University Times

Pitt is among the 32 schools worldwide partnering with Coursera, a California-based education company, to provide free, interactive course materials online to millions of learners.

In partnering with Coursera, Pitt hopes to explore innovative ways of teaching, hone pedagogical techniques that contribute to learning and engagement, and expand its educational reach.

Provost Patricia E. Beeson said: “This collaboration will provide our faculty members with excellent opportunities to explore, in a thoughtful way, the potential of this new educational tool to reach and teach students with high-quality intellectual content.”

Coursera, which was developed last year by two Stanford professors, encourages the development and sharing of “massively open online courses,” known as MOOCs. Since its first course offerings six months ago, Coursera has seen its number of learners grow to 1.3 million around the world. There is no cost for classes, which are open to the public.

Pitt will offer five classes from the education, engineering and nursing schools in its first round of offerings, and each will be six-seven weeks long. Courses will include short video lectures combined with online quizzes and interactive discussion forums. Each faculty member determines the length, content and style of his/her class. No academic credit is awarded for the Pitt classes.

Cynthia Golden, director of Pitt’s Center for Instructional Development and Distance Education, said: “Through our participation, we will learn more about online learning methods, assessment and increasing active learning and student engagement by moving the lecture outside the classroom. It is our hope that our faculty can use what we collectively discover about learning and teaching in their campus-based courses.”

The courses to be offered by Pitt are:

• “Disaster Preparedness” by Michael Beach, offered by the School of Nursing.

• “Clinical Terminology for International Students” by Valerie Swigart and Michael Gold, offered by the School of Nursing.

• “Accountable Talk®: Conversation that Works” by Lauren Resnick and Jennifer Sherer, offered by the School of Education.

• “Nutrition and Physical Activity for Health” by John Jakicic and Amy Rickman, offered by the School of Education.

• “A Look at Nuclear Science and Technology” by Larry Foulke, offered by the Swanson School of Engineering.

Pitt’s Coursera classes are expected to debut during the current academic year. The courses will be in addition to Pitt Online.

For more information, go to www.coursera.org.