A Preliminary Assessment of SUNY Empire State College’s Career Brand Management MOOC Specialization on Coursera, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018

Abstract

Career Brand Management specialization is a sequence of four MOOCs (massive open online courses) developed by the faculty and professionals from SUNY Empire State College in response to Coursera’s RFP in Fall 2015. The specialization is designed as an advanced career self-management training for working professionals. It is informed by theories of adult learning, career self-management, self-directed learning, and is based on the successful implementation of “Self-Management and Self-Marketing” course for adult business students at SUNY Empire State College. The development of the specialization was paid by a $XXX,000 loan from Coursera that was fully recouped within the first three years after the launch in January-May 2016. The total enrollment of learners in this period surpassed 70,000. This report provides a descriptive overview of student characteristics and an assessment of student experiences based on course entry and exit surveys. We focus on the outcomes of the three core courses excluding the final project because of a small sample size, fewer than 10 respondents completed exit survey for the final project. We analyze indicators of effectiveness of students’ self-reported learning and satisfaction, examine strengths and weaknesses of the course components, and identify potential areas for improvement in terms of student learning and retention.

Keywords: Coursera, MOOC, Career, Assessment