Evaluating Learning in the MOOC about the Study of History

Abstract

People can attend university lectures for free even in distant places by using MOOC (massive open online courses). However, there is not much research that has empirically evaluated what is learned in academic disciplines at such courses. In this study, we evaluated what is learned in the discipline of history by taking a course on historical science. Results showed that the participants acquired more than 80% of the historical knowledge through the course assignments and about 68% of historical thinking through the course assignment. Moreover, we also evaluated historical thinking by comparing the pre-results with the post-results. They showed that there was a significant increase although the effect size was very small. Based on these results, we discussed how to improve methods by adopting blended learning and employing the mechanism of CSCL (Computer Supported Collaborative Learning).