Universities like Yale and Stanford have developed Massive Open Online Courses to teach college-level skills and information at little cost to students, without contributing to a college degree.
Some University students and professors feel the programs are helpful but shouldn’t be relied on.
MOOCs don’t operate the same way as University online courses because they don’t require enrollment at a university and are available to anyone with a computer.
A study published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests the classes teach just as much as an MIT course. The study placed students in an online physics course and a traditional, lecture-style course and found the students in the online course learned the material better than those in a traditional setting.
French sophomore Corey King is enrolled in an online psychology class at the University and said the material of the class can be taught better in an online format, but students’ self-discipline is important as well.
“There’s a lot of online resources in my class that I can use and learn from that wouldn’t be available in a classroom,” King said.
University physics professor David Young said it’s difficult to compare courses developed at MIT to the University’s because of the difference in students. The general consensus within the physics department is that MOOCs are not best for learning, he said.
Young said MOOCs lack the human element involved in taking lecture-based courses. He said students who learn course material the best are the ones who reach out for human contact. The ones who visit Young in his office hours, visit tutors or get help from classmates often learn the subject on a deeper level, he said.
“Physics is a discipline that’s not similar to the others in that it’s about building relationships, it’s about building problem-solving skills and it’s about learning how to think analytically,” Young said.
Young said because information is available to students anywhere, the information used in some MOOCs may not be as vetted or validated as what’s taught at a traditional university. However, he said the online delivery of information in MOOCs may be good for some students.
Interdisciplinary studies senior William Strauss said he thinks MOOCs could be helpful to people who look to learn without going to college, but the courses could never replace a college degree.
“Newton’s Second Law is the same coming from me, coming from the book or coming from the web,” Young said. “The question is, can you then grasp all the concepts and all the subtleties in a subject that may be difficult?”
Young said it comes down to if a student is trying to gain proficiency in a subject area or if they are trying to get something more, like a degree or deeper understanding of the material.