Taking first Coursera class!

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by sumtuck, Mar 4, 2013.

Loading...
  1. sumtuck

    sumtuck New Member

    Started my first Coursera class today. I am loving it so far! There are 70,000+ students in the class..WOW! But the forums are already lively with great discussion and I have already watched 3 lectures. I decided on taking a philosophy class called "Know Thyself".

    I recommend checking out their classes if you haven't already.
     
  2. DoeJohn

    DoeJohn New Member

    I've finished my first Coursera class some weeks ago. It's a good initiative, but for me it is a step back compared to other on-line classes I've been taking.

    With 70 000 students also in this course, I found the forums useless. They were impossible to navigate (unless you have hours to spare going through posts), and a lot of postings were made only to gain points. Another issue is the grading. The only requirement to several assignments is to write a minimum 200 word response. As far as I can see, the response is not validated. The only validation is the 200 character limit. If you write 199 words of highly relevant information, you fail. If you write 200 words of totally irrelevant content, you pass. My third complaint is that there is too much information, and it's not structured well enough. Everything is there, but you have to use to much time validating that you have actually gone through what you are supposed to go through.

    So; good initiative, but a little bit more streamlining should occur, and also: limit the student mass. 70 000 students is far to much on a free course simultaneously.
     
  3. AUTiger00

    AUTiger00 New Member

    I'd agree with this. I would think they could divide it down into sections. Everyone could do the course at the same time but work inside a section of a limited number of students. It would certainly make navigating the forums much less time consuming.
     
  4. DoeJohn

    DoeJohn New Member

    Excellent idea!

    ....and if I should be a little more constructive than just complaining, I would also suggest the following:

    1. Have a separate "page" which at all time lists the tasks you have to perform, and which tasks you have performed

    2. Implement a better grading policy. If actual grading of the assignments should mean that you have to reduce the students from 70 000 to 5 000, do so. If not, you can gain the same knowledge by just reading articles on the Internet by yourself. You miss the "certificate", but is there any real value if there is no real grading going on.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 8, 2013

Share This Page