eLearning Review: Social Psychology on Coursera
Submitted by: Ramonia Smith
Professor: Ash Patel
Course: HST 860
Date: November 13, 2013
Table of Contents
Title with description of the eLearning ........................................................................................... 3
Objectives for the eLearning ........................................................................................................... 3
Intended audience ........................................................................................................................... 3
What do you think of the eLearning in general terms? ................................................................... 3
Pros/Cons ........................................................................................................................................ 4
What parts of UID and accessibility are not being respected by the eLearning? ........................... 5
What eLearning tools are being used by the product (list and describe each one)? ....................... 6
Choose at least one eLearning tool that is not being used, immerse yourself in to it and discuss
how it would benefit your eLearning (try creating something with it for practice) ....................... 6
How would you make the eLearning better? .................................................................................. 6
Title with description of the eLearning
The title of the online course is Social Psychology. The course is taught by Scott Plous, a
professor at Wesleyan University and offered by Coursera. This is an introductory course to
understanding human behavior: why do we like some people and not others, how do prejudices
develop and how can we persuade others to look at things from a different perspective. The focus
will be on how we think about ourselves and others and how we influence and relate to each
other. During a 6 week period, the course will covered topics such as Social Perceptions and
Misperceptions, Self-Presentation and Persuasion, Obedience and Conformity, Group Behaviour,
Peacemaking and Conflict, and Outrospection and Happiness. These topics is taught through
lectures between 5-15 minutes long, course readings, quizzes comprised of pop-up questions and
snapshot quiz, homework assignments and a final exam to reinforce what students have learned.
Students are graded on 5 assignments worth a total of 50 points and a final exam valued at 50
points. The passing grade is 70 points, where a student will receive a Statement of
Accomplishment or a Statement of Accomplishment with Distinction if you have earned over 90
points. The estimated workload for each week is between 4 to 8 hours.
Objectives for the eLearning
The objectives of this course are:
1. To provide students with psychological insights and information through surprising,
entertaining and intriguing research findings.
2. For students to apply the insights and information gain from research findings to
improve their daily life.
Intended audience
Since this course is being offered online and lectures are not conducted live, anyone who
is interested in the course can enroll. It is an introductory course where the audience need not
have previous knowledge of the subject or any other qualifications. Based on a snapshot of the
class portrait, a majority of individuals who enrolled in the course have not previously taken any
Social Psychology class and they come from over 50 different countries. Apart from English, the
highest language spoken by students in their daily life is Spanish followed by Russian.
What do you think of the eLearning in general terms?
In general terms, eLearning is using technology to making learning attractive thereby
increasing the desirability of participation. When students find learning interesting, fun and
intriguing they will likely join in and participate since they would like to know more about the
learning. The same is to be said for me. This eLearning afforded me the opportunity to learn
something which was of interest to me and the opportunity to grow as an individual and become
more aware. The content provided in this eLearning was relevant in terms of showing students
how each topic can be applied in everyday life whether it was how to be persuasive, reflecting on
your social attitudes and perceptions, and learning how quickly we make social judgments based
on a single photo, video clip or face -to-face meeting. Examples provided were relevant and
current. The learning materials were from a variety of different sources such as books, research
findings and videos. Every partners, authors, and creators of every source was acknowledged and
thanked for their contributions and generosity.
A wide variety of media was used to enhance the learning such as YouTube videos,
animations, text, games, discussion forums, quizzes and other resources. One of the unique
aspects of this eLearning was the opportunity to use the Social Psychology Network, a website
that provides social psychology resources such as research findings and experts in the field. The
usage of media was appropriate because they allowed students to view the materials taught in a
different way. Instead of watching lecture videos, students were able to view videos showing
people applying the topics in their daily life.
Objectives for this eLearning were met. I was able to learn far more than what I initially
thought I would because I was not only able to learn educational materials but also by learning
about other student’s experience on a topic and forming my own conclusions. Students were able
to see their grades on quizzes and assignments that were both machine –graded and peerreviewed. There was a set evaluation in place in terms of the amount of points awarded for each
assignments and quiz, so students were able to see the amount of points they lost if they forgo
submitting an assignment. Help articles, Course Materials errors and technical issues were just
some of the few support system mechanisms available to students. Apart from the facilitator,
there were three assistants who were available to help out with different issues.
Accessibility for both auditory and visual senses were met because not only did all
lecture videos have sound, but captions of different languages such as Russian, Spanish and
Chinese were available. Links were provided to students who wanted to translate captions into
different languages. Students could on occasion use keyboard controls, decrease and increase the
speed of speech and enlarge the lecture to full screen.
Pros/Cons
Pros
1. The course page was very organized. As a student, I was able to see the different tabs
explaining the different components of the course such as: How the course works, Lectures
and Readings, Weekly assignments divided into weeks, Discussion Forums rules and the
different support system mechanisms. The course page was very easy to navigate.
