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teaching political science with a mooc: analysing the supply side and the demand side

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Abstract

Massive open online courses (MOOC) have been considered by some observers as a powerful opportunity to improve distant learning. The Université catholique de Louvain was the first Belgian university to deliver a political science MOOC (Louv3x) in French, entitled ‘Discovering political science’ (Découvrir la science politique). This paper seeks to explore the challenges a pedagogical team faces when transforming a ‘traditional’ political science introductory course into a MOOC. The paper also explores how the use of a MOOC might impact the learning outcome within on-campus and worldwide students.

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Figure 1

Source edX and authors 2014 and 2015, from a sample of 7568 (edition 1), 5661 (edition 2) and 4490 (edition 3) individuals.

Figure 2
Figure 3

Source edX and authors 2014 and 2015, from a sample of 7568 (edition 1), 5661 (edition 2) and 4490 (edition 3) individuals.

Figure 4

Source edX and authors 2014 and 2015, from a sample of 7568 (edition 1), 5661 (edition 2) and 4490 (edition 3) individuals.

Figure 5

Source Authors, 2014 and 2015 – Data expressed as a percentage, from a sample of 1428 individuals (pre-questionnaire) for the 1st edition; from a sample of 1583 individuals (pre-questionnaire) for the 2nd edition and from a sample of 946 individuals (pre-questionnaire) for the third edition; the total is not always equal to 100 because of rounded percentages.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Political Science Europe-Louvain (ISPOLE), UCLouvain, Place Montesquieu 1/L2.08.07, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Pierre Baudewyns, Maximilien Cogels, Sophie Dandache, Ella Hamonic, Vincent Legrand, Min Reuchamps & Nathalie Schiffino-Leclercq

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  1. Pierre Baudewyns
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  2. Maximilien Cogels
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  3. Sophie Dandache
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  4. Ella Hamonic
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  5. Vincent Legrand
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  6. Min Reuchamps
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  7. Nathalie Schiffino-Leclercq
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Correspondence to Pierre Baudewyns.

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Baudewyns, P., Cogels, M., Dandache, S. et al. teaching political science with a mooc: analysing the supply side and the demand side. Eur Polit Sci 17, 276–295 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41304-017-0110-2

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