Refine
Year of publication
- 2021 (119) (remove)
Document Type
- Article (94)
- Review (12)
- Part of Periodical (5)
- Monograph/Edited Volume (4)
- Other (2)
- Working Paper (2)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (119) (remove)
Keywords
- Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (7)
- USA (7)
- United States (7)
- moderne jüdische Geschichte (6)
- modern Jewish history (5)
- 20. Jahrhundert (4)
- 20th century (4)
- Forschungsreisen (4)
- 19. Jahrhundert (3)
- Ehrenberg (3)
Institute
- Extern (28)
- Hasso-Plattner-Institut für Digital Engineering GmbH (25)
- Historisches Institut (19)
- Institut für Romanistik (19)
- Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e. V. (16)
- MenschenRechtsZentrum (10)
- Verband für Patholinguistik e. V. (vpl) (9)
- Arbeitskreis Militär und Gesellschaft in der Frühen Neuzeit e. V. (8)
- Klassische Philologie (6)
- Center for Economic Policy Analysis (CEPA) (2)
- Fachgruppe Politik- & Verwaltungswissenschaft (1)
- Fachgruppe Volkswirtschaftslehre (1)
Ab Mitte der 1820er Jahre erfuhr die Mikroskop- Technik eine stürmische Entwicklung. Dadurch, dass es gelang, nach und nach die optischen Fehler zu korrigieren, verbesserte sich die Auflösung bis zum Ende des Jahrhunderts um den Faktor 10 von 3 μm auf 0,3 μm. Um 1820 begann Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg mit mikroskopischen Untersuchungen. Er nutzte zunächst ein einfaches Nürnberger Mikroskop. 1832 erwarb er ein Mikroskop aus der Berliner Werkstatt von Pistor & Schiek, das er dann zeitlebens nutzte. Ein Vergleich der Leistungsfähigkeit seines Instruments mit der für seine Untersuchungen notwendigen Auflösung zeigt, dass es für seine Untersuchungen vollkommen genügte. Für seine Untersuchungsobjekte entwickelte er Präparationstechniken und Aufbewahrungsmethoden für die Dauerpräparate. Da er auch die mikroskopischen Abbildungen bis hin zu den Vorlagen für die Kupfertafeln selbst anfertigte, behielt er den gesamten Prozess von der Präparation bis zum Druck der Ergebnisse stets in der Hand.
Als langjähriges und aktives Mitglied der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin bestimmte Ehrenberg ihre Aktivitäten und ihr Ansehen maßgeblich mit. Seine Beiträge zu den Sitzungen und Schriften und seine Rolle als Bewohner des gesellschaftseigenen Hauses förderten in der GNF sowohl Fortschritt als auch Beständigkeit. Das Ziel der Naturgeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts, also die Entdeckung, Beschreibung und Bewahrung möglichst aller Organismen- und Gesteinsarten, wurde in der GNF bis in die zweite Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts tradiert. Ehrenbergs wissenschaftliche Leistungen, insbesondere seine zahlreichen Entdeckungen mit Hilfe des Mikroskops, stehen ganz in dieser Tradition.
Die Geschichte der Mikrobiologie als Laborwissenschaft des späten 19. Jahrhunderts hat für Ehrenberg keinen Platz. Unmodern, ja fehlerhaft scheinen die Befunde dieses „Humboldt en miniature“, der die Belebtheit von Wasser oder Luft mikroskopisch untersuchte, der Proben aus aller Welt sammelte und so zahlreiche „Infusorien“ genannte Mikroben sowie deren Effekte etwa bei Blutwundern beschrieb, deren Beteiligung an Infektionskrankheiten aber verneinte. Zugleich scheint sein ökologischer Blick auf den Mikrokosmos die Gegenwart auf überraschende Weise anzusprechen – einerseits weil Mikroben omnipräsentes Faszinosum wie Bedrohung bleiben, andererseits weil viele der Prämissen von Pasteur und Koch im Zeitalter der Genomik überholt erscheinen. Ausgehend von der zwiespältigen Position Ehrenbergs fragt dieser Artikel, warum er möglicherweise gerade deswegen spannender ist, als ihn die Historiographie bislang hat erscheinen lassen.
