E-learn Weblog of Willem van Valkenburg

Yvonne Belanger and Jessica Thornton from Duke University have written an interesting paper on the creation and delivery of the MOOC Bioelectricity: A Quantitative Approach on the Coursera platform.

In the summary they have listed the most important findings:

• Over 600 hours of effort were required to build and deliver the course, including more than 420 hours of effort by the instructor.
• The course launched on schedule and was successfully completed by hundreds of students. Many hundreds more continued to participate in other ways. The number of students actively participating plateaued at around 1000 per week.
• Over 12,000 students enrolled, representing more than 100 countries. Approximately 8,000 of these students logged in during the first week.
• At the time of enrollment, one-third of enrolled students held less than a four year degree, one-third held a Bachelors or equivalent, and one-third held an advanced degree.
• 25% of students who took both Week 1 quizzes successfully completed the course, including 313 students from at least 37 countries. Course completers typically held a Bachelor’s degree or higher; however, at least 10 pre-college students were among those who successfully completed this challenging upper level undergraduate course.
• Students who did not complete all requirements cited a lack of time, insufficient math background or having intended to only view the lectures from the outset. Regardless of completion status, many students were primarily seeking enjoyment or educational enrichment.
• Most students reported a positive learning experience and rated the course highly, including ones who did not complete all requirements
• The Coursera platform met the needs of the course in spite of being continuously under development while the course was live. Technical issues reported by the students and instructor were generally minor, of short duration and/or quickly resolved.
• Patience, flexibility and resilience on the part of instructor, Coursera students, CIT staff, and Duke University Office of Information Technology media services staff were key elements in the success of this course.

If you are involved in the creation of delivery of a MOOC you should certainly read this paper.