The Faculty of Agricultural Technology (FTP) of UGM launched Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), an educational program on sensory evaluation, on Friday (30/7). MOOCs aim to enhance people’s enthusiasm to learn more about agricultural technology and disseminate the knowledge to the community.
The courses, namely Sensory Evaluation Theory and Sensory Evaluation Practicum, are open to the public, agricultural technology students, UGM students of other disciplines, and students from other universities. Sensory Evaluation Theory offers seven topics and is available free of charge. For Practicum, students can opt for a free class or a paid one and will be equipped with a sensory kit package delivered to their respective homes to support hands-on learning during the course.
UGM Vice-Rector for Education, Teaching, and Student Affairs Professor Djagal Wiseso Marseno congratulated the faculty for the MOOCs launching. He said that MOOCs enabled anyone to acquire knowledge and competencies online anytime, anywhere, and would benefit all lifelong learners.
“Hopefully, development can continue for other courses and be accessible overseas. UGM welcomes the development of MOOCs-based learning at the university and will facilitate lecturers who want to offer online courses,” said Djagal in his remarks.
Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology Professor Eni Harmayani said the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the necessity of online learning. This particular reason encouraged the faculty to develop and create the program. According to Eni, MOOCs, such as those provided by Coursera, edX, or Udemy, are future forms of education where the general public can access learning materials, both paid and free. She added that the faculty decided to go for sensory evaluation due to its increasing interest in the community. Sensory evaluation techniques are easy to apply in daily life to analyze food and beverage products.
“Hopefully, (by getting their own sensory kits), students can practice directly at home and discuss the results through the provided forums. That way, it is easier for them to analyze the data and implement them,” said Eni.
Source: https://www.ugm.ac.id/id/berita/21454-ftp-ugm-luncurkan-moocs-uji-sensoris