Im Jahr 1820 traten zwei Universitätsabsolventen, Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg und Wilhelm Hemprich, eine Forschungsreise nach Nordafrika an, die eine der ersten vom preußischen Staat maßgeblich getragenen Reiseunternehmungen darstellt. Wesentliches Ziel der Reise war das Sammeln von naturkundlichen Exemplaren für die junge Berliner Museumslandschaft. Der Beitrag ordnet die afrikanische Forschungsreise in die wissenschaftliche Laufbahn Ehrenbergs ein, der als einziger Reisender überlebte, sowie in die Geschichte der Berliner Wissenschaftslandschaft im frühen 19. Jahrhundert. Dabei konzentriert sich der Beitrag auf die Medien – insbesondere Sammlungsverzeichnisse und Sammlungsobjekte – die die Reisenden im Feld einsetzen mussten, um ihre Identität als gelehrte Naturforscher gegenüber ihren Förderern zu inszenieren und damit ihre Position in der preußischen Wissenschaft strategisch zu sichern.
The Russian-Siberian journey, carried out with Alexander von Humboldt and Gustav Rose in 1829 coincided with a decisive phase in Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg’s scientific career. His field diary and the drawings he made on the trip document his intensified focus on the study of microorganisms. The numerous observations on plant and animal geography show how Ehrenberg tested a combination of micro- and macro-perspectives that would shape his research on infusoria in the following decades: In addition to the task of classification at the microscope, Ehrenberg carried out worldwide comparative research on the distribution of microorganisms.
Die Erforschung und Beschreibung mikroskopischer Organismen durch Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg ist durch seine publizierten Texte und Kupfertafeln in den „Infusionsthierchen“, der „Mikrogeologie“ sowie aus Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften überliefert. Zentrale Bedeutung haben seine Zeichenblätter, anfangs alleinige Dokumentation, später komplementiert durch tausende mikroskopischer Dauerpräparate rezenter und fossiler Kieselschalen sowie getrockneter Einzeller. Alle Originalmaterialien Ehrenbergs stehen für die aktuelle Forschung in der Ehrenbergsammlung zur Verfügung. Seine detailgenauen Zeichnungen dienten der Erstbeschreibung einer Vielzahl neuer Arten aus allen Weltteilen. Biogeografische und ökologische Fragestellungen, Beschreibungen von Lebenszyklen sowie außerordentliche Phänomene wie die Färbung von Gewässern und Erden wurden mithilfe zeichnerischer Analysen bearbeitet.
Geleitwort
(2021)
Heinrich Menu von Minutoli unternahm 1820 eine Reise nach Nordafrika zur Erforschung ägyptischer und griechischer Altertümer. Die Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften bestimmte die jungen Naturforscher Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg und Wilhelm Hemprich als weitere Teilnehmer.
Während Minutoli bereits ein Jahr nach Beginn der Expedition 1821 nach Europa zurückkehrte, setzten Ehrenberg und Hemprich ihre Forschungen fort. Von Alexandria aus unternahmen sie, zum Teil getrennt, Exkursionen in die libysche Wüste, auf die Sinaihalbinsel, zum Roten Meer, in das Libanongebirge sowie bis in den Sudan und nach Eritrea, wo Hemprich 1825 dem Malariafieber erlag.
Wie von der Akademie der Wissenschaften beauftragt, sammelten Ehrenberg und Hemprich insgesamt 34 000 Tiere, 46 000 Pflanzen und 300 Mineralien. Diese trafen im Laufe der Jahre, verpackt in insgesamt 114 Kisten, in Berlin ein. Die Akademie stellte Mittel für die Auswertung der Sammlungen zur Verfügung. Ehrenbergs Reisebericht blieb aber ebenso Fragment wie das großangelegte Tafelwerk Symbolae physicae.
