8.MReV Mechanics ReView MITx on edX Course Report - 2013 Spring

Abstract

This report describes 8.MReV: Mechanics ReView, one of the first 11 courses offered by MITx on edX, a platform for delivering massive open online courses (MOOCs). Offered in the Summer of 2013, 8.MReV offers a second look at introductory Newtonian Mechanics, incorporating research pedagogy developed by the RELATE education group at MIT. This report describes the course structure, in terms of the number of basic e-text, auto-graded problems, and video components. Following a methodology established for analysis of the first 17 HarvardX and MITx courses (Ho et al, HarvardX and MITx: The first year of open online courses), course registrants are described in terms of viewed, explored, and certified sub-populations, together with demographics. The diversity of student activity in the course, and the persistence of student interactions with the courseware, are addressed. The report concludes with descriptions of special features in 8.MReV, including innovative pedagogy and pre-post testing.

Keywords: MOOC, Massive Open Online Course, MITx, HarvardX, edX, online learning, distance learning, higher education