https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96536 2026-04-03T22:02:38Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96825 HarvardX and MITx: Two Years of Open Online Courses Fall 2012-Summer 2014 Ho, Andrew Dean; Chuang, Isaac; Reich, Justin; Coleman, Cody Austun; Whitehill, Jacob; Northcutt, Curtis George; Williams, Joseph Jay; Hansen, John D.; Lopez, Glenn; Petersen, Rebecca What happens when well-known universities offer online courses, assessments, and certificates of completion for free? Early descriptions of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have emphasized large enrollments, low certification rates, and highly educated registrants. We use data from two years and 68 open online courses offered by Harvard University (via HarvardX) and MIT (via MITx) to broaden the scope of answers to this question. We describe trends over this two-year span, depict participant intent using comprehensive survey instruments, and chart course participation pathways using network analysis. We find that overall participation in our MOOCs remains substantial and that the average growth has been steady. We explore how diverse audiences — including explorers, teachers-as-learners, and residential students — provide opportunities to advance the principles on which HarvardX and MITx were founded: access, research, and residential education. 2015-03-30T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96824 Privacy, Anonymity, and Big Data in the Social Sciences Daries, Jon P.; Reich, Justin; Waldo, Jim; Young, Elise M.; Whittinghill, Jonathan; Ho, Andrew Dean; Seaton, Daniel Thomas; Chuang, Isaac Quality social science research and the privacy of human subjects require trust. 2014-09-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96661 Teacher Enrollment in MITx MOOCs: Are We Educating Educators? Seaton, Daniel Thomas; Coleman, Cody Austun; Daries, Jon P.; Chuang, Isaac Participants in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) come from an incredibly diverse set of backgrounds and act with a wide range of intentions (Christensen 2013, Ho 2014). Interestingly, our own recent surveys of 11 MITx courses on edX in the spring of 2014 show that teachers (versus traditional college students) are a significant fraction of MITx MOOC participants. This suggests many ways to improve and harness MOOCs, including the potential arising from the collective professional experience of participants, opportunities for facilitating educator networks, MOOCs as a venue for expert-novice interactions, and possible added value from enhancing teacher experience through accreditation models and enabling individual teacher re- use of MOOC content. Here, we present data in detail from these teacher enrollment surveys, illuminate teacher participation in discussion forums, and draw lessons for improving the utility of MOOCs for teachers. 2014-10-27T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96660 8.MReV Mechanics ReView MITx on edX Course Report - 2013 Spring Seaton, Daniel Thomas; Reich, Justin; Nesterko, Sergiy O.; Mullaney, Tommy; Waldo, Jim; Ho, Andrew Dean; Chuang, Isaac 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. 2014-01-20T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96659 14.73x The Challenges of Global Poverty MITx on edX Course Report - 2013 Spring Seaton, Daniel Thomas; Reich, Justin; Nesterko, Sergiy O.; Mullaney, Tommy; Waldo, Jim; Ho, Andrew Dean; Chuang, Isaac This report describes 14.73x: The Challenges of Global Poverty, one of the first 11 courses offered by MITx on edX, a platform for delivering massive open online courses (MOOCs). Offered in the Spring of 2013, 14.73x offers students a course for those who are interested in the challenge posed by massive and persistent world poverty, and are hopeful that economists might have something useful to say about this challenge. The 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 14.73x. 2014-01-20T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96658 8.02x Electricity and Magnetism MITx on edX Course Report - 2013 Spring Seaton, Daniel Thomas; Reich, Justin; Nesterko, Sergiy O.; Mullaney, Tommy; Waldo, Jim; Ho, Andrew Dean; Chuang, Isaac This report describes 8.02x: Electricity and Magnetism, one of the first 11 courses offered by MITx on edX, a platform for delivering massive open online courses (MOOCs). Offered in the Spring of 2013, 8.02x covers concepts in electromagnetism, and follows the second course in the MIT on-campus introductory physics sequence. 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 8.02x, including the integration of animations and interactive simulations originally developed for MIT’s Technology Enabled Active Learning (TEAL) classroom. 2014-01-20T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96657 7.00x Introduction to Biology: The Secret of Life MITx on edX Course Report - 2013 Spring Seaton, Daniel Thomas; Reich, Justin; Nesterko, Sergiy O.; Mullaney, Tommy; Waldo, Jim; Ho, Andrew Dean; Chuang, Isaac This report describes 7.00x: Introduction to Biology - The Secret of Life, one of the first 11 courses offered by MITx on edX, a platform for delivering massive open online courses (MOOCs). Offered in the Spring of 2013, the content of 7.00x reflects the topics taught in introductory biology courses at MIT and many biology courses around the world. 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 7.00x, including descriptions of a variety of new interactive problem types aimed at introductory biology. 2014-01-20T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96656 6.002x Circuits and Electronics MITx on edX Course Report - 2013 Spring Seaton, Daniel Thomas; Reich, Justin; Nesterko, Sergiy O.; Mullaney, Tommy; Waldo, Jim; Ho, Andrew Dean; Chuang, Isaac This report describes 6.002x: Circuits and Electronics, one of the first 11 courses offered by MITx on edX, a platform for delivering massive open online courses (MOOCs). In the Spring of 2013, 6.002x was released as an open online course for the third time, with content largely mirroring previous offerings (Seaton et al, MITx Working Paper #4). 6.002x covered a first course within an undergraduate electrical engineering or electrical engineering and computer science curriculum. 