„Eine der größten Freuden meines Lebens würde sein, einmal 5 – 6 Monathe mit Ihnen, an Ihrer Seite, unter Ihrer Belehrung reisen zu können. Süßwassermuscheln, Fische, Bergpflanzen Rußlands sind wenig bekannt.“ Mit diesen Worten lud Alexander von Humboldt seinen Akademiekollegen Ehrenberg zur Teilnahme an der russisch-sibirischen Reise ein, die der preußische Kammerherr auf Einladung des Kaisers Nikolaj I. unternahm. Knapp drei Jahre nach der Rückkehr von der arabisch-afrikanischen Forschungsreise brach Ehrenberg also erneut auf: Am 12. April 1829 traten Humboldt, Ehrenberg und der Mineraloge Gustav Rose ihre Reise in Berlin an. Diese führte sie in knapp neun Monaten und über 19 000 Kilometer in den Ural und durch Westsibirien bis zur russisch-chinesischen Grenzstation Baty. Während Humboldt und Rose die Hüttenbezirke im Ural und Altai inspizierten, legte Ehrenberg botanische und zoologische Sammlungen an.
Nach den beiden großen Forschungsreisen konzentrierte Ehrenberg seine Arbeit in Berlin auf die systematische Beschreibung von Kleinstlebewesen, die sogenannten Infusorien. 1838 erschien eines seiner Hauptwerke, Die Infusionsthierchen als vollkommene Organismen. Ein Blick in das tiefere organische Leben der Natur. Ehrenberg untersuchte tausende Proben aus aller Welt und wies Infusorien auf dem Grund der Weltmeere, in atmosphärischem Staub und in Hochgebirgen nach. Ausgehend von diesen Befunden beschäftigte er sich mit dem Anteil einzelliger kieselschaliger Mikroorganismen an der Bildung von Erden und geologischen Formationen. 1854 legte er die Mikrogeologie vor: In 41 Bildtafeln gab er weltweite „geographische Uebersichten über das kleine jetzige erdbildende Leben“. Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg gilt als Mitbegründer der Boden-Mikrobiologie und Mikropaläontologie sowie als Pionier der Kieselalgenforschung und Protozoologie.
Forum militare
(2021)
„Gut, besser, Vermesser.“
(2021)
Keep undercover! Militärische Spionagepraktiken und ihr Platz in der Gesellschaft (18. – 19. Jh.)
(2021)
Nero – Kaiser und Künstler
(2021)
Während seines Aufenthalts 1803 in Mexiko machte von Humboldt die Bekanntschaft von Dupaix, einem spanischen Soldaten luxemburgischer Herkunft und Liebhaber präkolumbischer Altertümer. Die Entdeckung verschiedener Manuskripte Dupaix’ sowie die Untersuchung diverser Archive und persönlicher Aufzeichnungen des Freiherrn und von Dokumenten unterschiedlicher Institutionen beiderseits des Atlantiks erlauben es, den außergewöhnlichen Weg eines berühmten mexikanischen Objekts, der Chalchiuhtlicue, nachzuvollziehen, die der preußische Forschungsreisende 1810 als „aztekische Priesterin“ in seinem Buch Vues des cordillères … beschrieben hatte. Der vorliegende Beitrag versucht, die verschiedenen Besitzer und die Umstände nachzuzeichnen, welche die Wanderung dieser emblematischen prähispanischen Statuette von Mexiko-Stadt nach London fast ein halbes Jahrhundert lang begleitet haben.
A few months before his death, A. v. Humboldt attended the celebration in honor of the 127th birthday of George Washington at the US legation in Berlin. A letter to the American Envoy, Joseph A. Wright (1810 – 1867), underlines Humboldt’s admiration for the fi rst president of the United States. At the same time Humboldt asked the diplomat to mail a letter to the German-American Bernard Moses (1832 – 1897) in Clinton, Louisiana, who had named his son Alexander Humboldt Moses (grave on the Hebrew Rest Cemetery #2 in New Orleans, burial plot A, 12, 5). It appears to be possible that the Moses family still owns Humboldt’s letter.
