Teaching modes and social-epistemological dimensions in medical Massive Open Online Courses: Lessons for integration in campus education

Abstract

Purpose: Medical Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been integrated into formal campus teaching by several universities. However, teaching attributes of medical MOOCs have not been systematically investigated. Additionally, guidelines are needed to inform integration practices. This study systematically investigated the available teaching modes and socialepistemological dimensions of medical MOOCs. Methods: An overview of MOOCs on a medical topic was compiled and inclusion criteria were developed. A data collection tool was composed and calibrated. For data collection, out of 410 MOOCs 33 were selected based on these criteria. Investigators enrolled in selected MOOCs and analyzed teaching modes after examination of all course pages. Teaching modes were categorized in social-epistemological dimensions according to the Teaching Approach Framework. Results: Twenty-nine different teaching modes were found, showing wide distributions. Analysis of social-epistemological dimensions showed medical MOOCs focus on constructivist and individual teaching modes as opposed to objectivist and group modes. Conclusions: Medical MOOCs do not have a universal teaching mode profile. They contain a rich variety of teaching modes for integration in campus education of which videos, discussion boards, and multiple choice questions are used regularly. Constructivist teaching modes are readily available in medical MOOCs and can support educational innovation of formal campus teaching when integrated.

Topics, Delivery Modes, and Social-Epistemological Dimensions of Web-Based Information for Patients Undergoing Renal Transplant and Living Donors During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Content Analysis

“…Immediately available content on COVID-19 and renal transplantation was categorized thematically. The available delivery modes on each webpage were classified into instruction, interaction, or assessment based on the studies of Toven-Lindsey et al (2015) [ 21 ] and Hendriks et al (2019) [ 33 ]. Delivery modes that were not predetermined were categorized individually by two authors, followed by discussion and calibration until agreement was reached.…”

“…After data collection was completed, the Teaching Approach Framework described in 2006 by Arbaugh and Benbunan-Fich [ 27 ] was used to categorize the identified delivery modes into social-epistemological dimensions: objectivist-individual; objectivist-group; constructivist-individual; and constructivist-group. Previously implemented categorizations by Toven-Lindsey et al (2015) [ 21 ] and Hendriks et al (2019) [ 33 ] were taken into account. However, in contrast to these studies, links to external web-based resources were categorized as objectivist-individual instead of constructivist-individual because external links available on websites transmit knowledge and do not actively build knowledge as designed for massive open online courses (MOOCs), which was the context of the prior studies.…”

Uncovering motivation and self-regulated learning skills in integrated medical MOOC learning: a mixed methods research protocol

“…In addition to this traditional MOOC format, many other MOOC forms now exist, ranging on scale, openness and costs for learning. 1 Since a few years, MOOCs are being integrated in formal campus education, 2 with many examples of integration in the medical domain because of the advantage integration offers: (1) the convenience of creating a course once and delivering it multiple times without extra effort or cost, 3 (2) access to education from institutions that not all students can travel to, 4 (3) the opportunity to remove costs and inconvenience of getting to a single location, 5 (4) access to topics not normally available in the curriculum, 4 (5) the possibility to use ‘exemplar’ learning materials from experts in their field instead of each university making their own, 4 6 (6) enhanced understanding of pathology not common to students’ resident country, 6 (7) enhanced communication among international communities of clinicians and student clinicians, 7 8 (8) access to a wide variety in available teaching modes 7 and (9) access to innovative teaching models for student learning. 7 8 …”

Avaliação de estudantes de Enfermagem e enfermeiros de um curso online, aberto e massivo (MOOC)

“…O acesso à informação promove socialização do conhecimento, rompendo com a ideia de que a aprendizagem ocorre somente no ambiente escolar formal. Neste cenário surgem os cursos online, abertos e massivos (Massive Open Online Course -MOOC), trazendo um novo debate sobre o papel da tecnologia na formação no ensino superior devido ao seu potencial de proporcionar acesso a habilidades e conhecimentos para um número grande de participantes (Hendriks, de Jong, Admiraal, & Reinders, 2019).…”