Learning Design Decisions in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) Applied to Higher Education in Civil-Engineering Topics

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reflect the relationship among social, economic, and environmental aspects of society. Massive online open courses (MOOCs) represent an opportunity to promote lifelong learning (SDG 4), complementing university education or providing knowledge to society free and openly. The objective of this work is to analyze experiences in one MOOC about wastewater treatment applied to higher education in civil engineering (SDG 6). The proposed educational methodology and the achieved participation results are studied. The MOOC had three editions and was hosted on the Miríadax platform. Data about sociodemographic characteristics, initial motivation, and satisfaction level were collected from questionnaires. The results highlighted the importance of design decisions to obtain a high completion rate: defining a target audience, without prejudice to the course’s open character, where the prior knowledge of students is crucial. The teaching methodology is based on autonomous and progressive learning, with short and direct master classes, social support, with the motivation of students to continue their training with opening complementary topics in the forums, following up on their doubts, and their combination with social networks.