Der deutsche Mineraloge und Bergingenieur August
Schmidt (1802 – 1832) nahm im Jahr 1829 an einer Etappe der „Russisch-Sibirischen Reise“ Alexander von Humboldts teil. Bisher war über Schmidt so wenig bekannt, dass die Forschungsliteratur nicht einmal seinen richtigen Vornamen verwendete. Dieser Artikel präsentiert neue Erkenntnisse über seine Biografie und verfolgt den Weg, der ihn zu einer Anstellung als Bergwerksdirektor in den Ural und zur Teilnahme an Humboldts Reise führte. Humboldt erwartete ebenso wie die anderen an der Reise teilnehmenden Mineralogen, im Ural Diamanten zu finden. Diese Erwartungshaltung war bereits in den Jahren vor der Reise durch einen internationalen Wissensaustausch zu den geologischen Ähnlichkeiten der Kontinente entstanden, an dem Alexander von Humboldt maßgeblich beteiligt war.
Es handelt sich hier um eine Replik auf Frank Holls Artikel „La cooperación inolvidable de Aimé Bonpland y Alexander von Humboldt“, erschienen in der argentinischen Zeitschrift Bonplandia Volumen 29 Nr. 2 (2020). Es wird versucht, die von Holl gemachten schweren Vorwürfe gegenüber Avé-Lallemant, wie z. B. eine „tendenziöse Geschichtsschreibung“ zu praktizieren und Bonpland über Jahrhunderte hinweg schwer geschadet zu haben, nicht nur zu entschärfen, sondern auch in seinem eigenen Artikel als widersprüchlich aufzudecken. Die Ausführungen basieren vor allem auf den 7 Seiten, die Avé-Lallemant Bonpland und seinem Besuch bei demselben auf seiner Estancia Santa Ana 14 Tage vor seinem Tod in seinem zweibändigen Reisewerk „Reise durch Süd-Brasilien“ (1859) widmet, und einem kurzen Nachruf im 2. Band nach dessen Ableben im Jahre 1858.
(Auf) Humboldts Spuren
(2021)
Vor seiner Besteigung des Antisana in Ecuador verbrachte Alexander von Humboldt mit seinem Expeditionsteam die Nacht vom 15. auf den 16. März 1802 in einer Hacienda am Fuße des Vulkangipfels, deren letztes bauliches Zeugnis eine steinerne Hütte darstellt. Bauforscherische Untersuchungen eines internationalen Forscherteams konnten die mehrschichtige Bau- und Reparaturgeschichte dieses Baudenkmals ermitteln und über eine Auswertung von Reiseberichten mehrerer Andenforscher die Nutzungsgeschichte des einzelnen Gebäudes und des gesamten Anwesens klären. Schließlich ergaben sich daraus neue Erkenntnisse zu Humboldts Aufenthalt am Antisana.
Alexander von Humboldt bewertete wiederholt Leibnizens wissenschaftliche Errungenschaften und Projekte. Insbesondere war er an dessen Beiträgen zur Erforschung des Erdmagnetismus, an dessen Schriften über die Erdgeschichte und an dessen Erfi ndung der Differentialrechnung interessiert. Der Aufsatz beschäftigt sich mit diesen drei Themen. Er erklärt deren historischen Hintergrund, bevor er Humboldts Kommentare und Bewertungen darlegt. Zu diesem Zweck werden einige historische Dokumente oder Briefe zum ersten Mal veröffentlicht, vor allem Theodor Wittsteins Brief an Humboldt aus dem Jahre 1851.
Ausgehend von einem Brief Alexander von Humboldts an die Schriftstellerin Therese von Bacheracht(1804 – 1852) wird die Geschichte der Herausgabe der Briefe seines Bruders Wilhelm an Charlotte Diede im Jahr 1847, nach dem Tod beider Korrespondenten, nachgezeichnet. Besonders wird dabei auf die bisher unveröffentlichten „Tagesblätter“ Karl August Varnhagens von Ense zurückgegriffen, aus denen hervorgeht, dass Alexander von Humboldt seine anfangs ablehnende Haltung aufgibt, Varnhagen mit der Prüfung und Korrektur des Manuskripts betraut, und dass Therese von Bacheracht durch Hartnäckigkeit und Charme ihr Ziel erreicht, die nicht unbeträchtlichen Einnahmen aus der Veröffentlichung zugesprochen zu bekommen.
