Abstract:

In 2015, edX offered its initial MicroMasters® program, a MOOC-based certificate program in which learners pay for and complete a series of graduate level courses. Successful completion leads to a program certificate that enables learners to apply for admission to participating pathway universities for a residential, accelerated master’s or doctoral degree program.

In this study, we examine a variation of this sequence in which a cohort of learners were accepted into a master’s program at a new technological university in Latin America. As part of the curriculum, they also enrolled in the MITx MicroMasters Program in Statistics and Data Science. The university’s master’s program was constructed as a blended learning experience, with the core components being four courses from the online MITx MicroMaster Program, complemented with weekly academic support from facilitators in the form of virtual facilitated sessions and office hours. The added academic support supplemented the MITx courses to enable students to better understand (or master) the courses. In addition, during the two-year program, there were three intensive, on-site, in-person workshops in which learners worked together to deepen their knowledge of applied analytic techniques needed by data scientists.

Our work focused on understanding the learners’ experience with the master’s program and associated academic support–their motivation to enroll, prior experience with online learning, approach to meeting course requirements, perceived benefits of the available academic support, and barriers encountered. We developed a semi-structured interview protocol for data collection.

Our sample consisted of 16 of the 57 program participants (28%). We randomly selected equal numbers of participants from above and below the median final grade of the four MicroMasters courses. Additionally, we used attendance to at least 30% of the facilitated sessions as a selection criterion.

Qualitative analysis of our data showed that a strong motivation to enroll in the masters’ program was due to its inclusion of MITx MicroMasters courses. Interviewees’ lack of experience with online courses did not appear to affect their final grade in the first course of the MicroMasters series where inexperience may have been a detriment to their success. Collaborating with peers, in-person and virtually, was most frequently named as an important study strategy. Interviewees spoke of the community formed during the initial in-person workshop; many continued working with peers they met during that experience.

Although the overall impression of the weekly facilitated sessions was positive, the pandemic affected attendance for many interviewees primarily due to increased work responsibilities. They chose to finish required work on the course platform rather than take advantage of the academic support which seemed optional. The facilitated sessions were designed to include active learning pedagogies—poll questions with breakout rooms to discuss responses and worked examples. Worked examples were most favored by interviewees, indicating their preference for learning practical applications of theoretical concepts. Time was most frequently mentioned as a barrier to learning/completion of coursework, along with weak prerequisite knowledge which also required extensive time for review.

Our work provides important insights into the needs and priorities of a growing population of learners who enroll in MOOCs.

Keywords:

Blended learning, MOOCs, MITx MicroMasters.