Engaged learning in MOOCs: a study using the UK Engagement Survey

This study sets out to answer the question: how can we know what learning is taking place in MOOCs? From this starting point, the study then looks to identify MOOCs’ potential for future use in HE? Using a specially-adapted version of the HEA’s UK Engagement Survey (UKES) 2014, the research team at the University of Southampton asked participants who had completed one of two MOOCs delivered through the FutureLearn platform and designed and run at the university about their experiences as learners and their engagement with their respective MOOC. The results also show that both of the MOOCs were successful in enabling many participants to feel engaged in intellectual endeavours such as forming new understandings, making connections with previous knowledge and experience, and exploring knowledge actively, creatively and critically. In response to the open access approach – in which no one taking part in a MOOC is required to have a minimum level of previous educational achievement - the report shows that persistent learners engaged, regardless of prior educational attainment

Moving a unit online: a quantitative evaluation of student responses

In 2005, a unit was converted to &lsquo;wholly online&rsquo; delivery mode, where all teaching occurred online. Student evaluation survey data for 2005 suggested that students rated many aspects of the wholly online unit delivery significantly lower than previously. For 2006, ten percent of the unit marks were dedicated to an assessed assignment activity based around an online discussion area. Based on student evaluation items common to the preand post-2006 period, overall student satisfaction with the unit returned to the same levels as prior to the introduction of wholly online delivery. These findings suggest that careful thought, but not necessarily major changes, may be required to avoid student disillusionment and maximise student learning outcomes when moving an existing unit to wholly online delivery. During 2005 and 2006, the same unit was included in a large survey to gauge students&rsquo; perceptions of studying wholly online units. The sub-set of respondents relating to this unit was found to have a good demographic match to the total unit enrolment. The survey included the following question item, &lsquo;39: How satisfied have you been with this unit being offered wholly online?&rsquo;, as an overall measure of student satisfaction with studying the unit in wholly online mode. Multivariate linear regression analysis was conducted with survey item 39 as the dependent variable. While the resultant regression model should not be interpreted literally as a formula for student satisfaction, it does suggest some areas for action to improve student satisfaction with studying this unit in wholly online mode.<br /

Online discussion in engineering education : student responses and learning outcomes

A ubiquitous and widely used feature of online learning environments is the asynchronous discussion board. This chapter presents a case study of the introduction and evaluation of student use of an online discussion in an engineering management study unit. We introduced an assessable assignment task based on student use of an online discussion, in response to falling student unit evaluation results after we initially moved the unit to wholly online delivery mode. Both quantitative and qualitative unit evaluation data suggest that students perceive value in the online discussion activities. A regression analysis based on discussion usage data suggests that students derived significant learning outcome benefit toward their final unit grade from making reflective postings in the online discussion.<br /

Mapping the emotional journey of teaching

This paper will explore the use of Novakian concept mapping as a means of visualising and tracing the range of emotions inherent within any teaching experience. It will focus in particular on its use within higher education, where the presence of emotion has traditionally been disregarded or seemingly suppressed. The example of undergraduate teaching of the law degree will be used as an area where the role of emotion is particularly under-theorised. This paper will assess the effectiveness of concept mapping as a tool to enable academics to explicitly acknowledge, and reflect upon, the existence of emotion, both in terms of their individual teaching experiences, their collective teaching journey through a course or qualification and their students’ learning journey. It will also consider how use of this technique at a collective level could identify areas of pedagogic frailty, which may arise due to the misinterpreting, mishandling or suppression of emotion. The various opportunities and challenges arising from this application of concept mapping techniques will be discussed, drawing on a small, empirical pilot study, and leading to the conclusion that it has a useful and significant role to play within an emerging field of enquiry