MOOCs have been produced using a variety of instructional design approaches and frameworks. This paper presents experiences from the instructional approach based on the ADDIE model applied to designing and producing MOOCs in the Erasmus+ strategic partnership on Open Badge Ecosystem for Research Data Management (OBERRED). Specifically, this paper describes the case study of the production of the MOOC “Open Badges for Open Science”, delivered on the European MOOC platform EMMA. The key goal of this MOOC is to help learners develop a capacity to use Open Badges in the field of Research Data Management (RDM). To produce the MOOC, the ADDIE model was applied as a generic instructional design model and a systematic approach to the design and development following the five design phases: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation. This paper outlines the MOOC production including methods, templates and tools used in this process including the interactive micro-content created with H5P in form of Open Educational Resources and digital credentials created with Open Badges and issued to MOOC participants upon successful completion of MOOC levels. The paper also outlines the results from qualitative evaluation, which applied the cognitive walkthrough methodology to elicit user requirements. The paper ends with conclusions about pros and cons of using the ADDIE model in MOOC production and formulates recommendations for further work in this area.
Clustering in education is important in identifying groups of objects in order to find linked patterns of correlations in educational datasets. As such, MOOCs provide a rich source of educational datasets which enable a wide selection of options to carry out clustering and an opportunity for cohort analyses. In this experience paper, five research studies on clustering in MOOCs are reviewed, drawing out several reasonings, methods, and students’ clusters that reflect certain kinds of learning behaviours. The collection of the varied clusters shows that each study identifies and defines clusters according to distinctive engagement patterns. Implications and a summary are provided at the end of the paper.
The COVID-19 pandemic emergency has forced a profound reshape of our lives. Our way of working and studying has been disrupted with the result of an acceleration of the shift to the digital world. To properly adapt to this change, we need to outline and implement new urgent strategies and approaches which put learning at the center, supporting workers and students to further develop “future proof” skills. In the last period, universities and educational institutions have demonstrated that they can play an important role in this context, also leveraging on the potential of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) which proved to be an important vehicle of flexibility and adaptation in a general context characterised by several constraints. From March 2020 till now, we have witnessed an exponential growth of MOOCs enrollments numbers, with “traditional” students interested in different topics not necessarily integrated to their curricular studies. To support students and faculty development during the spreading of the pandemic, Politecnico di Milano focused on one main dimension: faculty development for a better integration of digital tools and contents in the e-learning experience. The current discussion focuses on how to improve the integration of MOOCs in the in-presence activities to create meaningful learning and teaching experiences, thereby leveraging blended learning approaches to engage both students and external stakeholders to equip them with future job relevance skills.
In this paper, we take a closer look at the development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) in Norway. We want to contribute to nuancing the image of a sound and sustainable policy for flexible and lifelong learning at national and institutional levels and point to some critical areas of improvement in higher education institutions (HEI). 10 semistructured qualitative interviews were carried out in the autumn 2020 at ten different HE institutions across Norway. The informants were strategically selected among employees involved in MOOC-technology, MOOCproduction and MOOC-support over a period of time stretching from 2010–2020. A main finding is that academics engaged in MOOCs find that their entrepreneurial ideas and results, to a large extent, are overlooked at higher institutional levels, and that progress is frustratingly slow. So far, there seems to be little common understanding of the MOOC-concept and the disruptive and transformative effect that MOOC-technology may have at HEIs. At national levels, digital strategies, funding and digital infrastructure are mainly provided in governmental silos. We suggest that governmental bodies and institutional stake holders pay more attention to entrepreneurial MOOC-initiatives to develop sustainability in flexible and lifelong learning in HEIs. This involves connecting the generous funding of digital projects to the provision of a national portal and platform for Open Access to education. To facilitate sustainable lifelong learning in and across HEIs, more quality control to enhance the legitimacy of MOOC certificates and micro-credentials is also a necessary measure.
