Alumni Hall will be home to the new Vanderbilt Institute for Digital Learning (Vanderbilt University)

Massive open online courses and other digital learning platforms will be the focus of a new institute being launched this fall at Vanderbilt University.

The new Institute for Digital Learning will be led by Douglas Fisher, associate professor of computer science and of computer engineering, and will be housed in the newly renovated Alumni Hall.

The institute’s creation was one of the recommendations made by the Chancellor’s Committee on Social Media and the Internet, assembled by Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos in February 2012.

“As a research institution of incredible distinction and breadth, Vanderbilt is uniquely positioned to have an impact in digital learning,” Zeppos said. “With this new institute and Doug’s leadership, we will explore how to best leverage and shape these tools to increase our own students’ engagement and exposure into research and discovery, and also to bring the knowledge generated by our faculty to traditional and non-traditional students around the globe.”

The new institute will focus on developing the university’s strategy related to digital learning for courses offered on campus and those offered through MOOCs and other platforms. It will manage the university’s partnership with Coursera and oversee the production of content for Coursera and for other platforms. In addition, the institute will study the medium itself to promote innovations in teaching on campus afforded by digital resources. It will also encourage and support faculty and student research on MOOCs.

Fisher will report to Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education Cynthia Cyrus, who has led the university’s partnership with Coursera and its exploration of similar partnerships with other platforms.

“As we follow through on recommendations made by the Chancellor’s Committee on Social Media and the Internet, I am excited that Doug Fisher will provide leadership for our newly established Institute for Digital Learning,” Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Richard McCarty said. “Doug has already established a national reputation as an innovator in this rapidly emerging area and he will bring a high level of energy to this new position.”

Douglas Fisher (Vanderbilt University)

Fisher is a frequent speaker and writer on the topic of digital learning and is seen as a thought leader on the concept of “flipped classrooms,” in which students learn core material outside of the classroom through video and other digital tools and spend classroom time on collaboration and discussion with one another and with the instructor.

“I’m thrilled and honored to be leading the institute, and I’m thankful to be an educator in what is very probably a time of great transformation,” Fisher said. “The institute represents a commitment by Vanderbilt to understand the changes that are coming, to anticipate them as best we can, and to design for change – most notably for the benefit of our students, as well as opening new areas of research, in education, in ‘big data’ and other areas that we still aren’t sure about.”

Fisher’s research focuses on artificial intelligence, particularly machine learning, computational models of creativity and applications in environmental sustainability. Fisher joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 1987 after earning his Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine. Fisher also served as a program director at the National Science Foundation from 2007 to 2010, receiving the Director’s Award of Excellence for Program Management in 2010.

Learn more about digital learning at Vanderbilt.

Contact:
Melanie Moran, (615) 322-NEWS
melanie.moran@vanderbilt.edu

L-R: 2013 team members A. Voss, B. Dimmig, J. Langford, J. Lee, D. Watkins, B. Smethills, F. Corradetti, R. Thompson, F. Folz, and M. Mitchell with the Vanderbilt Rocket ‘Hello Good Bio.’

National championship is six years in the making

Vanderbilt engineering students won their first national rocket competition after April launch results were combined with technical design reviews and evaluations of written reports and outreach projects, including a website documenting the experience.

NASA today announced that the Vanderbilt Aerospace Club captured first prize in the 2013 NASA Student Launch Initiative after third-place finishes in 2012 and 2011. The Vanderbilt team also took home the 2013 Best Payload Design award for the most creative and innovative payload experiment. This is the fourth consecutive year the club has won the payload award.

Vanderbilt beat 35 other colleges and universities to win the $5,000 top prize, provided by corporate sponsor ATK Aerospace Group of Promontory, Utah. NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Directorate, Science Mission Directorate and Office of Education, all in Washington, sponsor the Student Launch Projects challenge. The National Association of Rocketry provides technical review and launch support.

The Vanderbilt rocket – Hello Good Bio – tested the design of a bio-hybrid ramjet engine. NASA cited the payload for maximized safety and science value. The bio-hybrid ramjet engines are miniaturized jet engines that use carbon neutral, 100 percent renewable bio-hybrid fuels for combustion.

“The team’s success was the culmination of a year’s worth of untold man hours in the aerospace shop, teaching rocketry lessons to more than 1,400 middle school and high school students, writing five 150-plus page reports, and three successful rocket flights. I am extraordinarily grateful that NASA recognized all of our hard work with this award,” said mechanical engineering senior Brock Smethills, president of the Aerospace Club.

