Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business is utilizing the Internet in teaching many of its core classes, and even some electives, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. For an introductory statistics class, students watch video tutorials before the lesson, and then take an online quiz, where they can “see instantly if they’d mastered the concepts.” Their quiz grade goes toward their grade for class participation. And students can post their questions or comments on an online discussion board, to which either the teacher or a fellow student can respond.
Everyone seems to benefit from the videos, with 80 percent of students in the class finding them to be a “useful part of their overall class experience,” and 72 percent noting it “ improved the way they learned the material.” Teachers can also use diagnostic information—such as, who has taken the quizzes and their scores—to monitor their students and assist with class participation.
Only students can access Tuck’s videos for now, but they may be open to the public in the future. While some professors from other schools have tried online courses, with several participating in The Faculty Project, “a website that allows professors to upload free courses and supplementary course materials, as well as interact with students,” in time perhaps even more will follow Tuck’s lead and use the Internet to enhance students’ learning experience.
How did Tuck come to experiment with online videos as replacements for lectures? Dean Paul Danos was watching an online tutorial provide by The Khan Academy with his granddaughter and thought, “Why can’t we do something similar to the Khan Academy? I told professors anything you can put up on a whiteboard should be put up in advance so you can have more time in the classroom for conversation and face-to-face interaction.”
What do you think of Khan Academy methods coming to grad school?
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