[Asis-l] Initial MOOC Offering Results in Positive Outcomes for Syracuse iSchool

[John David Ross]

Initial MOOC Offering Results in Positive Outcomes for Syracuse iSchool

The first open online course offered at Syracuse University has concluded with positive outcomes for its host, the School of Information Studies (iSchool), and for its hundreds of student participants.  In addition, the excitement generated by the February trial is spinning off plans for additional iSchool open online offerings and informing faculty teaching models.

The iSchool’s first free course, “A Brief Introduction to Data Science with R,” drew interest levels more than three times the number of slots initially reserved for student enrollment. While 500 slots were planned, 1,731 requests to participate were received. Because of its inaugural nature, the iSchool opened the course to everyone who expressed interest.  Impressively, the opportunity provided an introduction to the iSchool and Syracuse University for hundreds. Approximately three-quarters of those who inquired about the course were brand new to Syracuse University, according to Peggy Brown, iSchool director of instructional design and an adjunct instructor.

Brown provided these enrollment, completion rate, and student outcome results:

• 1,731 students  were invited to participate in the course
  • 856 students (just under 50%) officially accepted that invitation
  • Only 17 of that number formally dropped out

Of the 839 participating:

• 429 were actively engaged from start to finish (a rate of 51.7% of the official total participants)
• 410 others viewed and accessed course material intermittently
•  91 students (as of early April) are receiving certificates for completing all course requirements. (That is 21.2% of the 429 actively engaged students and 10.8% of the 839 who signed up).

“We’re very pleased with this result. This is slightly higher than what some other MOOCs have experienced. But beyond the numbers, the students in the course had some very rich and exciting conversations,” noted Professor and Senior Associate Dean Jeffrey Stanton.

For more information about the MOOC, including more background and demographic information on the participants, the entire article is available online<http://ischool.syr.edu/newsroom/news.aspx?recid=1439>.

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