Performance of Men and Women in Graded Team Assignments in MOOCs

• Published in: 2019 IEEE Learning With MOOCS (LWMOOCS) pp. 30 - 35
• Main Authors: John, Catrina, Staubitz, Thomas, Meinel, Christoph
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.10.2019
• Subjects: Computer aided instruction; Distance Learning; Electronic learning; Gender; Java; MOOC; Online Learning; STEM; Study; Task analysis; Teamwork; Virtual teamwork
• DOI: 10.1109/LWMOOCS47620.2019.8939654

This paper analyzes the implications of gender when evaluating team assignments in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). It contributes to the line of research focusing on group work in MOOCs from a gender perspective when peer grading is carried out. In turn, it informs MOOC design. The results are based on a study of 6,000+ participants of a set of IT, business, and Design Thinking MOOCs to determine success in gender homogenous and heterogeneous virtual team tasks. The study uses observational data to track individual performance, based on gender, in online courses. Even though men were over represented, individual female performance in team assignments is shown to be significantly better than male performance. The results speak for successful teamwork in online courses on the one hand and open up further opportunities for good performance of women in STEM disciplines on the other hand.