scholarly journals Protocol for a Mixed-Methods Evaluation of a Massive Open Online Course on Real World Evidence (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Meinert ◽  
Abrar Alturkistani ◽  
David Brindley ◽  
Glenn Wells ◽  
Josip Car

BACKGROUND Increasing number of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are being used to train learners at scale in various healthcare related skills. However, many challenges in course delivery require further understanding, for example, factors exploring the reasons for high MOOC dropout rates, recorded low social interaction between learners and the lack of understanding of the impact of a course facilitators’ presence in course engagement. There is a need to generate further evidence to explore these detriments to MOOC course delivery to enable enhanced course learning design. OBJECTIVE This protocol aims to describe the design of a study evaluating learners knowledge, skills and attitudes in a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) about data science for healthcare. METHODS This study will use two evaluation models: 1) The RE-AIM framework and the 2) Kirkpatrick model drawing data from pre and post-course surveys and post-MOOC semi-structured interviews. The primary goal of the evaluation is to appraise participants' knowledge, skills, and attitude after taking the MOOC. RESULTS A summary of the research findings will be reported through a peer-reviewed journal and will be presented at an international conference. CONCLUSIONS The proposed multi-method evaluation of the MOOC was determined based on the MOOC’s aims and objectives and the methodological approaches used to evaluate this type of a course. The MOOC evaluation will help appraise the effectiveness of the MOOC in delivering its intended objectives. CLINICALTRIAL Ethics approval for this study was obtained from Imperial College London through the Education Ethics Review Process (EERP) (EERP1617-030).

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. e025188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Meinert ◽  
Abrar Alturkistani ◽  
David Brindley ◽  
Alison Carter ◽  
Glenn Wells ◽  
...  

IntroductionIncreasing number of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are being used to train learners at scale in various healthcare-related skills. However, many challenges in course delivery require further understanding, for example, factors exploring the reasons for high MOOC dropout rates, recorded low social interaction between learners and the lack of understanding of the impact of a course facilitators’ presence in course engagement. There is a need to generate further evidence to explore these detriments to MOOC course delivery to enable enhanced course learning design. The proposed mixed-methods evaluation of the MOOC was determined based on the MOOC’s aims and objectives and the methodological approaches used to evaluate this type of a course. The MOOC evaluation will help appraise the effectiveness of the MOOC in delivering its intended objectives. This protocol aims to describe the design of a study evaluating learners knowledge, skills and attitudes in a MOOCs about data science for healthcare.Methods and analysisStudy participants will be recruited from learners who have registered for the MOOC. On registration, learners will be given an opportunity to opt into the study and complete informed consent. Following completion of the course, study participants will be contacted to complete semistructured interviews. Interviews will be transcribed and coded using thematic analysis, with data analysed using two evaluation models: (1) the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, maintenance framework and the (2) Kirkpatrick model drawing data from pre and post-course surveys and post-MOOC semi-structured interviews. The primary goal of the evaluation is to appraise participants' knowledge, skills and attitude after taking the MOOC.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval for this study was obtained from Imperial College London through the Education Ethics Review Process (EERP) (EERP1617-030). A summary of the research findings will be reported through a peer-reviewed journal and will be presented at an international conference.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Charles Strehlow ◽  
Kelly Zhang Aluri ◽  
Jamie Sewan Johnston ◽  
Charles G Prober ◽  
Peter Corrigan Acker ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic created an urgent global need for healthcare worker (HCW) training. Initial COVID-19-related online courses focused primarily on training public health workers and physicians caring for patients in intensive care units (ICUs). However, in resource-constrained settings, nurses and general practitioners are responsible for providing most COVID-19 patient medical care, typically lacking the training and equipment necessary to manage complex, critically ill patients. In these environments, early recognition and interventions to prevent patient deterioration are essential to optimizing outcomes. We developed a massive open online course (MOOC) for HCWs in resource-constrained settings aimed at training bedside providers caring for patients with COVID-19. OBJECTIVE This study evaluates the impact of this MOOC by assessing HCW course engagement, knowledge, confidence in caring for COVID-19 patients, and user experience. METHODS From May thru June of 2020, the course was rapidly developed by a team of physicians, educators, medical illustrators, and education technology staff, and was subsequently launched on two online platforms in July 2020. The approximately 4-hour course comprises 6 video-based modules with accompanying handouts. Student knowledge was assessed using pre- and post-module quizzes and a final exam, while demographics and user experience were evaluated by pre- and post-course surveys and data collected through the platforms. RESULTS From July 17th to September 24th, 30,859 students enrolled, 18,818 started, and 7,101 completed the course. Most participants worked in healthcare (86%) and resided in lower middle- (36%) or upper middle- (21%) income countries. Higher course completion rates were observed among learners who were from upper middle-income (aOR 1.152 [95% CI 1.019-1.303]) and lower middle-income countries (aOR 1.229 [95% CI 1.104-1.368]). Significant knowledge gains were observed from pre-module (mean 56% [SD 17%]) to post-module quizzes (80% [SD 15%], P<.001), and from pre-module quizzes to the final exam (78% [SD 17%], P<.001). After course completion, participants reported increased self-efficacy regarding the course objectives, with a 0.63 mean increase on a 4-point scale (95% CI [0.60,0.66]). Overall, there was high satisfaction with the course experience, with 93% of participants reporting they would recommend the course to others. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates the potential of MOOCs to rapidly provide access to emerging medical knowledge during a public health crisis, particularly for HCWs in high- and middle-income countries. Further research is required to understand the impact of such online courses on patient care and how to better reach learners in low-income countries.


