Interactive Cake-like MOOC Calculus won a gold medal in ITEX’20
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Calculus is the backbone of mathematics and its real-life applications are tremendous. Two important ingredients in Calculus are differentiation and integration. Calculus is a very popular subject among university students in the field of engineering, technology and science. Some students find Calculus a difficult subject, and in certain cases, they may have experienced mathematical anxiety and have a negative feeling about Calculus.
Based on the situation, an interactive and attractive way of learning calculus was developed by a project team from Pusat Sains Matematik, Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) consisting of Dr Norazaliza binti Mohd Jamil, Dr Muhammad Azrin bin Ahmad, Dr Abdul Rahman bin Mohd Kasim, Dr Norhafizah binti Md Sarif, and Puan Hajjah Siti Fatimah binti Haji Ahmad Zabidi. The Calculus subject is blended into a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). Rather than the traditional method in learning Calculus, the platform provides an alternative way of learning. MOOC is conducted fully online with no limit number of enrolments, allowing anyone to participate, while the learning activities and assessments taking place over the web.
Since different students have different ability to master the subject, this platform allows students to do self-paced learning and repetition. This platform inculcates the Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) in learning mathematics indirectly because students need to use technology, computer or other devices, and all are online. No doubt, this platform brings many benefits to learners. It promotes flexible education and lifelong learning to learners in term of time, location, and pace. Physical attendance is not required since everything was stored in a virtual system. Interestingly, the students will have flexible learning time, and they can complete the courses within certain weeks. Students will get an official certificate of course completion.
Furthermore, any UMP student who enrolled this MOOC course can request for credit transfer program or better known as Credit Transfer MOOC (CTM) for the subjects BUM1223 Calculus and DUM1123 Calculus. They must pass the competency test to obtain CTM. At this moment, there were nine students enrolled and three out of nine students sat for competency test and passed and been awarded CTM. It can be said that the usage of the latest learning and teaching styles in mathematics subjects was effective based on the 100% successful rate in CTM.
The preparation for learning materials in the form of original teaching videos, animation, and slide notes, and assessments which are quizzes, test and learning activities was started in 2017 and completed in 2019. The teaching videos were recorded in iStudio at the Centre of Instructional Resources & e-Learning (CIReL), Universiti Malaysia Pahang, while the animation videos were created using Powtoon software. MOOC Calculus has a huge potential market as many students all over the world learn Calculus. It is not limited to the local university; rather, it can be demonstrated to all Higher Learning Education (HLE) institutions globally. The platform will also be benefited to the TVET program and the industry as they can take the course as a micro-credential program.
The project entitled “Interactive Cake-like MOOC Calculus” received a gold medal at the 31st International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition (ITEX’20) organised by the Malaysian Invention and Design Society (MINDS) and C.I.S Network Sdn Bhd (C.I.S) on 20-21 November 2020. ITEX’20 is a leading international platform that features new inventions, technologies, and products; gathering innovators, inventors and researchers to meet with investors, manufacturers and industry players for new investments and commercialisation. Inventors and innovations from 15 countries such as Australia, Canada, Croatia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Vietnam and Malaysia have gathered online to showcase close to 500 inventions on this platform.