Popular philosophy course now offered online
One of the University of Auckland’s most popular undergraduate courses is about to become the first offered online,
meaning students have no excuse for missing a lecture.
The Faculty of Arts Stage I Philosophy paper, Critical Thinking, already attracts about 2,500 students over two
semesters. It is popular not just with Arts students but also those taking degrees in Law, Engineering and Medicine.
But from 2016, students will have the choice between attending traditional lectures in a lecture theatre with weekly
tutorials, and taking the course online. It will become the University’s first LOC or ‘Large Online Course’.
Online students will still have to sit the end of course exam in person on campus, or at a location out of Auckland in
agreement with the University.
The in-person and online courses count equally toward students’ degrees, and both versions of the paper will be run by
Associate Professor Tim Dare and Dr Patrick Girard in Philosophy.
Tim says the online version will help students avoid timetable clashes, plan the course around their other commitments
and take pressure off lecture theatres.
“We know students are juggling work so they can do this course in the evening.”
Under the new online course, lecture material will be delivered through short videos and articles, specifically designed
for online consumption.
The University recently ran the Critical Thinking course as an eight-week MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) that
attracted 28,500 students from around the world. Much of the video material used in the online Critical Thinking course
will be sourced from the MOOC videos, but as the course is 12 weeks long, Tim and Patrick will be back in front of the
cameras between now and Christmas to finish filming another four weeks-worth of videos.
Students who are not enrolled in a degree at the University of Auckland will also be able to enrol in the course as a
Certificate of Proficiency (COP).
Find out more about Critical Thinking here.
You can watch Tim and Patrick in the MOOC promotional video here.