“This is the sixth straight year Vanderbilt has competed in this national competition and each year we have made progress and come closer to the finish line,” said Amrutur Anilkumar, faculty adviser and director of the Aerospace Club. “Over the years, about 60 university and college teams have participated in this event and coming in first is an extraordinary achievement.”

After months of preparation, teams competed in an April 21 “launch fest” at Bragg Farms in Toney, Ala., near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. NASA judges evaluated rocket designs based on a series of technical design reviews, the results from the rockets’ flights, including a one-mile target altitude, and the operation of the payload. The Vanderbilt rocket reached an altitude of 5,326 feet, against a target of 5,280 feet. Alabama A&M won the Altitude Award by flying 5,269 feet, closest to the mile high altitude.

In the final overall tally, the University of Louisville and Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, won second and third place, behind Vanderbilt. Other universities competing in the 12th annual student launch challenge include Georgia Tech, Mississippi State, MIT, Northwestern, Penn State, University of Alabama-Huntsville, University of Illinois, University of Florida, University of Minnesota, Virginia Tech, and the University of North Carolina.

Building on success

“Very early on in this competition, Vanderbilt identified novel payload design as the challenge that would justify rocket flight, and we have established a niche in this area,” said Anilkumar, professor of the practice of mechanical engineering.

“Winning the national competition was always the goal of the Aerospace Club. I am really glad that this year’s team has won it for all of us, and I hope future teams can build on these successes,” said Kyle Rosenstein, 2010 team leader.

“We have been able to select a very talented and determined group of students. Rain, shine or snow they have taken up the flight challenge at launch sites as far away as Talladega, Ala., Memphis, and Elizabethtown, Ky. We have had our share of failures and broken rockets, but through it all the students’ desire to persevere and win has been truly commendable,” Anilkumar said.

A turning point in the club’s rocket project occurred in 2009 when they had a spectacular failure during the launch event when they attempted to launch an unmanned aerial vehicle from the rocket at about 2,500 feet. After that, the team decided that payloads would no longer be just “intense technical challenges” but they would address core scientific issues that would require a rocket flight to accomplish that goal.

“We have never looked back since, and the teams have won four back-to-back payload design awards. Some of the novel payloads like the thermoelectric generator to recover waste heat from aerospace engines, and the bio-hybrid-fueled ramjet engine have really caught the attention of a wider audience as they address contemporary energy-related issues of efficiency, energy recovery, and biofuel substitution,” Anilkumar said.

“The novelty of payloads is what has been drawing our students. They want to be at the forefront of exciting engineering challenges. They are not concerned by the fact that they spend literally ten months working long hours, all for the sake of a ten second rocket flight,” he added.

It has energized a whole group of Vanderbilt engineers who have gone on to seek careers and higher education in aerospace engineering.

“Congrats to the team. This is so exciting,” said Jennifer Frankland, a 2011 team member who is completing a master’s degree at Georgia Tech and joining Siemens Energy.

“It is great to hear that the Aerospace Club is winning the important awards at NASA SLI. This year the team’s rocket got a great altitude and they had a perfect path to the championship,” said 2012 team leader Zachariah Smith, who works at Robins Air Force Base as a mechanical engineer.

Kyle Bloemer, a 2011 team member and now an informatics manager at Norton Healthcare, said, “A great accomplishment for all involved! I’m proud to be a part of the Vanderbilt Aerospace Club legacy.”

As news of the win spread, other former teammates responded. Congratulatory messages arrived from Sam Nackman (2010), now at Space-X; Tyler Lamb (2009) at Boeing; and Sam Malanoski (2011), at ZF Friedrichshafen in Germany.

Anilkumar said the award money would be deposited to the Kyser Miree Scholarship Fund at the Vanderbilt School of Engineering. “Kyser was the club’s vice president in the 2008-2009 challenge year, and he was very eager for the Aerospace Club to shine nationally and be involved in outreach activities.”

The Vanderbilt Aerospace Club is supported by the Tennessee Space Grant Consortium and the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

The occassion was the Coalition for National Science Funding’s (CNSF) advocacy day and Capitol Hill reception.

