Running Head: Critical Analysis of Effectiveness of Integrating MOOCs in

Traditional Classrooms

Critical Analysis of Effectiveness of Integrating MOOCs in

Traditional Classrooms for Undergraduate Students

Rouwaida Mahmoud
California State University, Monterey Bay

IST 520, Learning Theory

Dr. Donald Fisher
February 1, 2016

Running Head: Critical Analysis of Effectiveness of Integrating MOOCs in

Traditional Classrooms

Introduction
The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is a medium used to offer
distant learning classes over the Internet, while allowing thousands of
participants in a single course. The MOOC offers high quality content and
interactive tools for learning. A MOOC is a stand-alone course without credits
given to learners, but it has the potential to provide them with enhanced
interactive learning experienced as compared to standard online course.
Recently, educators, colleges, and universities have been trying to utilize
MOOC in blended format with the traditional classroom setting. In her nonexperimental, descriptive research, Effectiveness of Integrating MOOCs in
Traditional Classroom for Undergraduate Students, Maria Joseph Israel
describes and discusses the findings of five recent experimental researches
in the context of current trends in MOOCs by examining methodologies
utilized in blended MOOCs in a face-to-face environment (Israel 2015). The
author further discusses the preliminary findings related to its effectiveness
of learning outcomes and its impact on students and instructors in blended
MOOCs format (Israel 2015). Israel analyzed the findings of those five
researches on the effectiveness of integrating MOOC into the tradition
course, as she attempts to address the following questions regarding
blending MOOC in the traditional classroom:

Running Head: Critical Analysis of Effectiveness of Integrating MOOCs in

Traditional Classrooms

What are the emerging trends in using MOOCs as stand-alone online

courses?

How are MOOCs integrated in traditional classrooms?

To what degree is embedding MOOCs in conventional classrooms result

in effective learning outcomes?

What opportunities and challenges do blended MOOCs in traditional

classrooms pose for better implementation in similar or different
contexts? (Israel 2015, p. 103)
These questions reveal the authors purpose to form a clear picture on

the emerging consensus on integrating MOOCs in a blended format and

assess its opportunities and challenges (Israel 2015, p 103). The research
questions seem to correlate with the stated purpose of the study. The author
show positive bias in the process of reporting the findings and opportunities
based on the results of the researches reviewed in this study. The author was
a little conservative on how to integrate MOOCs due to the observed
challenges; however, He showed positive bias towards the advantage that
the MOOCs have to offer.

Research Procedures and Results

The researcher approached her hypothesis by conducting a qualitative
review of the following researches Caulfield et al. (2013), Bruff et al. (2013),
Firmin et al. (2014), Griffiths et al. (2014), and Holotescu et al. (2014). All five

Running Head: Critical Analysis of Effectiveness of Integrating MOOCs in

Traditional Classrooms

researches were completed separately while each model incorporated MOOC

into traditional classroom settings differently. The samplings of the five
models vary in term of the number of students which ranged from mere ten
students to several thousands, the numbers of courses ranged from a single
course to seventeen courses, the duration of the experiment from a single
semester to several semesters spread over two academic year period. Each
one of the five models employed a qualitative methodological approach.
The first integration model a research by Caulfield et al. (2013) reports
the findings of Dr. Patti Ordonez-Rozo for integrating the Stanfords
introduction to databases MOOC in her conventional classroom in Spring
2012 for a group of 26 students at the University of Puerto Rico Rio Perdras,
Puerto Rico. She asked students to enroll for Stanfords introduction to
databases MOOC and follow the online materials and complete all
assignments (Israel 2015, p 105). The data analysis revealed great
advantage due to the availability of abundance amount of resources such as
interactive lectures and video lessons on available on MOOC. It is also noted
that the availability of such resources on the MOOC yield more time to the
instructors to manage class time to allow discussion, provide feedback, and
complete class projects.
The second research model for integrating the Stanford Universitys
machine learning MOOC at Vanderbilt University during the Fall 2012
semester by Bruff et al. (2013). In this research, a group of 10 students

Running Head: Critical Analysis of Effectiveness of Integrating MOOCs in

Traditional Classrooms

participated in this course, and they were required to participate in all

activities such as watching video lectures, discussion forums, completing
quizzes, and programming assignments. They had to provide screenshots of
their works and submitted them to the on-campus instructor, allowing to
contribute to their grades in the Vanderbilt course (Israel 2015, p.105).
Although the students were satisfied with an overall rating of 4.17 on a 5point scale (1 = very poor and 5 = excellent), they had concerns regarding
elements of the MOOC integration in class. It was also reported that due to
lack of time, there was some difficulty aligning the MOOC with the face-toface class schedule. Nevertheless, Students identified the machine learning
MOOC was suitable for self-paced learning with features of flexibility,
customizable, and accessible (Israel 2015, p. 106).
The third integration model was the experimental research of
Holotescu et al. (2014) in which a group of 70 students in web programming
at the University of Politehnica Timisoara in Romania were asked to sign up
for a MOOC of their choice, matching the content of an on-campus course
and participate in at least 10% of activities in the web programming MOOC
(Israel 2015, p 106). The study revealed a positive satisfaction of the blended
course was positive. Nevertheless, the students expressed disappointment
for the lack of feedback from the instructors of the MOOCs. Similar to the
other two researched, the authors encouraged students to use MOOCs as

