about minutes). They can do this activity alone or in small groups. Solutions to the exercises are later provided and briefly explained. Finally, a questionnaire is presented to learners using the quiz-based platform Kahoot! ( (about minutes). The questionnaire has questions, and has a twofold purpose: it serves as a formative evaluation for students; and teachers can detect the main conceptual gaps students have. Questions and answers are projected in a big screen and students can answer from their mobile devices or laptops, through the browser, and without installing anything. Each question is timed (e.g. 30/60 seconds) and the whole class moves forward to the following question together. Students pick a nickname and receive points to answer correctly and quickly; a leaderboard is shown between questions to encourage students motivation through competition. This design is usually replicated in each large group class with minor variations, such as including a basic, short Kahoot! at the beginning of the class (5-10 minutes) so that the teacher can know if students watched the videos and did the activities at home, and otherwise dedicate a little more time to the highlights explanation. Finally, those students who come to Systems Programming without having passed the first semester basic programming course are actively encouraged by teachers to enroll the XSeries on edx and start with the first MOOC ( Part 1: Starting to Code with Java, ) to catch up.

4 3 Results An anonymous voluntary questionnaire filled out by students in the middle of the course was used to evaluate the SPOC and the redesign of the course through a flipped classroom strategy. The questionnaire included closed-ended questions (to be assessed using a Likert scale), and open-ended questions (in which students could provide more elaborated answers). The data analysis followed a mixed methodology in which closed-ended questions served to gain insights and detect tendencies, which were afterwards confirmed or discarded through the open-ended questions. 104 students of the four bachelor s degrees answered this questionnaire. (25.6% of enrolees). 3.1 Results about the SPOC 63 students (60.6%) said that they used the SPOC weekly to prepare the following large group classes, 37 students (35.6%) said that they used the SPOC occasionally to review some concepts, and 4 students (3.8%) said that they did not use the SPOC. Students who used the SPOC could assess statements about the usefulness and effect of its materials (mainly videos and interactive activities) (see Table 1). 91 students (90.1%) agreed or strongly agreed that the videos were useful for better understanding the main concepts, 63 students (62.4%) agreed or strongly agreed that the videos increased their motivation to keep working at home, 84 students (84%) agreed or strongly agreed that the activities were useful for practicing the main concepts, and 68 students (67.3%) agreed or strongly agreed that the activities increased their motivation to keep working at home. Overall, 91 students (90.1%) agreed or strongly agreed that including a SPOC in future editions of the course would be useful. These results are reinforced by positive comments from students, such as I am doing the course for a second time and with this kind of teaching I have the motivation I did not find last year, it [the SPOC] is well organized to have a previous background of what we will see in the class, I am very satisfied and motivated thanks to this format. ( ) I would like all courses to be taught in this way. Critical comments mainly refer to the use of the SPOC for passing the course: I believe that for passing the course we need to do more exercises and coding instead of watching videos, Great videos, maybe doing all the exercises should be considered towards the grade. Table 1. Statements to be assessed by students about the SPOC. Assertion Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Total answers Videos in the SPOC are useful for my learning to better understand the main concepts of the course Exercises in the SPOC are useful for my learning to practice the main concepts of the course Videos in the SPOC increase my motivation to keep working in the course at home Exercises in the SPOC increase my motivation to keep working in the course at home I believe that including a SPOC like this in future editions of this course would be useful