Sharon Weiss standing beside her exhibit at the Capitol Hill exhibition. (Vanderbilt Federal Relations)

During these meetings, Weiss explained why maintaining robust funding for the NSF is so important and the immediate impacts that across-the-board spending cuts are having at Vanderbilt. Specifically, Weiss described how these cuts are limiting the number of graduate students that can be supported through federal grants and how this has the potential to limit the number of individuals with expertise in the STEM fields.

Weiss knows firsthand that federal funding is critical at the beginning of a researcher’s career. Her own career was jumpstarted in 2008 with the prestigious NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program Award. She also expressed concerns about how cuts in federal investments in science and engineering research could ultimately impact our nation’s economic competitiveness.

Following these congressional meetings, Weiss participated in CNSF’s exhibition and reception titled “Investments in STEM Research and Education: Fueling American Innovation,” which featured more than 40 projects funded by the NSF. Weiss’ exhibit focused on her NSF-funded research intended to lower limits for early disease detection using compact, low-cost drugs and her research on ways to increase drug loading capacity with controlled release of drugs in selected locations of the body.

 

Sharon Weiss, right, speaking with NSF Acting Director Cora Marrett at the Capitol Hill reception. (Vanderbilt Federal Relations)

Weiss spoke with NSF’s Acting Director, Cora Marrett, other NSF officials and congressional staff from both the House and Senate.

Weiss’s visit was coordinated by Vanderbilt’s Office of Federal Relations, which assists faculty like Weiss bolster the university’s ongoing advocacy efforts to protect and sustain federal science and engineering research budgets.

“Perhaps now more than ever, when budgets are tight and federal policymakers are questioning how every taxpayer dollar is spent, it is critical that Vanderbilt’s voice is heard,” said Margie Glick, assistant director of federal relations. “To ensure research like that conducted in Weiss’ lab can continue, Vanderbilt University will continue advocating for a strong federal investment in science and engineering, research and education.”

Curtis Northcutt

The Vanderbilt senior has decided to take his computer science degree to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall and follow a path toward academia instead of industry.

Northcutt, who will receive the Founder’s Medal for ‘first honors’ in the School of Engineering at Vanderbilt’s Commencement ceremony Friday, has held undergraduate research positions at NASA, General Electric and the universities of Notre Dame and Kentucky. He plans to earn a Ph.D. in computer science and hopes to develop theoretical, mathematical and algorithmic approaches to computer science and teach as a university professor.

Selected by the Vanderbilt School of Engineering for the James Geddes Memorial Scholarship, Northcutt also was a 2012 Goldwater Scholar and holds the distinction of being a Kentucky Colonel – the highest civilian honor awarded by his home state.

While his portfolio is impressive, Northcutt’s love for learning is equally so.

Growing up very modestly in Kentucky, Northcutt found he loved school despite the hours-long bus trips that stretched his days from early morning until almost dusk. He became a voracious reader, excelled in his schoolwork, and learned a key lesson at an early age.

“I became aware of two things,” he said. “Money had absolutely no value to me. What was valuable to me was learning.”

Curtis Northcutt (standing, fifth from right) at the top of Tiger Mountain after a hike with other Microsoft summer interns.

That pairing was evident in the summer of 2012 when Northcutt had a successful internship with Microsoft in Washington state – managing a project team to find a unique new technology feature for Windows phone cameras – and turned down a lucrative job offer from the company.

“I get asked all the time how I could turn the job down. At the end of the day, I could work for Microsoft and help a large corporation make money or I could go and get my Ph.D. and work toward building a foundation in the field of computer science and help improve education through computer science,” Northcutt said. “I see more opportunities in the long run if I get my Ph.D.”

Northcutt was aware that the internship might lead to a job offer, but that did not excite him. What did was the work Microsoft had him do – manage a team of students on a very challenging project, using skills he attained at Vanderbilt, coming up with a useful and unique phone camera application. It is hoped that the app will be released soon.

“It was clear that you can’t make crappy apps for Microsoft,” Northcutt said. “Suddenly, the work became something I could own. I realized I was doing something substantial. The team had to come up with a novel idea, distribute code for it, demonstrate and fulfill all the criteria they need, so now you have a multi-parameter problem to solve and the parameters are all affecting each other.”

Still it was the process, not the end result that made him happiest, largely because he was doing what he loves best – learning. “I love learning. I just love to know how the world works,” he said.

