The Impact of Open Source

 “The process of systematic planning for instruction is the outcome of many years of research. An analysis of the application of this process indicates that when instruction is designed within a system, learning occurs.  The instructional design development process must be based on the unique characteristics and needs of students meshed with the teaching style of the instructor and the course goals and content  (Simonson et al, 2012).”

In analyzing a free, open source course called Gamification developed by the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business and offered on Coursera, it is important to analyze the learners, the content, the teaching strategies and media, and the learning environment to determine if the course was pre-planned and well executed.  As this is a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), we can only analyze this course and these findings cannot be extended to other Coursera courses as they are all designed independently. 

The Learners

Simonson et al say that knowledge of general learner characteristics can inform the instructor of the nature of student at a distance. This course audience would be primarily higher education students looking to add knowledge; adult learners looking to advance their knowledge and understanding of the current trend for gamification in business and learning; and/or entrepreneurs looking to add value to their business or craft.  Simonson et al also say that it is important for an instructor to know the number of students in a class as learning about the learners yields a more productive learning environment.  

As this is a MOOC course, there are thousands of learners from many different countries around the world.  With this number of learners (62,373 learners enrolled in the last offering) it would be difficult if not impossible for the instructor to have any personal interaction with the learners or even get a general sense beyond general class multiple choice question polling.  With this many learners involved in one class, it would also prove nigh impossible for an instructor to “determine the student’s general knowledge and ability (Simonson et al, 2012).”  The initial surveys did supply demographic information the average age of learners being 33 years with the majority being post education.  Only 25% identified as themselves as students.

Instructional context is addressed in this course as the schedule runs within a certain date range with specific dates for completion of assignments.  There are weekly assignments and scheduled assessments throughout the course.  The deadlines are listed in the course syllabus.

The Content

“It is essential to examine the nature of the content, as well as the sequence of information (Simonson et al, 2012).”   With this statement from Simonson in mind, this course seems to meet the content pre-planning criteria as it is apparent that concepts, subject knowledge and specific skills needed to become well versed in the subject of gamification has been thoroughly thought out.  Learners experiencing this course are getting a course well developed in terms of content and “the entire learning experience will lead to the desired outcomes” as the content was developed with general goals at the beginning followed by more specific goals as outlined in the course syllabus (Simonson et al, 2012).   The material appears to be presented in a sequenced and logical fashion for the prospective global learners and the syllabus gives a good overview of the logics of the course structure.  “The course is divided into 12 units, which are in turn divided into short video lecture segments. Think of each unit as one class session in an in-person course: there are two units per week, each of which includes 45-60 minutes of material. Lecture segments are released at the beginning of each week. There are also quizzes, written assignments, and a final exam with specific due dates. These are designed not only to test your mastery of the concepts, but to contribute to the learning process (Werbach, K. 2013).”

Teaching Strategies and Media

As stated in the syllabus, the course is presented through short video lectures.  Prior to the course start, the learners were surveyed to determine commonalities in leaner characteristics, prior knowledge, and interest in taking the course.  Interspersed throughout the course are learner feedback surveys designed to glean “survey data we collect [to] help us better understand student experiences in the course, to improve this MOOC (and others) in the future (Werbach, K., 2013).” As Simonson says, “evaluating these responses, the instructor can gain an understanding of how the learners perceived the class experience (Simonson et al, 2012).”

Werbach also took “time to develop good visual media to enhance the quality of the learning experience(Simonson et al, 2012).” Learner engagement was further enhanced by creating a mystery game that played out over the course of the videos as an example of the use of gamification in learning.  It is also apparent through the videos as well as announcements and the syllabus that the instructor is a facilitator of learning who models a student-centered approach to learning.  The student in this course is the central figure throughout the course.  

The Learning Environment

This course is asynchronous allowing students to access the course at different times which as it is global (participants were from at least 149 countries, with the largest contingents being 28% from the United States and 6% each from Brazil, India, and Spain) is of great value.  The instructor in this course seems to have taken into account that the layout of the course materials is intuitively designed which is important for the variety of learners who are accessing it.   As it is an asynchronous course, it is also important that “the materials were designed to be prepared to know what to do with the materials and complete tasks without instructor intervention (Simonson et al, 2013).” 

The syllabus does a good job of defining vocabulary and provides dates and guidelines for completing assignments.  As Simonson suggests, Werbach planned two shorter periods of instruction per week for the instruction and assignments.  The materials presented in this course also provide guidelines to ensure students have a successful learning experience if they participate. 

The course designer implements course activities that maximize active learning for the students.  In addition to the mystery game modeling the concept of gamification, submit written assignments. Students are also asked to provide peer assessments of written assignments and invited to attend synchronous video office hours which are recorded and posted for students unable to attend.  Students are also encouraged to join discussion forums, post links to suggested readings and videos or participate by assisting to organize material on the course wiki. Students are also encouraged to post to social media through blogs, tweets and other platforms.  There is also a Meetup link to find study groups.  All of this is voluntary so would be very student-centered for independent learners.

Finally, in designing a final student survey in combination with the other surveys pre- and mid-course, a critical assessment of the events of the course could be undertaken.  This will lead to an analysis of the success of the learning outcomes for reflection by the instructor to determine what needs to be changed, removed or added to make the course better in terms of meeting learning outcome goals and “ensure a more successful educational experience for students (Simonson et al, 2012).”

Course Name:  Gamification

Course Offering:  Coursera

Course Instructor:  Kevin Werbach (@kwerb)
Associate Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Werbach, K. (2013). Gamification. [ONLINE] Available at: https://class.coursera.org/gamification-002/class/index. [Last Accessed 6/9/2013].