MOOCs and Problem-Based Learning: A Happy Marriage?

Abstract

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been proposed as a way to make education accessible to a wide range of learners. However, many MOOCs fall back to ‘old-fashioned’ information-delivery designs that are not optimal for learning. To explore the potential of collaborative, small-group learning, a MOOC based on the principles of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) was designed. This study focuses on the question: To what extent can PBL be applied in the context of a MOOC? The MOOC Problem-Based Learning: Principles and design. Students at the centre! was executed twice. The following data were collected: learner profiles and participation data, evaluation surveys, assignments, verbal interaction on the discussion boards, and interviews with facilitators. The results show that participants discussed authentic problem cases in groups. Individual completion rates were comparable to other MOOCs or slightly better (9.4% and 12.1% respectively). At group level, the completion rates were higher (44% and 51.4% respectively). Self-formed groups function better than groups composed automatically. The quality of assignments varied widely. Some were of high quality, but the envisioned kind of learning was certainly not realized in all groups. The absence of a tutor was an important factor in this. This study shows that it is possible to apply design principles of PBL in the context of a MOOC and that innovative instructional designs for MOOCs are feasible. Whether this implementation can really be called PBL remains questionable since it differs from more traditional forms in important aspects, most notably the absence of a tutor.

Conclusión y abandono de estudiantes universitarios en cursos MOOC. Análisis desde la perspectiva de beneficios

“…Queda en evidencia, entonces, que, tal como lo indican LeBar (2014), Jacobsen (2019) y Vitiello et al (2017) no es necesario completar un MOOC ni forzoso obtener el certificado de finalización para obtener beneficios de este tipo de cursos, sino que esto depende de los tipos de participantes y sus intereses formativos (Clark, 2016;Ruipérez-Valiente, 2019;Reich, 2014;Kizilcec et al, 2013;Verstegen et al, 2023).…”

“…De igual forma, empieza a definirse un cuerpo importante de investigación que difiere en que la inconclusión de un MOOC sea un factor de fracaso para este tipo de cursos (Vitiello et al, 2017;Jacobsen, 2019;Lebar, 2014), ya que, por ejemplo, finalizar un curso no siempre es la meta de un participante (Kizilcec et al, 2013;Verstegen, et al, 2023) y aun así hay evidencia de diversos benéficos para el aprendizaje tales como acceso a materiales y contenidos gratuitos (Durall et al, 2012), desarrollar aprendizajes a través de herramientas digitales (Loizzo y Ertmer, 2016) y acceso al curso en cualquier lugar y tiempo (Laborde;Ortega, 2016), por mencionar algunos. En ese mismo sentido, se han pronunciado a favor de definir criterios de evaluación pertinentes a este tipo de modalidad formativa evitando castigarla con criterios de otras modalidades (Yousef et al, 2014;Mercado, 2018;Littlejohn, 2016).…”