S-BOLD Awards 2015-16
The President and Provost of Stony Brook University, in support of the continuing evolution of educational excellence for our students and the world, have established the Stony Brook Online Learning Development Initiative (S-BOLD), funded initially for four years at a level of $250,000 per year. The goals of the initiative are to: leverage online channels and technology to enhance and support SBU’s educational mission; improve the quality, flexibility and accessibility of SBU education to better serve the needs of residential, commuter and nontraditional students; become a leader in pedagogical innovation to enhance teaching and learning outcomes; and enhance SBU’s brand and global reach.
In response to the second call of the S-BOLD Initiative, we received 13 Letters of Intent (LOIs) from various disciplines, including the Humanities, Sciences, Engineering, and Multidisciplinary programs. Among the submitted LOIs, three were seeking funding in the category involving hands-on/experiential learning, and ten were from the large enrollment category (at least 200 or more students). Based on the recommendations from the Group for Online and Alternative Learning and the Online Education Executive Committee, as well as input from deans and chairs, the following five proposals (listed in alphabetical order according to lead PI) were selected for funding:
Online Learning Instruction and Testing System for CSE 101: Introduction to Computers and CSE 114: Computer Science I
Paul Fodor and Kevin McDonnell (Computer Science)
The goal for this proposal is to develop a submission and automatic testing Web system for computer science programming assignments, and to show its usability in the online instruction of CSE 101 (Introduction to Computers) and CSE 114 (Computer Science I). A comprehensive online programming lab learning environment will be developed where students will be able to receive immediate feedback on their code; identify logic errors; access correct running solutions submitted by the instructor or other students; and view step-by-step video tutorials for extra help (in effect, making coding less intimidating and more fun). Instructor tools will include: a repository of questions for students; the ability to select problems for assignments, set deadlines, monitor and assess student learning; and an ability to determine common student errors. With approximately 400 students who enroll in each of these classes each semester, the online availability of these very popular CSE courses will aid students from all majors in completing the SBU curriculum and degree requirements, as well as for those who intend to become a CSE or ISE major or minor.
Development of an Online Laboratory Course for Introductory Physics, PHY 133/134: Classical Physics Laboratory I/II
Thomas K. Hemmick, Klaus Dehmelt, Abhay Deshpande, Axel Drees, and Nicole Cronin (Physics)
Currently, the SBU Physics Department offers a highly successful online variant of introductory physics designed and taught by Professor Hemmick. This class has seen increased enrollment every semester it has been taught, with a spring 2016 enrollment of 230 students. Currently, our online class only covers the lecture material. We do not yet offer a complete introductory physics experience (lecture + lab) in an online format. Therefore, the focus of this proposal is to formulate online variations of the two lab classes, PHY133 and PHY134. The proposed model is similar to that already employed at SBU for online electrical engineering labs, whereby students purchase a laboratory kit that will enable the full set of experiments to be performed by the students at home. Furthermore, if popular with SBU students, this initiative will alleviate the shortage of lab space and schedule conflicts.
Online Course for ECO 303: Intermediate Microeconomic Theory
Ting Liu (Economics)
The goal of this project is to create an online course for Intermediate Microeconomic Theory (ECO 303), which can enroll up to 200 students. Intermediate Microeconomics is the prerequisite for all upper-division courses in Economics. ECO 303 is also very popular among non-economics majors, including business, applied math and statistics, mathematics, computer science, political science and biology. In spring and fall 2015, more than 700 students enrolled for the course and 48 percent of them were economics majors. Due to capacity constraints, ECO 303 has a long waitlist. Developing an online version of this gateway course will help Economics students, as well as those enrolled in other popular University majors, graduate on time.
Bringing Freshman Design Innovation (MEC 101) On-Line via a Flipped Learning Model
Anurag Purwar (Mechanical Engineering)
MEC 101 is a freshmen course in mechanical engineering which introduces students to the process of engineering design and provides a project-based design experience wherein students design and build a microcontroller driven autonomous mechatronic device. This course has seen a significant growth in enrollment, with 155 students enrolled in 2009 to 260 in 2014. Course enrollment is now capped at 240 students due to classroom capacity limitations, to restrain the burgeoning cost of conducting a robot design project, and so that an effective learning experience could be provided to students. In fall 2015, students in the class came from 28 different SBU majors from CEAS and CAS. Developing an online version of this gateway course will help mechanical engineering students, as well as those enrolled in other popular University majors, graduate on time.
Online Tools for Providing Better Feedback to Students of AMS 261: Applied Calculus III
Matthew G. Reuter and David F. Green (Applied Mathematics)
Enrollment in AMS 261 is currently limited both by classroom size and by our ability to provide a sufficient level of high-quality feedback to students with existing faculty/TA resources. Transitioning to an online or hybrid course model helps to alleviate the physical space issue but leaves the problem of how instructors can effectively provide feedback as enrollment increases. We propose to develop online tools that help instructors give high-quality feedback to students not just on exams, but throughout the course. The proposed tools automatically recognize and grade common errors in homework, directing students to additional information, leaving only the uncommon cases for human graders. Ultimately, this helps us scale enrollment higher without dramatically increasing the required faculty and TA resources.