The aim of this article was to examine the experiences of students who have participated in massive open online courses (MOOCs). The results of an initial Google blog search were narrowed down to a sample of twenty-one blog posts, each of which was written by a MOOC participant. Content analysis was applied to identify and classify blog comments into emergent themes (e.g., the relevance of type and length of course, student demographics, instruction/instructor interactive styles, and factors that impacted on the learning process) to develop a picture of their experiences. Overall, mixed feelings were expressed. Results provided a glimpse of the student experiences, including why students take such courses, what elements of their experience are positive, and what can be improved from the student point of view.Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are generating much hype in mass and social media. Although there is a lot of research generated from student feedback surveys, little is known about student perceptions of online learning, and MOOCs in particular, using blogging platforms as the source of information. The aim of this study was to examine the experiences of students who have participated in MOOCs as reflected in public blogs. Thus, this study asked the following:Research Question 1: Is the student experience portrayed in the blogs a positive one?Research Question 2: What are the common issues and discussion themes bloggers post about? Insights gained from investigating these two research questions are likely to be of interest to those interested in participating in, developing, and teaching MOOCs generally and online courses more broadly. BACKGROUND

In the data mining field, association rules are discovered having domain knowledge specified as a minimum support threshold. The accuracy in setting up this threshold directly influences the number and the quality of association rules discovered. Often, the number of association rules, even though large in number, misses some interesting rules and the rules' quality necessitates further analysis. As a result, decision making using these rules could lead to risky actions. We propose a framework to discover domain knowledge report as coherent rules. Coherent rules are discovered based on the properties of propositional logic, and therefore, requires no background knowledge to generate them. From the coherent rules discovered, association rules can be derived objectively and directly without knowing the level of minimum support threshold required. We provide analysis of the rules compare to those discovered via the a priori.

This paper describes a method intended to advance students along the path to independent learning. The method is consistent with the principles of enquiry-based Learning. It involves restructuring student contact class time into a single three-hour block, and dedicating the majority of this time to working in small research project groups. Non-punitive, formative feedback is provided continuously on student work through the semester. In order to gain insight into the student experience of the design, a qualitative study using focus groups was conducted across two consecutive semesters. Reflection on the teaching experience in light of the student responses provides insight into aspects that have worked well, particularly the nature and channels of support provided to students. Despite the students’ unfamiliarity with the unit design, the contact structure and the group work has been popular and has been perceived as contributing to the students’ learning experience. The levels of support and feedback made possible through the unit design have also been very positively viewed. However, interesting questions are also raised. The first is regarding the balance between encouraging independent learning and the provision of structure and support by staff. The second is related to going beyond student perceptions and reliably measuring changes in independent learning abilities.

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