Dave Darmofal and Chad Lieberman - Development of an Outcomes-based edX MOOC using LaTeX

In this talk, we will discuss our on-going experience at developing and offering an edX MOOC (MITx: 16101x Introduction to Aerodynamics). First, we will focus on how learning outcomes can be embedded in the content not only to communicate intent and expectations but also to provide a mechanism for students to access content by relevant outcomes. We also consider how outcome-based tagging could be used to move towards a student assessment based on mastery of learning outcomes. Next, we will discuss our attempt to mimic some aspects of the flipped classroom model that we have used in the on-campus subject 16.100. As opposed to recorded lecture videos, the material is presented as a web-based text embedded with interactive exercises and short tablet-based videos.  In addition, more complex sample problems are given with solution videos followed by homework problems. Finally, we briefly discuss the LaTeX-based environment we have been developing and using to author 16.101x.  For content authors who are comfortable working in LaTeX, this environment allows authors to stay within LaTeX for most edX content development, permits the leveraging of existing LaTeX content, enables the generation of alternative versions of the content (e.g. PDFs), and provides a means for future maintenance of the content. This event will be sponsored by the HHMI Education Group.