This document discusses a study that used MOOCs from Coursera to supplement a Human Computer Interaction course at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Videos from relevant Coursera courses were linked to the course modules on the university's learning management system. A survey found that students found the videos useful for better understanding concepts, and that video quality was good. However, slow internet speeds posed a challenge for some students. Overall, the study found MOOCs can help enhance computer science education when used to supplement traditional courses.

1. Using MOOCs to Enrich Computer Science Delivery
at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Presenter:
Dr.
Joel
S.
Mtebe
h2p://works.bepress.com/mtebe/
Joel
S.
Mtebe
&
Mussa
M.
Kissaka
University
of
Dar
es
Salaam,
Tanzania

2. Mo$va$on,
problem
area
• The
quality
of
computer
science
educaHon
in
higher
educaHon
in
sub-­‐Saharan
Africa
is
reported
to
be
poor.
• Do
not
have
well-­‐trained
faculty
members
to
teach
computer
science
courses
effecHvely
(Che2y
et
al.,
2007)
– graduates
of
mathemaHcs
and
other
related
fields
at
undergraduate
level
who
were
trained
at
masters
or
doctoral
degree
levelin
CS
• Many
faculty
members
rely
on
behaviorism
pedagogical
approach
where
students
become
recipient
of
instrucHon
from
their
teachers
(Bezy,
2013).

3. Mo$va$on,
problem
area
• There
is
a
massive
shortage
of
doctoral-­‐level
faculty
members
to
as
low
as
20%
in
many
insHtuHons
in
the
region
which
impacts
on
their
ability
to
provide
quality
instrucHon
and
research
(Bezy,
2013).
• The
majority
of
computer
science
curricula
are
irrelevant
(Bezy,
2013).
– AdapHng
these
curricula
has
resulted
into
producing
graduates
who
do
not
have
the
necessary
skills
to
develop
soluHons
that
address
the
African
challenges
(Rai
et
al.,
2013).
• Most
of
exisHng
curricula
are
outdated
(Escher
et
al.,
2014).

4. Research
Objec$ves
• This
arHcle
reports
on
the
experience
complemenHng
face-­‐
to-­‐face
delivery
with
MOOCs
from
coursera
pla_orm.
• Specifically,
topics
from
Coursera
pla_orm
were
used
to
enhance
Human
Computer
InteracHon
(HCI)
course
that
was
offered
in
the
second
semester
of
2014/2015
at
the
University
of
Dar
es
Salaam.

6. www.elearning.udsm.ac.tz

7. • xMOOCs
providers:
–
Coursera,
EdX,
and
Udacity
based
in
USA.
– FutureLearn
in
UK,
iVersity
in
Germany,
Open2Study
in
Australia,
and
XuetangX
and
Ewant
in
China
(Michael
Trucano,
2013).

8. Research
approach,
Methodology
• The
HCI
course
was
offered
to
postgraduate
students
taking
masters
degree
in
computer
science
at
the
University
of
Dar
es
Salaam.
• The
face-­‐to-­‐face
lectures
were
conducted
once
per
week
for
2
hours.
• Learning
materials
were
shared
with
students
via
the
Moodle
Learning
Management
System
(LMS)
accessible
at
h2p://lms.udsm.ac.tz/.
• The
MOOCs
resources
were
carefully
selected
from
similar
courses
offered
in
MOOCs
pla_orms
(Coursera)

9. Research
approach,
Methodology
• The
course
was
offered
by
Sco2
Klemmer
from
University
of
California,
San
Diego
USA.
• Out
of
7
modules,
4
of
them
were
relevant
to
the
course
that
was
taught
at
UDSM.
• The
lecture
videos
from
these
modules
were
linked
to
specific
modules
in
the
Moodle
LMS
in
a
course
offered
at
UDSM
for
students
to
watch

10. • At
the
end
of
the
course,
students
were
asked
their
experiences
and
challenges
faced
during
the
delivery
of
the
course
especially
videos
from
Coursera
pla_orm

11. Research
approach,
Methodology
• A
quesHonnaire
was
prepared
via
Google
Docs
and
sent
to
all
14
students
through
their
email.
• A
total
of
12
students
out
of
14
responded
to
the
quesHonnaire.
.

12. Major
Outcomes/Results
• Learning
new
concepts
– Many
students
pointed
out
that
videos
they
did
not
learn
something
new
perse
but
rather
they
videos
provided
more
insigh_ul
explanaHon
of
the
many
concepts
that
were
explained
in
the
classroom.

13. Major
Outcomes/Results
Quality
of
video
recordings
– Students
indicated
that
the
videos
were
of
good
quality
with
more
than
two-­‐thirds
(61.5%)
indicaHng
that
they
were
Excellent
while
none
of
the
students
indicated
that
they
were
Poor.

14. Major
Outcomes/Results
Language
• More
than
90%
of
students
indicated
that
the
language
used
in
the
videos
was
understandable
while
none
of
the
students
indicated
that
the
language
used
was
difficult

15. Major
Outcomes/Results
Students’
challenges
during
accessing
MOOCs
• Speed
of
the
Internet
• Use
subHtles
to
catch
up
with
explanaHon
of
topics
from
the
instructor

16. Discussion
and
conclusion
• Students
found
videos
from
Coursera
were
useful
and
helped
them
to
be2er
understand
the
concepts
that
were
explained
in
the
classroom
during
face-­‐to-­‐face
delivery.
• Language
was
not
found
to
be
a
barrier
to
understanding
videos
from
Coursera
pla_orms
contrary
to
previous
research
(Boga
&
Mcgreal,
2014;
Liyanagunawardena
et
al.,
2013;
Michael
Trucano,
2013)
• Low
Internet
speed
has
conHnued
to
be
a
challenge
to
the
majority
of
students

17. SUGGESTION
FOR
FUTURE
• The
course
was
Blended
delivery
not
full
online
• Course
offered
to
postgraduate
students

18. Contacts
• Dr.
Joel
S.
Mtebe
Director,
Center
for
Virtual
Learning
College
of
ICT,
University
of
Dar
es
Salaam
jmtebe@gmail.com
+255715383366
• Dr.
Mussa
M.
Kissaka
Principal,
College
of
ICT,
University
of
Dar
es
Salaam
mkissaka@yahoo.com
+255
782
431
131

19. Slide
Title
End