In the context of the Fostering Women to STEM MOOCs (FOSTWOM) project, we present here the general ideas of a gender balance Toolkit, i.e. a collection of recommendations and resources for instructional designers, visual designers, and teaching staff to apply while designing and preparing storyboards for MOOCs and their visual components, so that future STEM online courses have a greater chance to be more inclusive and gender-balanced. Overall, The FOSTWOM project intends to use the inclusive potential of Massive Open Online Courses to propose STEM subjects free of stereotyping assumptions on gender abilities. Moreover, the consortium is interested in attracting girls and young women to science and technology careers, through accessible online content, which can include role models’ interviews, relevant real-world situations, and strong conceptual frameworks.
If taking a flipped learning approach, MOOC content can be used for online pre-class instruction. After which students can put the knowledge they gained from the MOOC into practice either synchronously or asynchronously. This study examined one such, asynchronous, course in teacher education. The course ran with 40 students over 13 weeks from February to May 2020. A case study approach was followed using mixed methods to assess the efficacy of the course. Quantitative data was gathered on achievement of learning outcomes, online engagement, and satisfaction. Qualitative data was gathered via student interviews from which a thematic analysis was undertaken. From a combined analysis of the data, three themes emerged as pertinent to course efficacy: quality and quantity of communication and collaboration; suitability of the MOOC; and significance for career development.
In an attempt to pave the way for more extensive Computer Science Education (CSE) coverage in K-12, this research developed and made a preliminary evaluation of a blended-learning Introduction to CS program based on an academic MOOC. Using an academic MOOC that is pedagogically effective and engaging, such a program may provide teachers with disciplinary scaffolds and allow them to focus their attention on enhancing students’ learning experience and nurturing critical 21st-century skills such as self-regulated learning. As we demonstrate, this enabled us to introduce an academic level course to middle-school students. In this research, we developed the principals and initial version of such a program, targeting ninth-graders in science-track classes who learn CS as part of their standard curriculum. We found that the middle-schoolers who participated in the program achieved academic results on par with undergraduate students taking this MOOC for academic credit. Participating students also developed a more accurate perception of the essence of CS as a scientific discipline. The unplanned school closure due to the COVID19 pandemic outbreak challenged the research but underlined the advantages of such a MOOCbased blended learning program above classic pedagogy in times of global or local crises that lead to school closure. While most of the science track classes seem to stop learning CS almost entirely, and the end-of-year MoE exam was discarded, the program’s classes smoothly moved to remote learning mode, and students continued to study at a pace similar to that experienced before the school shut down.
Developing highly skilled researchers is essential to accelerate the economic progress of developing countries such as Cambodia in South East Asia. While there is continuing research investigating Cambodia’s potential to cultivate such a workforce, the circumstances of undergraduate students in public provincial universities do not receive ample attention. This is crucial as numerous multinational corporations are participating via foreign direct investments in special economic zones at the border provinces and need talented human resources in Cambodia as well as in neighboring Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Vietnam. Student’s research capability growth starts with one’s belief in their capacity to use the necessary information tools and their potential to succeed in research. In this research paper, we look at how such beliefs, specifically research self-efficacy and information literacy, can be developed through a short-term intervention that uses MOOCs and assess their long-term effects. Our previous research has shown that short-term training intervention has immediate positive effects on the undergraduate students’ self-efficacies in Cambodian public provincial universities. In this paper, we present the follow-up study results conducted sixteen months after the said short-term training intervention. Results reveal that from follow-up evaluations that while student’s self-efficacies were significantly higher than before the short-term intervention was completed, they were lower than immediately after the intervention. Thus, while perfunctory interventions such as merely introducing the students to MOOCs and other relevant research tools over as little as three weeks can have significant positive effects, efforts must be made to sustain the benefits gained. This implication is essential to developing countries such as Cambodia that need low-cost solutions with immediate positive results in developing human resources to conduct research, particularly in areas far from more developed capital cities.