As for the lingering question of why he turned down a job at Microsoft: “I can go academic or industry, right? If I go industry, I accept the job but it might end my ability to progress in my field in terms of opportunity. If I don’t get my Ph.D., I cannot take a job with Microsoft Research.  Google Research will not hire me. Intel Labs will not hire. I cannot be a professor…

“(Or by going ‘academic’) I can build a foundation in the field of computer science and help millions of people through my research as well as working in areas to improve the things I care about, including education,” Northcutt added.  “So, in terms my path, I am more satisfied with the latter.”

Northcutt

Curtis George Northcutt, from Lexington, Ky., is the recipient of the 2013 Founder’s Medal for the School of Engineering. He is graduating with a bachelor of science in computer science and mathematics. He will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology this fall to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science as a National Science Foundation fellow.

Since 1877, a gold medal has been awarded to the student graduating at the top of his or her class from each of Vanderbilt’s schools. Cornelius Vanderbilt endowed the Founder’s Medal, which “signifies first honors,” and the engineering recipient is named by Dean Fauchet after consideration of faculty recommendations as well as grade point averages of the summa cum laude graduates.

In the last four years, Northcutt has worked at NASA, GE, a National Science Foundation REU, Microsoft, and three research universities, and earned numerous awards including the NSF Graduate Fellowship, a Goldwater Scholarship, and the James Geddes Memorial Scholarship.

Northcutt has devoted himself to improving his community as a mathematics guest lecturer, student mentor, respected researcher, and president of Tau Beta Pi, the scholarship fraternity in engineering. He has served the Vanderbilt and Nashville communities in myriad ways through the Vanderbilt Prison Project, Engineers Without Borders, and Vanderbilt Students Volunteering for Science.

Cottrill

Anton Lee Cottrill, from Gallatin, Tenn., is this year’s Banner Bearer. Cottrill is graduating with a bachelor of engineering in chemical engineering. In the fall he will pursue a Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The honor of Banner Bearer is awarded to a senior who has been judged by the faculty to have excelled in all aspects of the undergraduate career and is considered an outstanding example of a well-rounded engineering student. The Banner Bearer also is selected from the summa cum laude graduates.

Devin Marquette Brooks, from Memphis, Tenn., received the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Scholarship. This award goes to a senior who has remarkable leadership qualities and who has made the greatest contribution in personal service to the school.

Brooks

Brooks will graduate with a bachelor of engineering degree in computer engineering and a minor in engineering management. At Vanderbilt he served as president of the National Society of Black Engineers and Student Relations co-chair of the Senior Class Fund. He has held various internships, including working for Goldman Sachs and Microsoft. Brooks has accepted a position to work for Microsoft in Seattle.

Dean Fauchet recognized 21 students who achieved summa cum laude distinction:

Stephen Wells Bailey, Nashville, Tenn.
Naveed A. Bakh, Lexington, Ky.
Alayna Victoria Boland, Lexington, Ky.
Anton Lee Cottrill, Gallatin, Tenn.
Nikhil Goel, Huntsville, Ala.
Peter Eugene Holly, Ballwin, Mo.
Jessica Enju Kim, Huntsville, Ala.
Elizabeth Rae Michel, Hopkinton, Mass.
Khairani Iyliani Mohamed Sahari, Sitiawan, Malaysia
Curtis George Northcutt, Lexington, Ky.
Zachary Aaron Roth, Miami, Fla.
Ryan Christopher Russell, Houston, Texas
Timothy James Schutz, Morganton, N.C.
Brock Earl Smethills, Denver, Colo.
Chelsea Elizabeth Stowell, Sandy Springs, Ga.
Sani Sulaiman, Klang, Malaysia
Syed Muhsin Syed Abdul Hamid, Ampang, Malaysia
Brett Dylan Taylor, Columbia, S.C.
Erica Leah Von Stein, Madeira Beach, Fla.
Ray Yiqing Wang, Mason, Ohio
Douglas Scott Woodcock, The Woodlands, Texas

Other awards and honors

Program awards go to seniors who, in the opinion of the program faculty, made the greatest progress in professional development during the undergraduate careers.

