Instructional quality of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Anoush Margaryan; Manuela Bianco; Allison Littlejohn

doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2014.08.005

Instructional quality of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Anoush Margaryan^*, Manuela Bianco, Allison Littlejohn

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We present an analysis of instructional design quality of 76 randomly selected Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The quality of MOOCs was determined from first principles of instruction, using a course survey instrument. Two types of MOOCs (xMOOCs and cMOOCs) were analysed and their instructional design quality was assessed and compared. We found that the majority of MOOCs scored poorly on most instructional design principles. However, most MOOCs scored highly on organisation and presentation of course material. The results indicate that although most MOOCs are well-packaged, their instructional design quality is low. We outline implications for practice and ideas for future research.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	77-83
Number of pages	7
Journal	Computers and Education
Volume	80
Early online date	26 Aug 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2014.08.005
Publication status	Published - Jan 2015

Keywords

Massive Online Open Courses
distributed learning environments
evaluation methodologies
lifelong learning
pedagogical issues

Documents and Links

10.1016/j.compedu.2014.08.005

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abstract = "We present an analysis of instructional design quality of 76 randomly selected Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The quality of MOOCs was determined from first principles of instruction, using a course survey instrument. Two types of MOOCs (xMOOCs and cMOOCs) were analysed and their instructional design quality was assessed and compared. We found that the majority of MOOCs scored poorly on most instructional design principles. However, most MOOCs scored highly on organisation and presentation of course material. The results indicate that although most MOOCs are well-packaged, their instructional design quality is low. We outline implications for practice and ideas for future research.",

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AU - Margaryan, Anoush

AU - Bianco, Manuela

AU - Littlejohn, Allison

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N2 - We present an analysis of instructional design quality of 76 randomly selected Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The quality of MOOCs was determined from first principles of instruction, using a course survey instrument. Two types of MOOCs (xMOOCs and cMOOCs) were analysed and their instructional design quality was assessed and compared. We found that the majority of MOOCs scored poorly on most instructional design principles. However, most MOOCs scored highly on organisation and presentation of course material. The results indicate that although most MOOCs are well-packaged, their instructional design quality is low. We outline implications for practice and ideas for future research.

AB - We present an analysis of instructional design quality of 76 randomly selected Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The quality of MOOCs was determined from first principles of instruction, using a course survey instrument. Two types of MOOCs (xMOOCs and cMOOCs) were analysed and their instructional design quality was assessed and compared. We found that the majority of MOOCs scored poorly on most instructional design principles. However, most MOOCs scored highly on organisation and presentation of course material. The results indicate that although most MOOCs are well-packaged, their instructional design quality is low. We outline implications for practice and ideas for future research.

KW - Massive Online Open Courses

KW - distributed learning environments

KW - evaluation methodologies

KW - lifelong learning

KW - pedagogical issues

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DO - 10.1016/j.compedu.2014.08.005

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JO - Computers and Education

JF - Computers and Education

SN - 0360-1315

ER -