Instructional quality of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

• Published in: Computers and education Vol. 80; pp. 77 - 83
• Main Authors: Margaryan, Anoush, Bianco, Manuela, Littlejohn, Allison
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2015
• Subjects: Design engineering; Distributed learning environments; Education; Evaluation methodologies; Lifelong learning; Massive Online Open Courses; Online; Pedagogical issues; Quality assessment; Massive Online Open Courses; Evaluation methodologies; Distributed learning environments; Lifelong learning; Pedagogical issues
• ISSN: 0360-1315; 1873-782X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compedu.2014.08.005

We present an analysis of instructional design quality of 76 randomly selected Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The quality of MOOCs was determined from first principles of instruction, using a course survey instrument. Two types of MOOCs (xMOOCs and cMOOCs) were analysed and their instructional design quality was assessed and compared. We found that the majority of MOOCs scored poorly on most instructional design principles. However, most MOOCs scored highly on organisation and presentation of course material. The results indicate that although most MOOCs are well-packaged, their instructional design quality is low. We outline implications for practice and ideas for future research. •Instructional design quality of 76 randomly selected MOOCs was assessed.•Quality was determined from first principles, using a Course Scan instrument.•The majority of MOOCs scored poorly on most instructional design principles.•Most MOOCs scored highly on organisation and presentation of course material.•Although most MOOCs are well-packaged, their instructional design quality is low.