The recipients are:

Biomedical Engineering: Chelsea Elizabeth Stowell, Sandy Springs, Ga.
Chemical Engineering: Anton Lee Cottrill, Gallatin, Tenn.
Civil Engineering: Khairani Iyliani Mohamed Sahari, Sitiawan, Malaysia
Computer Engineering: Nikhil Goel, Huntsville, Ala.
Computer Science: Zachary Aaron Roth, Miami, Fla.
Electrical Engineering: John Everett Lantz, Greenwood Village, Colo.
Engineering Science: Kendra May Williamson, Houston, Texas
Mechanical Engineering: Ryan Christopher Russell, Houston, Texas

Austin Daniel Conner, Brentwood, Tenn., received the Wilson and Nellie Pyle Miser Award, which is given to the senior who has excelled in all aspects of mathematics during the student’s undergraduate career.

Tomas William Edward Salazar, Summit, N.J., received the Stein Stone Memorial Award, which is given to a senior who has earned a letter in sports and who is judged to have made the most satisfactory scholastic and extra-mural progress as an undergraduate.

The Arthur J. Dyer Jr. Memorial Prize is awarded to a senior who has done the best work in the study and/or design in use of structural steel, and who is a member of the American Society for Civil Engineers. The recipient is Lauren Nicole Johnson, Treasure Island, Fla.

The Greg A. Andrews Civil Engineering Memorial Award goes to an exemplary senior who plans to do graduate work in environmental and water resources engineering. The recipient is El Mehdi El Hailouch, Rabat, Morocco.

The Walter Gill Kirkpatrick Prize in Civil Engineering is given to the most deserving third-year student majoring in civil engineering. The recipient is Theodore J. Lawrence, Collegeville, Pa.

The Thomas G. Arnold Prizes for Biomedical Engineering Systems Design and Research is shared by Sean Thomas Fitzpatrick (research), Berwyn, Pa., and for design: Alayna Victoria Boland, Lexington, Ky.; Michelle Elizabeth Goodman, Houston, Texas; Jessica Enju Kim, Huntsville, Ala.; Monica Leigh Kruse, Huntsville, Ala.; Haley Wentworth Nesmith, Homewood, Ala.; and Chelsea Elizabeth Stowell, Sandy Springs, Ga.

Brett Dylan Taylor, Columbia, S.C., and Douglas Scott Woodcock, The Woodlands, Texas, are recipients of the American Institute of Chemists Award, given on the basis of leadership, ability, character, scholastic achievement and potential for advancement in the chemical professions.

The W. Dennis Threadgill Award is given for outstanding achievement in chemical engineering in honor of a former faculty member and department chair. The award is shared by Daniel Lee Kish, Salem, Ohio; Christopher John Osman, Glen Head, N.Y., and Christopher Windmann Watkins, Saint Louis, Mo.

The Robert D. Tanner Undergraduate Research Award is given to a senior who has conducted the best undergraduate research project in chemical engineering. The recipient is Naveed A. Bakh, Lexington, Ky.

The Walter Criley Prize is awarded for the best paper written on an advanced senior project in electrical engineering. The award is shared by Devin Marquette Brooks, Memphis, Tenn.; Nikhil Goel, Huntsville, Ala.; and Luke Alexander Steensen, Hilliard, Ohio.

Class of 2013 members of Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society are:

Ilyasa Syun Asha’ari, Segamat, Malaysia
Stephen Wells Bailey, Nashville, Tenn.
Alayna Victoria Boland, Lexington, Ky.
Alexander Noel Breg, Watertown, Conn.
Devin Marquette Brooks, Memphis, Tenn.
Britney Lane Broscher, Johns Creek, Ga.
Austin Daniel Conner, Brentwood, Tenn.
Francene Wagner Corradetti, Linwood, N.J.
Erica Leigh Curtis, Atlanta, Ga.
Sonja Mei Davenport, Nanuet, N.Y.
Nikhil Goel, Hunstville, Ala.
Michelle Elizabeth Goodman, Houston, Texas
Peter Eugene Holly, Ballwin, Mo.
Lauren Nicole Johnson, Treasure Island, Fla.
Ryan Bijan Khodadadi, Auburn, Ala.
Jessica Enju Kim, Huntsville, Ala.
Daniel Lee Kish, Salem, Ohio
John Everett Lantz, Greenwood Village, Colo.
Nur Nabilah Mahfuz, Klang, Malaysia
William Joseph Matloff, Paradise Valley, Ariz.
Elizabeth Rae Michel, Hopkinton, Mass.
Khairani Iyliani Mohamed Sahari, Sitiawan, Malaysia
Curtis George Northcutt, Lexington, Ky.
Ryan Francis Planchard, Boulder, Colo.
Nor Diana Ramli, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia
Ryan Gary Robe, Antioch, Tenn.
Zachary Aaron Roth, Miami, Fla.
Tomas William Edward Salazar, Summit, N.J.
Brock Earl Smethills, Denver, Colo.
Chelsey Anne Smith, Jasper, Tenn.
William Hall Stokes, Memphis, Tenn.
Noor Azizi Suboh, Muar, Malaysia
Sani Sulaiman, Klang, Malaysia
Syed Muhsin Syed Abdul Hamid, Ampang, Malaysia
Muhammad Faiz Talib, Durian Tunggal, Malaysia
Brett Dylan Taylor, Columbia, S.C.
Ryan James Thompson, Greenlawn, N.Y.
Violetta Vylegzhanina, Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Ray Yiqing Wang, Mason, Ohio
Christopher Windmann Watkins, Saint Louis, Mo.
Douglas Scott Woodcock, The Woodlands, Texas

