As Thammasat University students grow accustomed to online learning and distance education, some may wish to explore overseas opportunities after they have done their required coursework. Taking an extra class may be informative and help complement main areas of study, giving students new ideas and perspectives and help them to practice their English language usage.
One opportunity to consider may be free massive open online courses (MOOCs) at the University of California, Berkeley.
The University of California, Berkeley (also known as UC Berkeley) is a public research university in Berkeley, California. The Thammasat University Library owns many books published by the University of California Press, based in Berkeley, California, a leading academic publisher.
In the 21st century, Berkeley has become one of the leading universities in producing entrepreneurs, and its alumni have founded or co-founded many companies worldwide, including Apple, Tesla, Intel, eBay, SoftBank, AIG, and Morgan Stanley.
In September 2012, The Berkeley Resource Center for Online Education (BRCOE) was formed. The Center is a resource hub and an operational catalyst for all internal campus-wide and external resources to advise, coordinate, and facilitate the University’s online education initiatives, ranging from credit and non-credit courses, to online degree programs and MOOC projects, including the MOOCLab initiative.
BRCOE’s new MOOCLab is a three-year research initiative to fund and develop Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as vehicles for pedagogical research in online education.
Among University of California, Berkeley MOOCs that may be interest to Thammasat University students is How to Write an Essay:
An introduction to academic writing for English Language Learners, focusing on essay development, grammatical correctness, and self-editing.
About this course
College Writing 2.1x is an introduction to academic writing for English Language Learners, focusing on essay development, grammatical correctness, and self-editing. The five-week course includes a review of basic grammar terminology and understanding; writing effective sentences and paragraphs; introductions and conclusions; strategies for writing longer texts; and thesis statements. The course materials will be offered via readings and videos. An optional course workbook, in ebook form, may be used for additional writing work. Students will participate in online discussions as well as peer review. Students will complete an essay for this part of the course…
What you’ll learn
- Basic grammar terminology and understanding
- How to write effective sentences and paragraphs
- How to tackle writing introductions and conclusions
- Strategies for writing longer texts and thesis statements
The class instructor will be Professor Maggie Sokolik, Ph.D., Director of the College Writing Programs at the University of California, Berkeley.
Professor Sokolik has a Ph.D. in applied linguistics from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). She has taught writing and technical communication on the Berkeley campus since 1992. She has taught Reading & Composition courses, advanced composition, American Cultures courses, and a full range of courses for multilingual student writers. She is the author and co-author of more than twenty ESL and composition textbooks, including Sound Ideas. She has also written for and been featured in several educational video projects in Japan. She travels frequently to speak about grammar, writing, and instructor education, most recently in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Turkey, New Zealand, France, and Nepal.
She will also be teaching a MOOC on Academic and Business Writing:
An introduction to academic and business writing for English Language Learners, focusing on grammar, vocabulary, structure, editing, and publication.
About this course
College Writing 2.2x provides an introduction to academic and business writing for English Language Learners. In this course, students focus on understanding the demands of different styles of writing, andwork to improve grammatical correctness, vocabulary development, and revision and editing skills. The five-week course includes material on vocabulary, tone, diction, and editing, all in the areas of academic and business writing. Students will have the opportunity to write on a number of different topics and ideas, always centered on areas of interest to them. The course materials are offered through readings and videos. Assignments include short writing assignments, quizzes, journal entries, and longer essays.
What you’ll learn
- Refine persuasive writing techniques and essay development
- Gain skills for proofreading, self-editing, revision, tone, and vocabulary
- Develop strong English-language writing and communication skills
Another MOOC of potential usefulness to TU students is Empathy and Emotional Intelligence at Work:
Learn research-based skills to strengthen empathy and trust, improve collaboration, and create more innovative, productive, and satisfying experiences at work.
About this course
One of the key insights from the science of happiness is that our own personal happiness depends heavily on our relationships with others. By tuning into the needs of other people, we actually enhance our own emotional well-being. The same is true within organizations: those that foster trusting, cooperative relationships are more likely to have a more satisfied, engaged—and more productive and innovative—workforce, with greater employee loyalty and retention.
This course delves into the social and emotional skills that sustain positive relationships at work. It highlights the foundational and related skills of empathy and “emotional intelligence,” also known as EQ, which refers to the skills of identifying and regulating our own feelings, tuning into the feelings of others and understanding their perspectives, and using this knowledge to guide us toward constructive social interactions.
Drawing on research and real-world case studies, the course reveals how honing these skills promotes well-being within an organization, supporting everything from good management—managers high in empathy, for example, have employees who report being happier and take fewer sick days—to more effective teamwork, problem solving, and recovery from setbacks. The course also explains the psychological and neuroscientific roots of cooperative, compassionate behaviors, making the case that these are not just “soft” skills but core aspects of human nature that serve basic human needs as well as the bottom line.
What’s more, it offers practical ways to strengthen empathy, trust, and collaboration among teams and resolve conflicts more constructively—with a special emphasis on how socially intelligent leadership can build cultures of belonging and engagement.
The course instructors are expert faculty from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, Dacher Keltner, Ph.D., and Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Ph.D…
What you’ll learn
- Discover the psychological and biological roots of empathy, trust, and cooperation
- Understand how the skills of emotional and social intelligence support organizational happiness and productivity
- Develop research-based strategies for strengthening empathy and resolving
The same instructors will also be teaching The Foundations of Happiness at Work:
Learn why happiness at work matters and how to increase it within yourself and across your organization.
About this course
This course explains what happiness at work looks like, why it matters, and how to cultivate it.
It begins by defining happiness and making the case that happiness at work improves the performance of individual employees and organizations as a whole, increasing innovation, productivity, engagement, retention, and the quality of their work. It then explores the key factors that empirical research has linked to workplace happiness, zeroing in on practices such as gratitude, developing a strong sense of purpose, and forming authentic, cooperative connections with others. The course will also highlight common barriers to workplace happiness, both at the individual and cultural level.
Finally, the course presents a practical framework for workplace happiness and explores accessible techniques for: a) evaluating happiness in an organization, b) creating an effective strategy to increase workplace happiness, and c) implementing that strategy in your own work life, within your team, or across the culture of your organization, with special tips for workplace leaders…
What you’ll learn
- The personal, social, and professional advantages of happiness at work
- How to identify barriers and pitfalls to achieving happiness at work
- A series of research-backed, practical ways to boost happiness at work
- Strategies for evaluating levels of happiness within an organization
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)