Abstract:

In this paper, we design a concept for bridging courses, which provide the required knowledge to the students at the beginning of bachelor or master studies, at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria. In our bridging courses, the role of an instructor and his/her intervention in the course is reduced to a minimum, the students take the course online in a wider time extension, which all results in scarce interaction possibilities and feedback regularities.

This paper analyses the correlation between small private online courses (SPOC) and self-paced learning. We understand the SPOC as a method of delivery where students learn in small groups, are registered at the institution, where all happens online without presence meetings, and where the interaction between an instructor and students and among students is enhanced. The self-paced learning is a method of learning where students’ consciousness of learning is on a high level that allows students the control over the allocation of study and time in their learning process. These two methods provide a cohesion in the form of a learning environment that fosters meaningful learning with a flexible and undependable approach where students decide when, where, what and how to learn. They represent two different aspects, whereas the SPOC delivery enhances the necessity of interaction and forum cooperation among students, which is in self-paced learning irrelevant and sometimes impossible.

Finally, this paper ties all elements together and offers a didactical concept for bridging courses. This didactical concept is generalized, which makes it applicable as a model to different courses. In this concept, we use the Moodle platform for the development of the learning environment, design the content as a cycle of inputs and activities structured according to degree of difficulty, and explain a model of interaction and a model for giving/receiving feedback.

Keywords:

Small private online courses, self-paced learning, bridging courses.