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 a general comparison of features across the second iteration (Fall 2012) and current offering of 6.002x. 2014-01-20T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96655 6.00x Introduction to Computer Science and Programming MITx on edX Course Report - 2013 Spring Seaton, Daniel Thomas; Reich, Justin; Nesterko, Sergiy O.; Mullaney, Tommy; Waldo, Jim; Ho, Andrew Dean; Chuang, Isaac This report describes 6.00x: Introduction to Computer Science and Programming, one of the first 11 courses offered by MITx on edX, a platform for delivering massive open online courses (MOOCs). In the Spring of 2013, 6.00x was rereleased as an MITx on edX course,with content largely mirroring the previous offering (Seaton et al, MITx Working Paper #3). 6.00x again covered an introduction to using computation to solve real problems, following the curriculum of a first-year course within the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. 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 a general comparison of features across the original (Fall 2012) and current offerings of 6.00x. 2014-01-20T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96654 3.091x Introduction to Solid-State Chemistry MITx on edX Course Report - 2013 Spring Seaton, Daniel Thomas; Reich, Justin; Nesterko, Sergiy O.; Mullaney, Tommy; Waldo, Jim; Ho, Andrew Dean; Chuang, Isaac This report describes 3.091x: Introduction to Solid State Chemistry, one of the first 11 courses offered by MITx on edX, a platform for delivering massive open online courses (MOOCs). In the Spring of 2013, 3.091x was rereleased as an MITx on edX course, with content largely mirroring the previous offering (Seaton et al, MITx Working Paper #2). 3.091x covered chemical principles explained by examination of the properties of materials, following the curriculum of a first-year course which has been offered at MIT for several decades. 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 a general comparison of features across the original (Fall 2012) and current offering of 3.091x. 2014-01-20T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96653 2.01x Elements of Structures MITx on edX Course Report - 2013 Spring Seaton, Daniel Thomas; Reich, Justin; Nesterko, Sergiy O.; Mullaney, Tommy; Waldo, Jim; Ho, Andrew Dean; Chuang, Isaac This report describes 2.01x: Elements and Structures, one of the first 11 courses offered by MITx on edX, a platform for delivering massive open online courses (MOOCs). Offered in the Spring of 2013, 2.01x covers a first course on the mechanical behavior of deformable structural elements, following the curriculum of an MIT on-campus course in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. 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 2.01x, including the use of Matlab-based code submission problems. 2014-01-20T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96652 6.002x Circuits and Electronics MITx on edX Course Report - 2012 Fall Seaton, Daniel Thomas; Reich, Justin; Nesterko, Sergiy O.; Mullaney, Tommy; Waldo, Jim; Ho, Andrew Dean; Chuang, Isaac This report describes 6.002x: Circuits and Electronics, one of the first 11 courses offered by MITx on edX, a platform for delivering massive open online courses (MOOCs). 6.002x is designed as a first course within an undergraduate electrical engineering or electrical engineering and computer science curriculum. 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 6.002x, including the integration of a circuit simulation for online laboratories. 2014-01-20T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96651 6.00x Introduction to Computer Science and Programming MITx on edX Course Report - 2012 Fall Seaton, Daniel Thomas; Reich, Justin; Nesterko, Sergiy O.; Mullaney, Tommy; Waldo, Jim; Ho, Andrew Dean; Chuang, Isaac This report describes 6.00x: Introduction to Computer Science and Programming, one of the first 11 courses offered by MITx on edX, a platform for delivering massive open online courses (MOOCs). Offered in the Fall of 2012, 6.00x is an introduction to using computation to solve real problems, aiming to instruct students with a variety of backgrounds and interests. 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 6.00x, with particular emphasis on assessment questions involving student submitted Python code. 2014-01-20T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96650 3.091x Introduction to Solid-State Chemistry MITx on edX Course Report - 2012 Fall Seaton, Daniel Thomas; Reich, Justin; Nesterko, Sergiy O.; Mullaney, Tommy; Waldo, Jim; Ho, Andrew Dean; Chuang, Isaac This report describes 3.091x: Introduction to Solid State Chemistry, one of the first 11 courses offered by MITx on edX, a platform for delivering massive open online courses (MOOCs). Offered in the Fall of 2012, 3.091x covers chemical principles explained by examination of the properties of materials, and follows the curriculum of a first-year course which has been offered at MIT for several decades. The 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 3.091x, including its use of web-browser based interactive chemistry simulations and randomized questions. 2014-01-20T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96649 HarvardX and MITx: The First Year of Open Online Courses, Fall 2012-Summer 2013 Ho, Andrew Dean; Reich, Justin; Nesterko, Sergiy O.; Seaton, Daniel Thomas; Mullaney, Tommy; Waldo, Jim; Chuang, Isaac HarvardX and MITx are collaborative institutional efforts between Harvard University and MIT to enhance campus-based education, advance educational research, and increase access to online learning opportunities worldwide. Over the year from the fall of 2012 to the summer of 2013, HarvardX and MITx launched 17 courses on edX, a jointly founded platform for delivering massive open online courses (MOOCs). In that year, 43,196 registrants earned certificates of completion. Another 35,937 registrants explored half or more of course content without certification. An additional 469,702 registrants viewed less than half of the content. And 292,852 registrants never engaged with the online content. In total, there were 841,687 registrations from 597,692 unique users across the first year of HarvardX and MITx courses. This report is a joint effort by institutional units at Harvard and MIT to describe the registrant and course data provided by edX in the context of the diverse efforts and intentions of HarvardX and MITx instructor teams. 2014-01-21T00:00:00Z