Presented at the South African Society for Engineering Education (SASEE) Conference, Cape Town, 2017. https://www.sasee.org.za/wp-content/uploads/Proceedings-of-the-4th-Biennial-SASEE-Conference-2017.pdf http://www.ched.uct.ac.za/perspectives-south-african-mooc-takers-understanding-transitions-and-out-learning-and-work

1. MOOCs and Transitions:
Pathways in and out of learning and work
Andrew Deacon, Jeff Jawitz, Janet Small & Sukaina Walji
Center for Innovation in Learning and Teaching
University of Cape Town
14 June 2017

2. Outline
• MOOCs and transitions
• MOOCs in a course landscape
• Goals of UCT MOOCs Project
• Course landscape in higher education
• Transitions of MOOC takers
• Case: Climate Change Mitigation
• Learner stories

3. Massive
• Scales so
very large
numbers
can join
Open
• Open for
anyone to
enrol,
often free
Online
• Everything
is online
Course
• Organised
as a
course
M O O C

4. MOOCs occupy “in between” spaces
‘third spaces’ which are neither formal nor informal but draw on both the skills of
formal learning and the informal identities that have a kind of authenticity
(Farrow, 2014)
Traditional formal
courses
MOOCs
Informal learning
from books, web, …
High engagement,
but only reaching
small numbers
Lower engagement, but
reaching large numbers
https://philosopher1978.wordpress.com/2014/09/02/liveblog-catherine-cronin-keynote-at-altc-altc2014/

5. Transitions in and out of learning and work
• Transitions can occur when people move
• between work and learning,
• between different disciplines of knowledge and
• between different levels of learning
• Related terms for transition
• life-course changes, turning points, branching points, …
• Transition tends to be conceived in three ways (Gale & Parker, 2014)
• as induction, development and becoming

6. MOOCs in a course landscape
Vision

7. Goals of UCT’s MOOC project
• To showcase the teaching and research excellence of UCT
• To give exposure to African content and knowledge
• To profile key postgraduate programmes and research areas aligned
with the university’s strategic goals
• To support students in academic transitions
• To make UCT’s knowledge resources globally accessible
• To develop models and expertise in online learning that could be
deployed in mainstream degree programmes

8. e.g. most degree programmes
e.g. flip class
Workplace
learning
opportunities
Workplace
learning
opportunities
Workplace
learning
opportunities

9. Showcase teaching and
introduce topics with high-
profile ‘rockstar’
presenters
Introduce fields and
support students in
undergraduate study
Develop skills and
introduce topics for
postgraduate study.
Showcase research and
special interest topics
of interest to
postgraduate level
Showcase professional careers
for continuing education and
qualifications
Inwardly focused
gateway courses
Outwardly focused
showcase courses
Within the Higher
Education Landscape

10. Becoming a
changemaker:
Introduction to Social
Innovation
Climate Change
Mitigation in
Developing Countries
Julia Scientific
Programming
Understanding
Clinical Research:
Behind the Statistics
Education for All:
Disability, Diversity
and Inclusion
Medicine and the
Arts: Humanising
Healthcare
What is a Mind?
Extinctions: Past
and Present

11. Transitions of MOOC takers
Research

13. MAPS project countries
MAPS: Mitigation Action Plans and Scenarios
Climate Change Mitigation in Developing Countries
The course considers how one might lift societies out of poverty while also mitigating
greenhouse gas emissions. It explores the inherent complexity of developing country
governments wanting to grow their economies in a climate friendly way.

14. 20%
11%
19%
2%
28%
20%
Climate Change Mitigation
in Developing Countries
Overall
Coursera has
5% African
learners

15. Climate Change Mitigation
• Harald Winkler (Energy Research Centre)
• Coursera, launched Dec 2015
• 6 weeks
• Over 12 900 learners, 6 800 active learners
• 460 course completers
• 19% Africa (5.7% South African),
11% South America

16. Potential data points
Joiners
Completers
participation data
survey
Start of course
interviews
survey
End of course
Intending to transition
Describing transitions

17. Start: Reasons for doing MOOC (n=258)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
I'm taking this course to
do my current job better
I'm taking this course to
improve my career
prospects
I'm taking this course to
support current or future
studies
I am taking this course to
support a university
application
Agree Neutral Disagree

18. …
End: Sharing certificates

19. End: Your favourite part of the course? (n=84)
“The entire course as I knew about climate change but not about the challenges of climate
change in developing countries”
“My favorite part is the realistic approach, based on MAPS which is a real case working
with all sectors and policy-makers, apart from being a beautiful project with lots of brilliant
minds”
“Hearing about how work you did influenced policy through 'back channels' but didn't end
up with much credit”
“Learning about the systematic approach to solving "wicked problems" I liked the
opportunity to peer review other student's work and gain a perspective much different
from my US-centric perspective”
“Reviewing other colleagues’ submissions as it gives a glimpse into so many different
points of view”

21. Learner stories
• “I was preparing a strategic environmental assessment at the time of
undertaking the course and found there were lessons that could be drawn
from [it].”
• “I have been part of the climate change policy setting process in my
country Rwanda in a senior position in the Ministry of Natural Resources ....
I took this course in order to get insights on how mitigation is being
handled in developing countries.”
• “It has help me learn how to engage with other colleagues outside my field
of work.”
• “Being a Physics student [in Nepal] I always have a deeper insight to the
interrelationship between physics and environment so I have specialized in
Atmospheric Physics in the final year of my master's study. This course has
added another brick in my educational career.”
‘lessons’ and
‘insights’ applied to
work immediately
‘lessons’ and
‘insights’ applied to
work immediately
‘how to engage’ so as
to understand the
work of others
‘interrelationships’ supporting
transitions into interdisciplinary
fields

22. Conclusions
• Why MOOCs? – offer flexibility, expanding the course landscape
• MOOCs run largely automatously & scale well
• MOOCs showcase teaching and learning
• In absolute numbers, reaches a wide audience
• Why transitions? – offer insights about changes people make in life
• Knowing about needs of people in transitions is expected
• For practical reasons. consider only those who found value
• Those in transition also have questions not easily answered

23. Future research
• MOOC-takers Research Project
• Asks how do MOOCs support transitioning in and out of learning and work
• Goal is to inform work developing online courses
• Funding to interview MOOC takers
• Project activities
• For all UCT MOOCs
• Focusing on people from the region (South Africa and Africa)
• Survey MOOC completers from Africa
• Invite people to be interviewed