The four-week non-credit class is
delivered as a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), which is becoming a popular
way of providing free courses across a variety of subject matter. McHenry
County College was the first community college in Illinois and one of the few throughout
the country to offer a MOOC when it offered the “Online Reputation for Career
Success” class last spring. That class ended with a completion rate of 11.4
percent, nearly double the 6.8 average completion rate of MOOC classes,
according to an article in the May issue of Times Higher Education.
“People are taking MOOCs because of
course topics that are of interest to them,” said Ray Lawson, director of
Online Learning and Educational Technology. “Our chemistry prep course is
offered to better prepare students for a general college chemistry class,” he
said. “Offering unique classes such as ours are part of a growing movement to
be more inventive and to offer free education for people around the world.”
So far, the demand for MCC’s massive
open online course has reached around the world with more than 100 people
enrolled the week before the course starts. “Within the first hour of posting
the course online, 10 people signed up,” Lawson said. MCC adjunct chemistry
instructor and creator of this MOOC, Li Li Zyzak said Exploring Chemistry is
ideal for returning adult students, especially those who are pursuing a career
in healthcare and haven’t taken a math or chemistry class in several years.
“Hopefully, this will give them the
skills, the tools to learn how to approach and how to study chemistry,” Zyzak
said. “For some students, chemistry is the last class they need to take for
their nursing prerequisites. This is a four-week class, which allows students
to get their feet wet before jumping into the ocean.”
Zyzak teaches chemistry and
biochemistry at McHenry County College and at other colleges and universities
in the Chicago area.
Students log into the course at their
convenience, work at their own pace to view lectures and online lessons,
participate in discussion forums and take auto-graded quizzes. Optional lab
activities can be done at home and the students may post their results online
for the class to discuss.
Students will learn concepts,
terminologies, and basic mathematics skills, required for conversions in
chemistry, including conversions between the Metric system and the U.S.
measurement system.
The course is being offered in
collaboration with the Canvas Network, a platform provided by Instructure,
Inc., the parent company of Canvas learning management system. connects
students, teachers and institutions, through an open, online course network.
Those interested in the Exploring
Chemistry class may register online at https://www.canvas.net/courses/exploring-chemistry.
For more information, call (815) 479-7796
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