The goal of this paper is to study the demand factors driving enrollment in massive open online courses. Using course level data from a French MOOC platform, we study the course, teacher and institution related characteristics that influence the enrollment decision of students, in a setting where enrollment is open to all students without administrative barriers. Coverage from social and traditional media done around the course is a key driver. In addition, the language of instruction and the (estimated) amount of work needed to complete the course also have a significant impact. The data also suggests that the presence of same-side externalities is limited. Finally, preferences of national and of international students tend to differ on several dimensions.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the pace of digital transformation, which has forced people to quickly adapt to working and collaborating online. Learning in digital environments has without a doubt gained increased significance during this rather unique time and, therefore, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have more potential to attract a wider target audience. This has also brought about more possibilities for global collaboration among learners as learning is not limited to physical spaces. Despite the wide interest in MOOCs, there is a need for further research on the global collaboration potential they offer. The aim of this paper is to adopt an action research approach to study how a hybrid MOOC design enables learners’ global collaboration. During the years 2019–2020 together with an international consortium called Corship (Corporate Edupreneurship) we jointly designed, created and implemented a hybrid model MOOC, called the “Co-innovation Journey for Startups and Corporates”. It was targeted towards startup entrepreneurs, corporate representatives and higher education students and it was funded by the EU. The MOOC started with 2,438 enrolled learners and the completion rate for the first four weeks was 29.7%. Out of these 208 learners enrolled for the last two weeks, which in turn had a completion rate of 58%. These figures were clearly above the general average for MOOCs. According to our findings, we argue that a hybrid MOOC design may foster global collaboration within a learning community even beyond the course boundaries. The course included four weeks of independent learning, an xMOOC part, and two weeks of collaborative learning, a cMOOC part. The xMOOC part supported learners in creating a shared knowledge base, which enhanced the collaborative learning when entering the cMOOC part of the course.
The MITx MicroMasters Program in Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) based program that aims to impart quantitative and qualitative knowledge to SCM enthusiasts all around the world. The program that started in 2014 with just one course, now offers 5 courses and one final proctored exam, which allows a learner to gain a MicroMasters credential upon completion. While the courses are delivered in the form of pre-recorded videos by the faculty members of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the questions and comments posted by learners in discussion forums are addressed by a group of Community Teaching Assistants (CTAs) who volunteer for this role. The MITx staff carefully selects CTAs for each run of the individual courses as they take on a co-facilitator’s role in the program. This paper highlights the importance of community teaching, discusses the profile of CTAs involved with the program, their recruitment, training, tasks and responsibilities, engagement, and rewarding process. In the end we also share a few recommendations based on the lessons learned in community teaching during the last five years of running more than 45 MOOC courses, that could help other MOOC teams deliver a high-touch experience.
Learning During COVID-19
(2021)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, learning in higher education and beyond shifted en masse to online formats, with the short- and long-term consequences for Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms, learners, and creators still under evaluation. In this paper, we sought to determine whether the COVID-19 pandemic and this shift to online learning led to increased learner engagement and attainment in a single introductory biology MOOC through evaluating enrollment, proportional and individual engagement, and verification and performance data. As this MOOC regularly operates each year, we compared these data collected from two course runs during the pandemic to three pre-pandemic runs. During the first pandemic run, the number and rate of learners enrolling in the course doubled when compared to prior runs, while the second pandemic run indicated a gradual return to pre-pandemic enrollment. Due to higher enrollment, more learners viewed videos, attempted problems, and posted to the discussion forums during the pandemic. Participants engaged with forums in higher proportions in both pandemic runs, but the proportion of participants who viewed videos decreased in the second pandemic run relative to the prior runs. A higher percentage of learners chose to pursue a certificate via the verified track in each pandemic run, though a smaller proportion earned certification in the second pandemic run. During the pandemic, more enrolled learners did not necessarily correlate to greater engagement by all metrics. While verified-track learner performance varied widely during each run, the effects of the pandemic were not uniform for learners, much like in other aspects of life. As such, individual engagement trends in the first pandemic run largely resemble pre-pandemic metrics but with more learners overall, while engagement trends in the second pandemic run are less like pre-pandemic metrics, hinting at learner “fatigue”. This study serves to highlight the life-long learning opportunity that MOOCs offer is even more critical when traditional education modes are disrupted and more people are at home or unemployed. This work indicates that this boom in MOOC participation may not remain at a high level for the longer term in any one course, but overall, the number of MOOCs, programs, and learners continues to grow.