Author(s):  
Hermano Carmo ◽  
Teresa Maia e Carmo

A sociedade contemporânea é marcada por três macrotendências que a identificam como uma sociedade singular na história humana: processo de mudança acelerada, desigualdade crescente e fibrilhação dos sistemas de poder. Tais tendências têm tido como efeitos um quadro de ameaças e oportunidades que tanto têm constituído gigantesco desafio aos sistemas educativos quanto configuram a urgência de ressocialização de todas as gerações vivas no sentido da construção de uma cidadania global. Nesse contexto, propõe-se um modelo que configura uma estratégia de educação para a cidadania, com dois eixos, quatro vertentes e dez áreas-chave. Seguidamente, descreve-se e discute-se a emergência quase explosiva dos Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) a partir de instituições de ensino superior internacionalmente reconhecidas, no quadro do novo paradigma digital, sua diversidade e seu potencial ainda em aberto. Confrontando a nova abordagem educativa com o modelo de educação para a cidadania proposto, conclui-se constituir um meio robusto para o potenciar.Palavras-chave:Conjuntura. Macrotendências. Educação para a cidadania. MOOC. Tecnologia educativa. Paradigma digital.Link: http://revista.ibict.br/inclusao/article/view/4171/3642


Author(s):  
Whitney Kilgore ◽  
Patrick R. Lowenthal

The Human Element Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on the Canvas open network was designed to be a connectivist experience exploring methods for the humanization of online education. This MOOC introduced and discussed methods that faculty could adopt in order to potentially increase instructor presence, social presence, and cognitive presence within their own online courses. The design of the MOOC and the learners' perceptions of social presence after taking part in this MOOC are discussed in this chapter.


Author(s):  
Shweta Pandey ◽  
Satyam Prakash Tripathi

As the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) concept is adding a new dimension to online learning and presenting a deeper impact in different disciplines including the library and information science area, library and information science professionals are producing scholarly literature on MOOC-related issues. Through this chapter, the authors gave the overview of the genesis of MOOCs in a new learning environment. This article gives the outlook of MOOCs, which are one of the latest trends in education. This chapter also explores various literature reviews on the conceptual framework and discusses the online courses in general and specifically for LIS domain.


2016 ◽  
pp. 1736-1755
Author(s):  
Whitney Kilgore ◽  
Patrick R. Lowenthal

The Human Element Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on the Canvas open network was designed to be a connectivist experience exploring methods for the humanization of online education. This MOOC introduced and discussed methods that faculty could adopt in order to potentially increase instructor presence, social presence, and cognitive presence within their own online courses. The design of the MOOC and the learners' perceptions of social presence after taking part in this MOOC are discussed in this chapter.


Author(s):  
Sara Assami ◽  
Najima Daoudi ◽  
Rachida Ajhoun

<p class="0abstract">For an innovation producing education, MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) platforms offer a plethora of learning resources and pedagogical activities to support the university’s 4.0 new era and the lifelong learning movement. Nevertheless, the rapid advances in learning technologies imply the need for personalized guidance for learners and adapted learning materials. In this paper we seek to enhance the MOOC learner experience by providing a semantic recommender system for the diversity and abundance of MOOCs available for learners. Firstly, the paper analyses the state of the art of the semantic recommendation approach in a distance learning context. Then it describes the proposed MOOC recommendation system that uses the ontological representation of the learner model and MOOCs content to make its intelligent suggestions. Finally, we explore the development phases of the semantic MOOC recommendation system to define the implications for the progress of our research.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-86
Author(s):  
Eva Pomeroy ◽  
Keira Oliver

This article reports on the findings from an interview-based, qualitative study of adult learners in Scotland participating in the MITx u.lab massive open online course in 2015 and 2016. It focuses on interviewees’ accounts of the impact of participating in u.lab on their work and lives. Using grounded theory as an analytical guide, we explore participants’ perceptions of the impact of their engagement in the learning process, which reflects intrapersonal, relational, and systemic learning. Through these accounts, we became particularly interested in participants’ relationship to taking action and the way this changed over the course of their participation in the learning process. We conclude that an embodied change in one’s perception of the nature and purpose of action—something we call “action confidence”—is reflective of transformative learning as it indicates a significant epistemological change for participants.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 236-252
Author(s):  
Samaa Haniya ◽  
Luc Paquette

Understanding learner participation is essential to any learning environment to enhance teaching and learning, especially in large scale digital spaces, such as massive open online courses. However, there is a lack of research to fully capture the dynamic nature of massive open online courses and the different ways learners participate in these emerging massive e-learning ecologies. To fill in the research gap, this paper attempted to investigate the relationship between how learners choose to participate in a massive open online course, their initial motivation for learning, and the barriers they faced throughout the course. This was achieved through a combination of data-driven clustering approaches—to identify patterns of learner participation—and qualitative analysis of survey data—to better understand the learners’ motivation and the barriers they faced during the course. Through this study we show how, within the context of a Coursera massive open online course offered by the University of Illinois, learners with varied patterns of participation (Advanced, Balanced, Early, Limited, and Delayed Participation) reported similar motivations and barriers, but described differences in how their participation was impacted by those factors. These findings are significant to gain insights about learners’ needs which in turn serve as the basis to innovate more adaptive and personalized learning experiences and thus advance learning in these large scale environments.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document