By Professor Douglas C. Schmidt

During the past decade I’ve taught software design and programming courses to roughly 600 undergraduate and graduate students at Vanderbilt. Our low faculty-to-student ratio is one of the reasons I like my work—it’s gratifying to watch students’ progress and envision the futures that lie ahead of them.

Doug Schmidt

Not every bright student has the chance to come to Vanderbilt, of course. And worldwide, there’s an acute need for the kind of expertise we provide. So when I had the chance to teach one of Vanderbilt’s first Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) through the digital consortium Coursera this semester, I was intrigued. MOOCs pose many social, economic and technical challenges for the future of higher education, and here was my chance to experience some of them.

Since March, I’ve been teaching an eight-week MOOC, “Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture for Concurrent and Networked Software,” to more than 30,000 students from all over the U.S. and scores of other countries. In a traditional classroom it would take me 500 years to reach that number of students! Teaching a MOOC has been a learning experience for me, too—beginning with intense preparation that started months before the course launched.

Filming a video lecture used by 30,000 students as their primary exposure to course content requires much more preparation than a traditional class, a tighter script and great slides. It took two solid months of filming to produce 20 hours of video (split into more than 80 individual videos), and I prepared more than 1,200 slides for those videos.

Each week of my MOOC has featured more than two hours of lecture videos, broken into 10- to 20-minute chunks. I quickly had to master the art of presenting slides smoothly and at an even pace—and to maintain a high level of energy and enthusiasm while staring into the steely gaze of a video camera for hours on end.

The first session launched March 4. It didn’t take long for us to start receiving feedback, especially from students on the other side of the globe, where March 4 began hours earlier. That allowed us to quickly make corrections before students closer to Vanderbilt had even viewed the first materials.

Since that first session, the diversity of students—the bulk of whom are in their 30s and 40s—has proven to be both rewarding and challenging. For instance, I can rely on my Vanderbilt students having taken the course prerequisites, but Coursera enforces no prerequisites. For the MOOC we filmed an additional six hours of supplemental material to prepare less-experienced students.

Likewise, MOOC students with 20 or more years of experience as software professionals have much stronger preferences for particular programming languages, runtime platforms and software tools than typical undergraduates. I’ve found they ask more probing questions about the pros and cons of different technical approaches presented in the videos. We therefore spent much more time in the online discussion forums motivating and justifying the topics and techniques covered in the lectures, as compared with a traditional undergraduate course.

Learning involves much more than watching videos; it requires meaningful conversations between students and teachers. We used two primary social media tools—online discussion forums and webcasting—to make our MOOC feel much more like an interactive on-campus course. We used Google Hangout in conjunction with a YouTube channel to hold “virtual office hours.” Students asked questions via instant messaging, and I broadcast answers live. Google Hangout also automatically recorded all this material so students could review it at their convenience. As this social-media technology matures, it becomes feasible (though very time-consuming) for MOOC professors to engage in conversations with students that are similar in quality and quantity to those found in large lecture courses in many universities.

