Pilot Study for a "Course-Less" Curriculum

提案编号：0230681 PRINCIPAL调查员：诺克斯，罗伯特市名称：俄克拉荷马大学诺曼校区TITLE：规划拨款：无课程课程的试点研究摘要这项规划拨款的工作将建立在更快的城市项目的基础上，这是一个全面的、综合的基础设施设计项目，从大一开始贯穿俄克拉荷马大学土木工程课程。一年级学生会得到一块未开发的土地，到他们毕业时，这些土地就会变成更快城市基础设施的蓝图。除其他外，该项目促进了五项成果：团队建设、沟通、领导能力、设计和更高水平的学习技能，这五项成果并不总是被传统课程所涉及，但在2000年得到了援助。出于实际目的，最初的“更快城市”项目是在传统的“听课”课程的背景下实施的。虽然这一策略促进了教师的认同，并将机构成本降至最低，但如果课程更加灵活，即根据需要向学生提供基本的工程科学技能和工具，以完成项目，上述结果可能会更充分地实现。因此，这项计划拨款的目的是为了引导一项以项目为导向的、“无课程”课程的发展。在这种情况下，“无课程”并不是指“没有课程”。更确切地说，这将是因为教授基本概念的传统课程将被自定进度的模块取代。具体地说，通过供水和分配设计任务，更快的城市项目将为学习工程流体力学的原理提供环境。当学生面临一项新的分析或设计任务时，他们没有必备的流体背景知识，工具将通过交互模块及时提供给他们。在这一框架内，拟议的试点项目可分为三个子任务：为充分利用信息技术的流体力学核心领域开发自定进度的学习模块；开发及时整合这些模块的更快城市设计项目；评估这些方法的有效性。该项目的成果将提供所需的洞察力，以指导未来采取措施，实现更强大的“无课程”教育体验。

PROPOSAL NO.: 0230681PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Knox, RobertINSTITUTION NAME: University of Oklahoma Norman CampusTITLE: Planning Grant: Pilot Study for a "Course-less" CurriculumAbstractWork in this planning grant would build upon the Sooner City project, which is a comprehensive, integrated, infrastructure design project that is threaded throughout the Oklahoma University civil engineering curriculum, beginning in the freshman year. Freshmen are given a plat of undeveloped land that, by the time they graduate, is turned into a blueprint for Sooner City's infrastructure. Among other things, the project promotes five outcomes not always addressed by traditional curricula, but which are emphasized by ABET 2000: team building, communication, leadership, design, and higher level learning skills. For practical purposes, the original Sooner City project was implemented in the context of the traditional "course-dictated" curriculum. While this strategy promotes faculty buy-in and minimizes institutional cost, the above outcomes may be more fully realized if the curriculum were more flexible, viz, provide basic engineering science skills and tools to the students on an as-needed basis to complete the project. Thus, the objective of this planning grant is to pilot a move toward a project-driven, "course-less" curriculum. In this setting, "course-less" does not refer to "no courses." Rather, there would be "less" of them because traditional courses that teach basic concepts would be replaced with self-paced modules.Specifically, the Sooner City project, through water supply and distribution design tasks, will provide context for learning the principles of engineering fluid mechanics. When students are faced with a new analysis or design task for which they do not have the prerequisite fluids background, the tools will be provided to them on a just-in-time basis via interactive modules. Within this framework, the proposed pilot project can be broken down into three subtasks: development of self-paced learning modules for core areas of fluid mechanics that take full advantage of information technology; development of Sooner City design projects that integrate these modules in a just-in-time fashion; assessment of the efficacy of the methods. Outcomes from the project will provide the needed insight to direct future steps toward a more robust "course-less" educational experience.