UCLA Online Engineering Program Again Ranked Best in the Nation by US News

Published in UCLA Newsroom

The Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science at UCLA online master’s degree program has been named the nation’s best by U.S. News and World Report for the second consecutive year. The Master of Science in Engineering Online program is designed for engineering professionals who seek to advance their skill sets and career opportunities. MSOL students can earn a master’s degree in two years through classes that are delivered completely online.

Presenting Clicker Questions with an Open- vs. Closed- Response Format

Published in the December 2015 Issue of Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education

This study offers some evidence of the benefits of using open clicker questions (not revealing the multiple response options at first), specifically highlighting  a positive impact on middle performing students.

Abstract: Active learning can improve student learning but can be more difficult to use in large classrooms.  Course response systems (clickers) can be used to increase active learning and student discussion.  In this study, students in a large introductory biology course were given clicker questions in different formats. Students were first presented with an open response question on a PowerPoint slide where no potential answers were visible. After peer discussion, the same question was presented with potential answers in a multiple choice format and students used their clickers to answer.  For comparison, the same questions were asked in a different section of the same course but all questions were in the standard multiple choice format.  The results show that C students perform better when required to create their own answer for the question.  The instructor also noted that student discussions were longer, most likely because students had to discuss the biology rather than just confirming a specific answer choice.

[Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education; Vol. 16, No 2; pp: 254-255]

2015 NSF Teaching and Learning Video Showcase

NSF Video Collection

As we begin 2016, highlighted here is a showcase of 3-minute videos with online discussion that illustrate innovative work to improve science, math, engineering, and computer science education  collected through a cross-center NSF event hosted in 2015.  This year’s  2016 showcase theme is  “broadening participation and increasing access to quality STEM and CS learning experiences” and videos will be collected through the end of April. View the video collection, learn more about this project, and consider submitting a video for the 2016 showcase here: http://resourcecenters2015.videohall.com/.

PhET Interactive Simulations for Physics, Math, Chemistry, and Biology

Open Educational Research (OER)

PhET simulations are open educational resources available for faculty to use. This program founded by Carl Wieman at the University of Colorado, Boulder, has grown over the past decade with additional faculty involvement and support from a team of developers to create the growing library which hosts over 100 simulations. Click here to view an example of a simulation on molecule structure.

You can view the full library by visiting their website: http://phet.colorado.edu.