Running Head: Critical Analysis of Effectiveness of Integrating MOOCs in

Traditional Classrooms

additional learning resources in order to be exposed to different learning

materials related to web programming through the MOOCs.
The fourth integration model is a study by Firmin et al., (2014)
regarding the San Jose State University (SJSU) offering three college
preparatory MOOCs on Udacity platform. Retention and pass, and online
support were tested using augmented online learning environment (ALOE)
for a group of 213 students including 98 matriculated students with age
range of 18 to 24 and 115 non-matriculated students with age range of 15 to
86 (Israel 2015, p 106) . The experiment was performed on matriculated
and non-matriculated students, and the success rates were measured in
terms of students efforts in solving problem sets and viewing video lecture
adequately (Israel 2015 p. 106). It was noticed that matriculated students
performed better than non-matriculated students.
The fifth integration model is an extensive two year experiment by
Griffiths et al. (2014) which was conducted in seven university campuses
under University Systems of Maryland (USM). The study included a control
group of 820 students and 778 in experiment group. All from diverse ethnic
backgrounds and income groups and an average age of 20. The weekly
participation time was 126 face-to-face minutes were 126 for control group
and 72 for experiment group. The research statistics showed that student
outcomes were roughly the same or slightly better in hybrid sections. The
statistical data included comparison of cumulative GPAs between a hybrid

Running Head: Critical Analysis of Effectiveness of Integrating MOOCs in

Traditional Classrooms

class and a traditional class, and it also included a comparison of the pass
rate between the control group and the experiment group.
The results of these researches clearly reveal that MOOCs have some
shortcomings as Israel claimed that the researchers affirmed that online
courses alone may not address higher education challenges as they place
high value on personal interaction with faculty (p. 109). The finding of this
research confirms that the effectiveness of integrating MOOCs in traditional
classrooms show some modest positive impacts on learning outcomes, it
does not show significant evidence of negative effects for any subgroups of
students, and it reveals lower levels of student satisfaction in blended
MOOCs in classrooms due to the lack of interaction in the discussion forums
within the MOOC community.

Discussion of Results
The result of this research answered the authors questions through
highlighting significant potential for integrating MOOCs and other interactive
online resources in a traditional classroom setting. The MOOCs are rich in
learning resources that can add value to the students. The students will
advantage from the presence of two facilitators, the classrooms instructor
and the online instructor of MOOC. This blended approach will allow the
instructors to take advantage of the online resources while focusing more on

Running Head: Critical Analysis of Effectiveness of Integrating MOOCs in

Traditional Classrooms

redesigning the class in a way to maximize hands-on practices and studentinstructor interactions in the classroom.
The author also suggested that reviewed studies were limited due to
lack of experiments in integrating MOOCs in traditional classrooms. The
Griffiths et al study suggested that, can add further weight to an emerging
consensus that online technology can be used to deliver hybrid courses with
reduced class time without compromising student outcomes (As cited by
Israel 2015, p. 115). Therefore, further experimental research must be
conducted in large scale to augment more data to form a good consensus on
the success of embedding MOOCs in undergraduate classrooms.

The Conclusion
The reviewed researches revealed that MOOCs which are not designed
for embedding them into traditional classrooms can be challenging in order
to achieve effective learning. The findings in the reviewed blended MOOCs
suggested, Students in blended MOOCs in traditional classrooms performed
almost equal or slightly better than students in only face-to-face class
environment, no significant evidence of negative effects for any subgroups in
the hybrid model, lower levels of student satisfaction, and limited
participation in discussion forums provided by MOOCs (Israel, 2015 p. 115).
However, MOOCs have the potential to offer digital resources materials such

Running Head: Critical Analysis of Effectiveness of Integrating MOOCs in

Traditional Classrooms

as video lectures, quizzes, and assignments; nevertheless, there are some

challenges in synchronizing them with in-class traditional courses.

References
Griffiths, R., Chingos, M., Mulhern, C., & Spies, R. (2014). Interactive online
learning on campus: Testing MOOCs and other platforms in hybrid
formats in the University System of Maryland (ITHAKA S+R Report).
Retrieved from http://www.sr.ithaka.org/sites/default/files/reports/SR_Interactive_Online_Learning_Campus_20140716.pdf

Running Head: Critical Analysis of Effectiveness of Integrating MOOCs in

Traditional Classrooms

Israel, M. J. (2015). Effectiveness of integrating MOOCs in traditional

classrooms for undergraduate students. The International Review of
Research in Open and Distributed Learning. 16(5), 102-118