But how do you assess the performance of 30,000 students? In my traditional classes at Vanderbilt, I review and comment upon every line of software written by my students. That level of personalized scrutiny couldn’t happen in my MOOC. Moreover, the auto-grading tools available to assess students in a “fact-based” MOOC aren’t of comparable maturity for design-oriented courses in terms of assessing such attributes as reusability, understandability and evolvability. Peer assessment might provide one means of measuring student work, but we’d have to rely on students with a wide range of abilities evaluating each other’s solutions. These limitations only serve to underscore the invaluable role that expert judgment and evaluation play in fostering critical thinking for our on-campus courses at Vanderbilt.

So, aside from increasing knowledge for a greater range of learners, what benefit do MOOCs offer Vanderbilt? Coursera courses are free to the students and do not earn them Vanderbilt credits. However, the months spent preparing videos and lecture materials for my MOOC have significantly improved my on-campus courses. My material is organized better than ever, due in no small part to contributions from MOOC students. The high-quality material we produced for my MOOC will enable my on-campus students to personalize their learning. They can watch videos at their own pace, read transcripts, and learn from the discussion forum. Moreover, I’m restructuring my on-campus course for this fall to apply a “flipped classroom” model, using the videos we created for the MOOC to shift some of the lecture content outside of class time, leaving more time for classroom interaction.

The material we’re creating for our MOOCs also can be applied to better connect with Vanderbilt alumni and involve them more in the intellectual life of the university. Likewise, our high-quality education is now visible to thousands of bright students around the world, which encourages them to apply to Vanderbilt and partake in the exciting learning culture happening here.

In this rapidly changing and globally competitive environment, we must continue to clarify and refine the value of an immersive college education that builds upon our interdisciplinary strengths in teaching, research, entrepreneurship and innovation. I’ve had a great experience creating and teaching a MOOC at Vanderbilt during the past few months, which seem like an eternity in “MOOC years.” Vanderbilt’s experience has positioned us for a leadership role in the most effective use of MOOCs and other emerging digital-learning technologies in the coming years.
________________________________________
Douglas C. Schmidt is a professor of computer science, associate chair of the computer science and engineering program, and a senior researcher at the Institute for Software Integrated Systems, all at Vanderbilt University. He has published 10 books and more than 500 technical papers about software-related topics.

Watch presentations about Doug Schmidt’s experience with MOOCs.

The Edward J. White Engineering Faculty Award for Excellence in Service was presented to Joel Barnett, associate professor of the practice of mechanical engineering. Fauchet cited Barnett’s stewardship of senior design, his dedication to building industry relationships, and his service as adviser to both school and external groups.

The School of Engineering Award for Excellence in Teaching was presented to Lori Troxel, associate professor of the practice of civil and environmental engineering. “Lori is known for supporting her students academically, intellectually, and personally and for inspiring her students in myriad ways,” Fauchet said.

Jean Miller, administrative assistant in mechanical engineering, won the Judith A Pachtman Endowed Staff Service Award. The dean said the mechanical engineering faculty was effusive in their nomination of Miller, citing her outstanding job performance, her dedication and willingness to help faculty and students meet proposal deadlines, and her professional yet friendly manner.

Also awarded was the “2012 Best Student Research Paper,” given to Christopher E. Nelson, a doctoral student in biomedical engineering. Nelson was the first author on a paper entitled, “Sustained local delivery of siRNA from an injectable scaffold,” which was published in February 2012 in Biomaterials, an international journal covering the science and clinical application of biomaterials. His faculty adviser is Craig Duvall.

Four faculty members have received promotions. Mark Does and Mike Miga have been promoted to professor of biomedical engineering. Caglar Oskay has been promoted to associate professor of civil and environmental engineering with tenure. Yuan (Emily) Xue has been promoted to associate professor of computer science and computer engineering with tenure.

David Barry

The distinguished engineering graduate (summa cum laude, Engineering Science)  from Vanderbilt’s Army ROTC program in 2006, has spent the last few years at the Ettenhofer Laboratory for Neurocognitive Research in Bethesda, Md., designing and testing eye-tracking systems in hopes of finding ways to safely and quickly identify mild traumatic brain injury. According to Department of Defense statistics, the most recent number of medical diagnoses of TBI occurring anywhere U.S. forces are located since 2000 is just shy of 270,000.

“Unfortunately, what that figure doesn’t indicate is the number of service members who sustained a concussion or head injury and went undiagnosed,” Barry said. “The science of concussion assessment and treatment is still evolving. There is much to be done.”