There are a plethora of ways to guide and support people to learn about MOOC (massive open online course) development, from their first interest, sourcing supportive resources, methods and tools to better aid their understanding of the concepts and pedagogical approaches of MOOC design, to becoming a MOOC developer. This contribution highlights tools and methods that are openly available and re-usable under Creative Commons licenses. Our collection builds upon the experiences from three MOOC development and hosting teams with joint experiences of several hundred MOOCs (University of Applied Sciences in Lübeck, Graz University of Technology, University of Glasgow) in three European countries, which are Germany, Austria and the UK. The contribution recommends and shares experiences with short articles and poster for first information sharing a Monster MOOC assignment for beginners, a MOOC canvas for first sketches, the MOOC design kit for details of instructional design and a MOOC for MOOC makers and a MOOC map as introduction into a certain MOOC platform.
Aside from providing instructional materials to the public, developing massive open online courses (MOOCs) can benefit institutions in different ways. Some examples include providing training opportunities for their students aspiring to work in the online learning space, strengthening its brand recognition through courses appealing to enthusiasts, and enabling online linkages with other universities. One such example is the monozukuri MOOC offered by the Tokyo Institute of Technology on edX, which initially presented the Japanese philosophy of making things in the context of a mechanical engineering course. In this paper, we describe the importance of involving a course development team with a diverse background. The monozukuri MOOC and its revision enabled us to showcase an otherwise distinctively Japanese topic (philosophy) as an intersection of various topics of interest to learners with an equally diverse background. The revision resulted in discussing monozukuri in a mechanical engineering lesson and how monozukuri is actively being practiced in the Japanese workplace and academic setting while juxtaposing it to the relatively Western concept of experiential learning. Aside from presenting the course with a broader perspective, the revision had been an exercise for its team members on working in a multicultural environment within a Japanese institution, thus developing their project management and communication skills.
CoFeeMOOC-v.2
(2021)
Providing adequate support to MOOC participants is often a challenging task due to massiveness of the learners’ population and the asynchronous communication among peers and MOOC practitioners. This workshop aims at discussing common learners’ problems reported in the literature and reflect on designing adequate feedback interventions with the use of learning data. Our aim is three-fold: a) to pinpoint MOOC aspects that impact the planning of feedback, b) to explore the use of learning data in designing feedback strategies, and c) to propose design guidelines for developing and delivering scaffolding interventions for personalized feedback in MOOCs. To do so, we will carry out hands-on activities that aim to involve participants in interpreting learning data and using them to design adaptive feedback. This workshop appeals to researchers, practitioners and MOOC stakeholders who aim to providing contextualized scaffolding. We envision that this workshop will provide insights for bridging the gap between pedagogical theory and practice when it comes to feedback interventions in MOOCs.
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offer online courses at low cost for anyone with an internet access. At its early days, the MOOC movement raised the flag of democratizing education, but soon enough, this utopian idea collided with the need to find sustainable business models. Moving from open access to a new financially sustainable certification and monetization policy in December 2015 we aim at this change-point and observe the completion rates before and after this monetary change. In this study we investigate the impact of the change on learners from countries of different development status. Our findings suggest that this change has lowered the completion rates among learners from developing countries, increasing gaps that already existed between global learners from countries of low and high development status. This suggests that more inclusive monetization policies may help MOOCs benefits to spread more equally among global learners.
This paper aims to present the results of a higher education experience promoted by the research centres INTELLECT (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia) and CDM (University of Roma Tre), as part of difference master’s degrees programme of the academic years 2018/2019, 2019/2020, and 2020/2021. Through different online activities, 37 students attended and evaluated a MOOC on museum education content, such promoting their professionals and transverse skills, such as critical thinking, and developing their knowledge relative to OERs, within culture and heritage education contexts. Moreover, results from the online evaluation activities support the implementation of the MOOC in a collaborative way: during the academic years, evaluation data have been used by researcher to make changes to the course modules, thus realizing a more effective online path from and educational point of view.