Because you wanted to take more thermo: Chris Cramer, University of Minnesota, 1/19/15

Chris Cramer is not unknown to readers of this blog -- here's my interview with him on his MOOC, "Statistical Molecular Thermodynamics."

He's teaching it again this year. It is starting January 19, 2015 and running with eight weeks of content. Learn more here!

Podcast: Prof. Chris Cramer on his MOOC experience

About a month ago, I talked to University of Minnesota theoretical chemistry professor Chris Cramer (and Twitter star) about his experience teaching a Massive Open Online Course, or a MOOC on statistical thermodynamics. It was really interesting -- we talked about the structure of the course, its economics and the future of higher education:



Timepoints:

0:00-1:30: Introduction, what is a MOOC?
1:30: How many students did he have?
3:50: From MOOC skeptic to MOOC dabbler
5:00: Who took his course?
7:35: How will this affect higher education?
12:00: Will MOOCs ultimately make money?
13:25: How does the Minnesota state legislature feel about MOOCs?
18:00: Will this be used to force down costs?
20:40: What does this mean for young professors?
29:30: Prof. Cramer predicts possible futures for higher education
30:50: Has there been peer review of MOOCs?
33:40: Prof. Cramer's recommendations for young faculty and MOOCs

Thanks for Professor Cramer for the conversation -- stay tuned for Thursday, when Prof. Cramer talks about his very interesting career in the Army!