Barry acknowledges that his Vanderbilt education developed his strategic, interpersonal, and critical thinking skills necessary for lab research projects, but what he learned a few months after graduating – that he would serve as a combat engineer platoon leader with the 4th Infantry Division in Iraq and be responsible for planning and executing missions to find and remove improvised explosive devices (IEDs) – sharpened his focus.

“Clearly, there is a tremendous personal component to my research with traumatic brain injury. My previous job in the Army was to find and remove the very things that cause many of these head injuries,” Barry said. “Many of the soldiers I deployed with in 2008 are still conducting these missions, and I think about them constantly.”

Barry called roadside bomb detection work “exciting,” but now in his third year as a clinical psychology Ph.D. student at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences [also home to the Ettenhofer Lab] Capt. Barry’s work still is exciting, only significantly less stressful. As one of Mark Ettenhofer’s first graduate students, Barry got the chance to innovate and develop the lab’s research projects alongside him.

“My background as a Vanderbilt engineer has prepared me to not only succeed as a clinical psychologist, but also as an innovator and communicator of novel ideas,” said Barry, who is scheduled to complete an internship in 2014 and earn his Ph.D. in 2015.

“We’d spend hours in front of dry-erase whiteboards. We’d build something, test it, refine it, and repeat. Being a part of this lab is incredible,” Barry said. “It’s so exciting to build something that you think can make a major difference. I’m honored to have the opportunity to develop tools that can help our nation’s service members and veterans.”

Aided in part by a $4 million Department of Defense grant, what’s being done to help, in Barry’s own words, is this:

“Simply put, we are exploring relationships between eye movements and cognitive functions. We want to see what a person’s eye movements can tell us about their abilities in areas such as decision-making speed, higher-order planning, and attention, among others.

“Currently, we are researching how eye movements differ among people with and without a history of neurological injury or illness in hopes of using eye movements to safely and quickly identify cognitive dysfunction. We are also studying how eye movements can provide quantifiable indices of recovery after head injury.

“To achieve these research goals, the Ettenhofer Neurocognitive Research Lab and our partners have developed computer assessment tests, virtual reality driving simulators, and neuroimaging programs that incorporate eye movements into their designs.”

Barry hopes these designs will lead to earlier detection of TBI cases. “Advancements in assessment can inform more effective treatments, and more effective treatments can obviously help our people recover from brain injury,” he said. “Luckily, I’m working in a lab that studies both.”

A reporter interviews senior Chelsea Stowell about the car seat project.

Vanderbilt engineering students are working to prevent children from being left alone in hot cars by creating a ‘smart’ car seat.

As part of a senior design project, six students invented the “Kidsense Car Seat.”
It is powered by a car’s cigarette lighter, and is equipped with lights and alarms to alert parents when the child may be in danger.

Since 1998, 559 children have died from heatstroke in cars, and students believe their device could help prevent future tragedies.

“I hope that this will definitely save children’s lives mainly by preventing the parent from walking away and forgetting the child in the car,” said mechanical engineering student Michelle Goodman.

The project was displayed along with 67 other inventions as part of Vanderbilt’s Senior Design Day.

The annual event provides students with experience working on real world projects.

“It’s a great way to learn, and it gets exciting when you learn the types of products people can actually use,” said biomedical engineering senior Chelsea Stowell. Other team members are biomedical engineering students Jessica Kim, Laynie Boland and Monica Kruse, who is also majoring in electrical engineering. Haley Nesmith is a mechanical engineering senior.

When a child is placed in the seat, and buckled in, the Kidsense Car Seat lights up blue.
When the car is turned off, a red light comes on, and a key fob vibrates to alert parents the child is still in the seat.

When temperatures inside the car reach dangerous levels, the red lights on the seat flash and an alarm sounds.

The team presents their project during Design Day.

Two Arduino microcontrollers gather sensor inputs and trigger alarms in both the car seat and the key fob through RF communication. The smart car seat is differentiated from existing devices by improved ease of use, the temperature detection feature and a graduated alarm system.

The goal is to alert parents to the concern, as well as people who may be walking by the car.
Stowell and members of the team hope the device will one day help save lives.

“No one ever thinks they would intentionally leave a child in the car,” said Stowell.  “You don’t want one mistake to cost your child its life.”

Currently, the team has a provisional patent protection for the car seat. They hope to eventually partner with a car seat manufacturer and get the seat into production, and eventually retail stores.