Greetings Colleagues,
I have been mulling over the many excellent conversations that I had with all of you during SYMET. It seems to me that the need for an online, multilingual BIP-M curriculum is desperately needed. However, the hurdles to achieving this goal (particularly by any one single institution) are significant. Even so, after SYMET I am even more convinced that a “crowd-sourced” approach is the best way to make progress. Therefore, let me propose the following project…
1) This project would demonstrate how a distributed learning network could produce and manage a set of educational objects and learning pathways. It would serve as proof-of-concept for a larger network that would encompass the entire BIP-M curriculum.
2) This project would be open to all participants who wish to contribute. Participants could be from RTC’s, Universities, or Met Services (basically anyone who currently participates in education and training, and has content to contribute).
3) Modules would be created by group members that align with one of the subtopics listed in the current 1083/BIP-M curricular guide. I suggest that we focus on a single subtopic (for example, 3.1.1 Atmospheric composition, radiation and optical phenomena or 3.1.2 Thermodynamics and cloud physics) and try to “fill the space” with our modules (that is, address every requirement within that subtopic).
Questions: How might we group topics? Each of the learning objectives under a subtopic are of varying complexity. Could some be combined while others stand alone? Should we aim to have each module cover approximately the same learning time? 10 hours? 20 hours?
4) In order to maintain consistency, we would need to develop modules based on a standard template. For example, each module would need to:
a) specify which BIP-M Learning Outcome it is satisfying,
b) specify any prerequisite knowledge/skills,
c) have a set of performance objectives and criteria that represents mastery of the material,
d) have content along with formative assessment checks,
e) present the student with in-depth “laboratory” exercises on which to practice their skills,
f) provide opportunities for peer and instructor feedback, and
g) culminate with a final mastery assessment. Content developers would need to agree upon and adhere to the template.
Questions: Would there be a need for a review process as new modules are added or translated? Are there other additions to the template that I missed?
5)
In terms of languages, I would love to see if we could present material in many different languages while providing the same educational experience. I would welcome anyone who wanted to simply translate modules (rather than developing them from scratch). The key here is that come together and use each other’s skills for the common purpose.
6) I realize that none of us has any funding to work on this project and therefore it would need to be a low priority. However, I suspect that many of us have material already developed for other purposes and we can simply repackage what we have. I don’t want anyone to go to a great deal of work for this prototype experiment. My hope is that if we can demonstrate an effective approach and solve some of the initial problems, momentum (and funding from somewhere) will follow.
7) Finally, we need test student and test instructors. I would envision that RTCs or Met Services could manage student participation in the modules, with potential instructors distributed all over the world. There are many issues to work out here, but if we start small, I believe that we can solve problems efficiently as they arise.
So, there you have it. Anyone want to discuss? I’m happy to be the point of contact and lead the effort. Anyone interested in thinking about this with me?
David
(Edited by Patrick Parrish - original submission Thursday, 16 November 2017, 12:58 PM)