Behind the MOOC – Basic Physics
Dr Wayne Rowlands says his new Basic Physics MOOC through Open2Study is an introductory course full of information on how physics works in the real world.
“I wanted to make this MOOC as applicable to the everyday as I could because physics is about the real world,” Wayne says.
“For each module, I had to teach the concept, develop the idea, how it works and show its application – the challenge was fitting physics concepts into a few minutes, but I think it’s a great way to learn.”
The four week MOOC is presented as weekly modules. All of the modules have up to 10 topics of about six minutes each to learn from. Students get small ‘chunks’ of the course weekly – rather than watching an hour long lecture.
“There was a lot to cover to make the course useful, so I had to be really efficient in these chunks. I tried to put the important stuff that I might spend on an entire hour-long lecture into this new format, so hopefully I’ve shown off the fascinating concepts physics has to offer.”
To give real world examples, Wayne has used common household items like spoons and CDs so students can experiment with physics at home while watching the curriculum.
Activities are littered throughout his course to better illustrate his four modules on motion, waves and sound, electricity and magnetism and lights and optics.
“If you’ve done any physics at high school, this should take some of the things you’ve seen and push them further. If you’ve never done physics, you will think of things you’ve never thought of and see how physics fits in to our daily lives,” Wayne says.
The four week course is open for enrolment now and begins September 9th.