DESIGN THINKING COURSE EXAMPLE IN THE STUDENT INTERACTION IN MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSES

Abstract

The applications of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which are increasingly common today, are developing within the framework of student needs and these contents require different educational approaches in time. The social pattern in the focus of the social constructivist theory, on which applied education is based, differs in distance education compared to face-to-face education. In particular, the need to investigate the forms of student interaction has arisen, with the transfer of social constructivist applied courses, where the interaction of the student with the teacher is important, to the MOOC format, which reduces teacher interaction. This research aimed to explore the ways in which students interact with teachers and students in MOOCs given in the example of Design Thinking (DT) course which is an increasingly common and applied education today. In this context, 15 DT MOOCs given in October 2020 were analyzed and it was concluded that student-student interactions took place in three types of interaction: messaging, forum and assignment, and evaluation methods were listed under two headings as quiz and assignment. All of the examined courses have a forum tool and they have been actively used throughout the course. In the courses, the messaging and assignment interaction tool between students was not preferred much in the course structure, but the potential of these tools for reflections on the basis of applied education was emphasized. As for the assessment method, assignment was used in most of the courses examined. In this context, how the forms of interaction affect the educational structure and educational materials, and the relationship of the online platforms where the courses are given with the learning experience are discussed. The importance of student interaction in the field of distance education is increasing and it has been emphasized that it greatly affects the learning experience. With this study, the interaction between MOOC learning experiences in the focus of TOD was investigated and potential topics for future studies were identified.