2. As promised in the course objective, evidence of fun and interesting learning was shown in
the every lecture whether though videos or images. Each lecture was a chance for the
facilitator to engage and play with the minds of students, either consciously or
unconsciously.
3. The course site was open 2 weeks early with the lectures for week 1 opened. This enabled me
a chance to get familiar with the course site to know where things were and to know the
materials which would be covered over the duration of the course.
4. While watching a lecture, I had the ability to access previous or next lectures without leaving
the lecture page.
5. Students were given free access to textbooks and other resources contributed by authors and
publishers.
6. If during the lecture, the lecturer mentioned a topic of interest, students had the ability to use
the discuss feature embedded on the lecture page to voice their opinions. By clicked on the
embedded feature, a new tab will be open showing all the different discussions. Students will
not lose their position in the video.
7. A unique aspect of this course was the Snapshot quiz. It is basically taking a picture of what
students think of a topic though a quiz before exposing the lecture materials and assign
readings. At the end of each lecture, students had the ability to see the correct response. This
feature enables me to see my way of thinking, how I perceived and analyze things. In the
end, I was able to develop on perceptions on different topics and statements.
8. Made the lectures interested by not only using images but also interest videos such as the
Human Zoo experiment. This enabled me to see how each concept could be applied to daily
living.
9. The option to join a meeting was available to all users. The idea is for students to find other
students who live in the nearby vicinity and talk about your experience doing the course but
for assistance in completing an assignment.
10. Course video was very compelling; the mind trick involved was intriguing for me to replay it.
11. The assignments required to be completed expanded my understanding on the course subject.
12. Another unique aspect of this course was the chance for a student who did well on the Day of
Compassion assignment to not only get a chance to visit Stanford University but also a
personally meet the Dalai Lama next year.
Cons
1. Since it was my first time doing an online course, I did not feel confident going in so I
would have liked a refresher course on how to be a successful online leaner.
2. Fun course to do, but the expectations to me, especially for a first time online learner,
was overwhelming. Seeing the lectures and readings assigned for each week was a
chance for me to question whether doing the eLearning was practical.
3. Posts in Discussion forum was confusing because they were hard to keep track of.
What parts of UID and accessibility are not being respected by the eLearning?
All parts of UID were respected excluding learning space. As mentioned above, all parts of
accessibility was met. In order to accommodate for hearing and seeing impaired and to eliminate
language barriers, captions was provided, the ability to enlarge the screen, large fonts and also a
glossary page was provided of every term discussed. The platform the elearning is provided on is
accessible because it is an open online course targeting students from all over the world, so
students are able to watch videos anytime and anywhere they are in the world. The eLearning
was flexible in terms of having the ability to access the course site anywhere using any internet
browser with flash enabled. Each lecture was consistent in informing the student of introducing
the agenda and using different media to present the learning materials. Since this was an
introductory course, the eLearning was clear enough so everyone could understand even if
English was not their first language. Students had the ability to change their video player.
Different mechanisms were provided to students if they were in need of assistance. Learning
space was not met because it was the same background for all lectures. I would have a like of
change in scenery. Items displayed in the background may cause students to be easily distracted;
one could get lost in the mystical painting in the background.
What eLearning tools are being used by the product (list and describe each one)?
There are two unofficial apps available to students/users using android operating systems:
Coursera Companion and Coursera on the Go. These apps allow the user to view courses to
which he/she is enrolled in. Users are able to stream video lectures with captions, download
lecture videos, do in-video quizzes to watch them offline later and view and download course
materials, lecture slides and quizzes to name a few. Users are also able to view full course
catalog with full text search, enroll in a course and the option to leave the course.
Choose at least one eLearning tool that is not being used, immerse yourself in to it and
discuss how it would benefit your eLearning (try creating something with it for practice)
A tool that is being used but not enough is the “Join a Meetup” tool. This website allows for
students to join communities within their city and meet up at schedule places. For example any
Coursera student who is interested in meeting up with other students in the same course can join
a community whether it is in Toronto, Hamilton, Scarborough or Markham and meet up an
discuss the course or get help in completing assignments. I think this is a great opportunity for
students to come together and learn from others.
As mentioned above, there are two official apps available for students using android devices.
Coursera could developed their own app and offer it to students free of cost. This app would be
available to students using different devices using both android and IOS. This would probably
increase the number of students registering for courses, if they knew they can watch lecture
videos anywhere they go. The app could be structured similar to the website, where students
have the ability to search courses based on different languages or on subject categories. There
could also be the option where students are able to see courses which will be starting soon.
How would you make the eLearning better?
There is not a lot to be said in making the course better. But, I would like to change the structure
of the discussion forum, so maybe instead of seeing all the responses from other students for a
specify reply to a thread, I can minimize them. Offer the option of watching an introductory
lecture video for first time online learners.