Abstract:

Background:
During the past year and a half, we tried to interest the college’s students in diversifying their general studies with Massive Open Online Courses - MOOC. This experiment awarded scant interest for various reasons. Some of the reasons are:
(1) A heavier burden of studies in comparison to general courses that the MOOCs were supposed to replace
(2) Coping with learning in English that is usually not the students’ native language
(3) The need for strong self-discipline and compliance with a strict timetable
(4) The need for intense involvement throughout the MOOC in discussion groups and peer evaluations.

In contrast to other courses, in which the main evaluation is based on the final exam. The college students were then given the opportunity to enroll in a new online course, “History of Science”, offered by the college in Hebrew as part of the college’s general studies courses. Thirty students registered for the course and 25 of them continued to study the course until the end of the semester. The research aimed to examine the students’ consideration of the college’s own online course in Hebrew in comparison to the MOOC.

Aim:
Comparison of students' attitudes toward MOOC and online college course by answering on the following questions: What were the reasons for the low response of the college students to the possibility of studying MOOC courses? What are the reasons for the students’ choice of an online course as part of their general studies? To what extent were the students satisfied with the learning method of the online “History of Science” course? How does the online course contribute to the development of the students’ higher order thinking?

Methodology:
Mixed methods, combining qualitative and quantitative components. Interviews with students who successfully completed the MOOC course. A research questionnaire administered to the students at the end of the online course. In-depth interviews with students during the online course and at its end.
Research population: Twenty-five students studying the online “History of Science” course taught in the spring semester, 2015, at an academic College of Engineering.

Research results:
At the time of submission of this abstract, the results analysis has not yet been completed. However, the results will be reported in the full paper proceeding.

Keywords:

Learning evaluation, MOOC, online learning.