There could be a test that students can take if they want, and then they get some kind of credit or certificate for doing well on the course. Then, there could be some system for recognizing these credits given for students voluntarily taking the test. Perhaps students could pay a small fee to cover the cost of administering the test. Maybe some board could be established to recognize the tests that are being given and the students who take them and get certificates.

Good morning Gini, 

Thanks for the quick response. I like the ethos in your answer, keep it all open with the test but then at the point of recognition for the credits a small cost is introduced to pay for the administration.

What about the type of tests? MCQs, reflections, commentaries, calculations, test problems? Which form would suit a MOOC best? Or I guess a cluster of these?

Regards Paul.

Hi Paul,

I am guessing that your elearning platform will have functions which allow for quizzes to be embedded as an integral part of the course. These could be implemented in a fun way to gauge a students ongoing progress as well as their final learning outcomes. In addition there is likely to be a tracking facility which would enable you to observe the level of engagement of different modules and help you better understand how the style of delivery affects levels of engagement and learning.

As Gini suggested you may wish to make an award (for a small admin fee) at the conclusion of the course which recognises the level of achievement gained - as opposed to a certificate of participation/completion. (You may be aware that a small number of MOOC's in the US are now credit bearing and this is anticipated to be reflected in the UK over time).

I think the type of test depends on the subject.  The professors could develop the test based on the way they would normally test students in that subject.

Dear Paul, talking about assessment in MOOC I have two things in my mind. First should we look at the learning process or second, at the learning product. I would certainly agree with Gini if we only look at the learning product in which we only assess those participated in MOOC purposely to improve their learning of the content. But if would like to consider the time spent by the students, the degree of difficulties they're facing during learning process and the participation in ongoing discussion, we should also consider to assess their learning process. For instance, we may want to have a system that can calculate the time spent by the student in each learning segment or the degree of communication among the students from all over the world during the discussion or many other things. This is my quick thinking! Best regards.

Good afternoon Jo, Gini & Othman.

Thanks for those great responses.

So what I think is dropping out is that I need to have a measure of engagement, and this could be time spent interacting with the learning resources and interaction with other students. However this will be dependent on the activities provided within the MOOC and the platform provided for student communication. In addition, feedback within the loop is required to modify delivery to adjust for any trends.

Then in parallel or after completion of a section something that investigates levels competency or achievement of outcomes is required. Taking Gini's comment on board this should have fun elements.

Credits for participation and for achievement should ideally be separated.

I think I am fairly ok with the first part of the summary. Future-learn and / or other MOOC platforms have the ability to monitor student engagement. However, I still need some more advice concerning what makes a good quiz for example.

I have lots of experience with MCQ's but what are the differences between a quiz and an MCQ? What about the inclusion of more fun aspects? How can this be achieved remotely?

Looking forward to receiving your comments.

Regards Paul

Dear Paul, I am including a link to a post by Tony Bates in which he points out that  the August edition of the journal, Distance Education incorporates recent research on MOOCs.

This post focuses on his analysis of the six articles in the particular edition (all articles are accessible via the link that he provided). I hope you can use some of this information in your proposal.

http://www.tonybates.ca/2014/08/14/special-edition-on-research-on-moocs-in-the-journal-distance-education/

Dear Paul, I am also more familiar with MCQs than quizzes, but the embedded post may guide one's thoughts in terms of some of the tools that are available. They may, however, not all be suitable for 'remote' use. 

http://www.edudemic.com/45-tools-create-quizzes-polls-classroom/

We are actually working now in a MOOC about creative teaching,  (European research proyect). The goal is to create more creative teachers, with enthousiasm and skills to involve the students in new  learning activities.

You can see the video introduction,

vimeo.com/99474551