Moderating MOOCs
This is the sixth in a series of 13 profiles of some of Concordia’s leading instructors. Here, NOW profiles Arshad Ahmad, associate professor in the Department of Finance, to coincide with the e.SCAPE conference from April 3 to 5.
MOOC, an acronym that's odd to pronounce, stands for Massive Open Online Course. In a nutshell, a MOOC allows free access online to top courses and teachers from elite universities.
"MOOCs are probably the most profound development in higher education in the past year," says Arshad Ahmad, an associate professor of finance at Concordia's John Molson School of Business. The experts envision classes of 100,000 students or more, from around the globe, taught by top professors with all the latest presentation tools.
"In the long run, MOOCs may provide the data and analysis to unlock ways to personalize learning and assessment and to calibrate instruction for students’ individual needs,” he says. “The potential for change is huge.”
MOOCs are but one area of inquiry into how students learn, says Ahmad, who will moderate a panel of experts on the subject at the e.SCAPE: Knowledge, Teaching, Technology conference, running from April 3 to 5.
Born in Karachi, Pakistan, Ahmad holds an MBA from McGill University and has been teaching since 1982. An important turning point came in the 1990s when he won the first of many teaching awards. This was followed with a lifetime 3M National Teaching Fellowship in 1992 for leadership in teaching.
When colleagues started asking hard questions about educational theories, frameworks and pedagogies, Ahmad was at a loss. His response was to earn a PhD in Educational Psychology at McGill. "Several fires were lit within me," he says. "There is so much we know — and so much we do not yet — about how students learn."
In 1999, he also began to dabble in things technological while working on an online learning model for his dissertation. It led to the creation of the Faculty's first web-based undergraduate and graduate course in personal finance, which continues to attract strong enrolment.
Today, he is president of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and vice-president of the International Consortium for Educational Development. The two organizations strive to improve educational practice and learning in post-secondary education. Ahmad was also a presenter at Concordia’s Teaching and Learning Winter Festival in February.
“Can you imagine the day when the basic content for everyone teaching an introductory finance course is best found in a MOOC?” he says.
“The real question is how teachers will then spend time with their students to accelerate higher forms of learning."
To that end, he has persuaded alumni to participate in a blended learning exercise. They are currently attending a high-profile MOOC along with thousands of other students in the virtual universe.
Ahmad’s wide-ranging research interests span the areas of cognitive psychology, instructional design, approaches to learning and open-learning environments. "Teaching and research are united by good questions," he says. "If we ask good questions, we do good research; if we ask good questions, we do good teaching."
This will become more crucial as students begin to ask what their professors can give them that a MOOC cannot. “Teachers have to move beyond content expertise,” he says. “It is an exciting and opportune time to ask big questions that matter and push the boundaries of teaching and learning.”
Related links:
• Department of Finance
• Ahmad’s faculty profile
• e.SCAPE conference
Other profiles:
Jordan LeBel: “The makings of a great teacher” — NOW, February 20, 2013
Philippe Caignon: “Using blogs and wikis as teaching tools” — NOW, February 26, 2013
Lisa Lynch: “Helping journalism students get in the game” — NOW, March 5, 2013
Juan Carlos Castro: “Social networks, social pedagogy” — NOW, March 26, 2013
Alexandre Enkerli: “Using technology to facilitate dialogue” — NOW, April 3, 2013
Mamoun Medraj: "Terms of engagement" — NOW, April 30, 2013