5 3.2 Results about the redesign of large group classes using flipped classroom The novelties with respect to traditional lectures are problem solving in small groups, and Kahoots, and these two elements were the ones assessed (see Table 2). 93 students (89.4%) agreed or strongly agreed that practical exercises helped them to understand better the concepts, 65 students (62.5%) agreed or strongly agreed that these exercises motivated them to keep working at home, 76 students (73.1%) agreed or strongly agreed that the exercises had an appropriate level of difficulty, and 97 students (93.3%) agreed or strongly agreed that including practical exercises in future editions of the course would be useful. These results are reinforced by positive comments from students such as: They [The videos] help me to connect concepts, remember them, and sometimes learn from errors, since we have been working with the same [Java] Class as we advanced with new contents, and these contents are applied to the same Class, everything is more structured. However, there are students who pointed out some of the external constraints to carry out practical activities in large group classes, such as time and facilities: There is not enough time, and in the end, everything is done very fast, there are not enough power sockets in the classroom, and it is difficult that everyone can use his own laptop. 90 students (86.5%) agreed or strongly agreed that Kahoots help them to better understand the concepts, 84 students (80.8%) agreed or strongly agreed that Kahoots motivated them to keep working at home, 87 students (83.7%) agreed or strongly agreed that Kahoots had an appropriate level of difficulty, 82 students (78.8%) agreed or strongly agreed that the competition with the classmates in the Kahoots increased their motivation, and 90 students (86.5%) agreed or strongly agreed that including Kahoots in future editions of the course would be useful. These results are reinforced by positive comments from students, such as: If Java is my religion, Kahoots are its prophets. Keep them, they motivate me a lot and I am having fun. I wish there were more of this in other courses. There were also a few students which criticized the use of this tool in class, and demanded more time to better prepare them for exams: I do not think this is useful, it would be better to include more exercises from exams. Table 2. Statements to be assessed by students about practical exercises and Kahoots. Assertion Strongly Agree Neither agree Disagree The practical exercises done during large group classes help me understand better the theoretical concepts explained The practical exercises done during large group classes motivate me to keep working in the course at home The practical exercises done during large group classes have an appropriate level of difficulty according to the concepts explained I believe that including practical exercises like these in future editions of this course would be useful Kahoots done during large group classes help me understand better the theoretical concepts explained Kahoots done during large group classes motivate me to keep working in the course at home Kahoots done during large group classes have an appropriate level of difficulty according to the concepts explained The fact that there is a competition with my classmates in the Kahoots increases my motivation I believe that including Kahoots like these in future editions of this course would be useful Strongly Total agree nor disagree disagree answers

6 4 Conclusions and future work This paper has presented a successful case of reusing MOOCs as a SPOC, this SPOC being the core for redesigning large group classes in an engineering course using flipped classroom. This experience is intended as example of how to reuse MOOCs, once tested in the open world, to improve the quality of on-campus courses by rethinking traditional lectures. Results are very positive in terms of the usefulness of the SPOC, practical activities and Kahoots, and moderately positive in terms of the effect they all have on increasing students motivation to work beyond class time. These results were obtained with a sample that represents approximately a quarter of the students enrolled in the course, and approximately half of those who attend regularly to class. Despite possible bias it is noteworthy that voluntary questionnaires tend to be answered more frequently by those students who had very positive or very negative experiences. Answers to open-ended questions allow deepening in students opinions, and iterate in the redesign of the course for its improvement in future editions. Most of the few negative comments point out the use of class time for better preparing students for exams; some of these comments may come from repeaters. The implementation of a flipped classroom strategy supported by a SPOC is not without risks. First, the number of students attending to class may decrease, as theoretical concepts are explained in the videos. Here, teachers detected a slight decrease in the number of students attending to class (compared to previous years). For this, teachers need to make good use of class time to carry out activities which add value to what is already available in the SPOC, as it was intended with the redesign of large group classes in this course. Second, there is a well-known risk in flipped classroom strategies, which is that students do not complete their homework before coming to class. To alleviate this problem, teachers used motivation strategies based on gamification, such as the use of Kahoot! in class, which promotes competition through interactive questions about knowledge students should have acquired at home. Acknowledgements. This work has been co-funded by the Erasmus+ projects MOOC-Maker ( EPP ES-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP), SHEILA ( EPP BE-EPPKA3- PI-FORWARD), and COMPETEN-SEA ( EPP NL-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP), by the emadrid Network (S2013/ICE-2715), and by project RESET (TIN C3-1-R). References 1. Pappano, L.: The Year of the MOOC. The New York Times, 2(12), Pérez-Sanagustín, M., et al.: H-MOOC framework: reusing MOOCs for hybrid education. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 29(1):47-64, de la Croix, J. P., & Egerstedt, M.: Flipping the controls classroom around a MOOC. Proceedings of the American Control Conference 2014, ACC, pp , IEEE. 4. Fox, A.: From MOOCs to SPOCs. Communications of the ACM, 56(12), 38-40, Li, Y., Zhang, M., Bonk, C. J., & Guo, N.: Integrating MOOC and Flipped Classroom Practice in a Traditional Undergraduate Course: Students' Experience and Perceptions. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (ijet), 10(6), 4-10, Alario-Hoyos, C., et al.: Interactive activities: the key to learning programming with MOOCs. Proc. EMOOCS 2016, , Graz, Austria, 2016.