OUTLINING PARTICIPATION IN THE FIRST MOOC OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE AEGEAN: A CASE STUDY

Twelve years after the advent of MOOCs, the University of the Aegean (Greece) implemented its first MOOC on “Violence and bullying in schools”, in which about 2,000 people showed interest in attending. Eventually, 1309 people started it and 1050 (80.21%) completed it successfully, achieving high performance. The present work, which is part of the doctoral research of the first researcher, outlines the participation of the learners in the program and the obstacles they encountered during it while identifying the reasons for its high completion rate with high performance. The results showed that mainly the quality of the instructional material, the instructional design of the program, and its organization, as well as the timely support provided to learners, contributed significantly to the successful completion of the program achieving high performance. These findings can be considered by future MOOC program designers, in order to design and implement programs that meet the requirements and facilitate the participation of those who attend. Δώδεκα χρόνια μετά την εμφάνιση των MOOCs, το Πανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου υλοποίησε το πρώτο του MOOC με θέμα την Ενδοσχολική βία και τον εκφοβισμό, στο οποίο εκδήλωσαν ενδιαφέρον για να το παρακολουθήσουν περίπου 2000 άτομα. Τελικά, το ξεκίνησαν 1309 άτομα και το ολοκλήρωσαν επιτυχώς 1050 (80,21%), πετυχαίνοντας υψηλές επιδόσεις. Η παρούσα εργασία, που αποτελεί τμήμα της διδακτορικής έρευνας του πρώτου ερευνητή, σκιαγραφεί τη συμμετοχή των εκπαιδευομένων στο πρόγραμμα και τα εμπόδια που αντιμετώπισαν κατά τη διάρκειά του, ενώ εντοπίζει τους λόγους του υψηλού ποσοστού ολοκλήρωσης του με υψηλές επιδόσεις. Τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν ότι κυρίως η ποιότητα του εκπαιδευτικού υλικού, ο εκπαιδευτικός σχεδιασμός του προγράμματος και η οργάνωσή του, καθώς και η έγκαιρη υποστήριξη που παρεχόταν στους εκπαιδευόμενους, συνέβαλαν σημαντικά στην επίτευξη των συγκεκριμένων αποτελεσμάτων. Τα ευρήματα αυτά, μπορούν να ληφθούν υπόψη από τους σχεδιαστές μελλοντικών προγραμμάτων MOOCs, ώστε να σχεδιάζουν και να υλοποιούν προγράμματα που θα ικανοποιούν τις απαιτήσεις και θα διευκολύνουν τη συμμετοχή, όσων τα παρακολουθούν. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0727/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Web Survey’s Completion Rates: Effects of Forced Responses, Question Display Styles, and Subjects’ Attitude

In anticipating a high completion rate for web surveys, researchers must be attentive to the design features, two of which are the forced responses (i.e., 100%-, 50%, or 0%-forced) and the questionnaire item display (i.e., paging or scrolling). Moreover, the respondents’ favorable attitude towards questionnaires is a key factor driving them to complete the questionnaires. However, no studies have examined the effects of these three variables on web survey completion rates. This research thus attempts to fill this gap. Using a quasi-experiment, we obtained 401 responses to six (i.e., 3 levels of forced responses x 2 display styles) comparable online questionnaires with identical contents. The analysis confirmed the statistically significant effects of the forced responses, the item display and the subjects’ attitudes toward questionnaires on completion rates. In addition to extending theoretical insights into the factors leading to a web survey’s completion rates, practical recommendations are suggested based on the findings.

The impact of The Royal College of Surgeons of England research fellowship scheme

Introduction The research fellowship scheme for surgeons in training run by The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) had its 20th anniversary in 2013. A survey was undertaken to assess outcomes of the scheme during those 20 years. Methods Fellowship recipients were invited to complete an online 20-item questionnaire about their fellowship research and research activities since its completion. The questionnaire covered type of research undertaken, higher research degree enrolment, publications resulting from the fellowship research and subsequent research career. Results Of the 502 RCS fellowship recipients, 361 responded (72%). Their research covered a broad array of topics, Almost two-thirds (62%) undertook laboratory-based research and most of the remainder conducted patient-based clinical research. The vast majority (96%) of respondents had enrolled for a higher degree, with a high completion rate: 91% of fellowship recipients in the first 15 years of the scheme obtained their degree. Of the fellowships from the first 15 years of the scheme, between a fifth and a third of recipients subsequently held an academic position. The median number of peer reviewed articles and presentations per recipient was 3 and 6 respectively. Almost two-thirds (60%) of respondents had obtained funding for further research, with over half of these receiving grants from national research funding bodies. Conclusions The RCS research fellowship scheme has helped trainee surgeons to undertake research towards the start of their career. Most trainees used RCS fellowships as part of their funding towards a higher degree and this was regularly achieved, along with a number of peer reviewed publications. A significant proportion of fellowship recipients progressed into academic positions in surgery.

A Validation and Replication Study of the Patient-Generated Measure PSYCHLOPS on an Icelandic Clinical Population

PSYCHLOPS (Psychological Outcome Profiles; Ashworth et al., 2004 ) is a patient-generated outcome measure developed to be a sensitive indicator of change after therapy. It requires the patient to choose which symptoms or problems are most important to measure over the course of therapy. The present study replicates previous findings for the original version and validates the Icelandic version. The psychometric properties of PSYCHLOPS were investigated by comparing it to an established nomothetic outcome measure, CORE-OM. Icelandic versions of both questionnaires were administered to patients attending cognitive behavior group therapy in a mental-health setting in Iceland. PSYCHLOPS was found to be considerably more sensitive to change over therapy than CORE-OM; convergent and concurrent validity was supported, and internal reliabilities were satisfactory. The acceptability of the instrument was demonstrated by the high completion rate. Overall, these findings suggest that the Icelandic version of PSYCHLOPS has good psychometric properties, and the findings compared very favorably to previous findings. It is concluded that PSYCHLOPS should be considered a desirable instrument for evaluating mental-health outcome and a valuable complement to conventional nomothetic outcome measures.

Direct Percutaneous Endoscopic Jejunostomy: High Completion Rates with Selective Use of a Long Drainage Access Needle

Background. Direct percutaneous endoscopic jejunostomy (DPEJ) insertion is a useful technique for artificial nutritional support in selected patients. However, it is technically difficult and most case series report significant procedural failure rates. Methods. We reviewed our case series of DPEJ insertions, done in a tertiary care referral centre from 2002 to 2008. Patients were selected for DPEJ if they required artificial enteric nutritional support but were unsuitable for endoscopic gastrostomy. Our technique includes selective usage of a long drainage access needle for gut luminal puncture, selective fluoroscopic guidance and selective usage of general anaesthesia. Results. Of 40 consecutive patients undergoing attempted DPEJ insertion, 39/40 (97.5%) had a successful procedure. Sixteen cases (40%) required the drainage access needle for completion, nineteen cases (47.5%) were done with fluoroscopy, and five cases (12.5%) were done under general anaesthesia. There were no procedural complications. Conclusions. This technique led to a high completion rate and low complication rate. With appropriate care and expertise, DPEJ insertion is reliable and safe.