By Learners, for Learners: Reviewing a MOOC on Climate Change Co-Designed by Students and Faculty

• In Event: 81.025 - Innovating MOOC Pedagogies

Abstract

Objectives
Typically, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are taught by faculty and do not include students (Ross et al. 2014). In an experimental seminar, 12 students co-designed a MOOC on climate change action with their professor. After a semester studying MOOC pedagogy and a second semester engaging in a collaborative design process, the course was launched. The students took on roles such as interviewer, presenter, content expert, and activity designer for the MOOC. Does this “by learners, for learners” model result in a successful MOOC from a pedagogical and quality point of view?

Perspectives
Two tools were used to (1) review the co-designed MOOC’s quality and (2) characterize its pedagogies to assess the MOOC’s potential benefit for learners:

Margaryan et al.’s (2015) instrument assesses MOOC quality. It is based on Course Scan (Collins & Margaryan, 2005) and The Expanded Pebble-in-the-Pond Instructional Design Checklist (Merrill, 2013). The Margaryan et al. (2015) instrument determines if a MOOC meets the “first principles” of instructional design, considering the following elements: a) centered on real world problems, b) activation of existing knowledge, c) demonstration of skills, d) application of newly acquired skills, and e) integration of new knowledge into daily life.

Swan et al. (2014) developed their instrument, Assessing MOOC Pedagogies (AMP), based on Reeves’ (1994) earlier tool for computer-based education. The AMP instrument characterizes MOOCs pedagogies along ten dimensions: structure, approach to content presentation, characteristics of tasks, feedback, characteristics of evidence, epistemology, instructor role, learner role, cooperative learning, and accommodation of individual difference.

Previously, these instruments have not been used to evaluate MOOCs co-designed by students.

Methods and Data Sources
Three researchers independently evaluated the Act on Climate: Steps to Individual, Community, and Political Action MOOC using Margaryan et al.’s (2015) checklist to determine to what extent each element was addressed in the co-designed MOOC. The three reviewers discussed responses until unanimous agreement was reached on each item. Two researchers used Swan et al.’s (2014) AMP and achieved inter-rater reliability of 90%, resolving differences through discussion.  

Results
Results from using Margarayan et al.’s (2015) instrument are summarized in Table 3. Our analysis shows that the MOOC meets the criteria for four/five principles indicating that the instructional design quality was high. Results from using Swan et al. (2014)’s AMP tool are shown in Table 4. Results from this analysis show that the Act on Climate MOOC is aligned with a participation model (Sfard, 1998), where the instructional environment is oriented towards generating knowledge through rich interaction with peers and a variety of knowledge sources.  

Scholarly Significance
This case study has implications for faculty/instructional teams who are considering creating MOOCs with student involvement. Our findings suggest that involving undergraduate and graduate students as content creators and producers is likely to result in positive pedagogical outcomes for MOOC learners. Future research will focus on how MOOC learners perceive this innovative co-instructor model, as it is quite distinct from traditional MOOCs, where well-known University faculty are the only “face” of the MOOC.  

Authors

• Alison Bressler, University of Michigan

• Rebecca M. Quintana, University of Michigan

• Michaela T. Zint, University of Michigan