Dinosaur Ecosystems, a free online science course by the University of Hong Kong

Abstract

Dinosaur Ecosystems is a free online science course (MOOC) by the University of Hong Kong. It introduces learners to how palaeontologists reconstruct the ecosystems that dinosaurs lived in, and complements existing palaeontology MOOCs. Our course is structured round filming trips to a Gobi desert field site, world famous science museums and institutions as well as interviews with international experts. The videos made heavy use of palaeoart, other scientific drawings and animations as well as photos of fossil and living animals and plants. Traditionally, MOOCs have been divided into two main categories. The first is xMOOCs which focus on a more traditional lecture style where the instructor directly transfers knowledge to the student. The second category is cMOOCs which focus more on learning through the connections built between learners. Dinosaur Ecosystems was an experimental hybrid of both MOOC types in order to try and achieve synergies associated with both MOOC types. This is because pedagogical best practice has yet to reach a consensus across the MOOC community. This is also why the course included formal introductory videos as well as casual conversational interviews. Assessments were designed to encourage course completion and to cater for nonspecialist learners. We employed ungraded continuous assessment in knowledge check questions after each video as well as graded weekly summative assessment that measured learning outcomes each week. Interactions between learners on the online discussion forums were emphasised to encourage peer learning. Course staff monitored the forums and used WhatsApp to discuss and report unanswered posts to deliver more thorough and timely replies to learners. With such active discussion forums, our instructional design cycle was frequently reviewed allowing us to deliver more relevant materials to learners through weekly roundup videos that featured answers to FAQs. The course received a 5* rating and attracted 9000+ learners from 115 countries. 63% of learners were from Hong Kong and 11% from North America. Surprisingly, less than 1% of our learners were from mainland China despite the provision of simplified Chinese subtitles. This could be partly related to the lack of Chinese on the rest of the edX platform. The course had similar enrolment from both sexes (female: 45%, male: 55) and a median learner age of 27. 32% of learners had an education level at or below a high school diploma. The statistics show that there is a significant interest in the subject locally and an opportunity to build interest in China.