MOOC & case study

Initial situation

The constitutional law course, compulsory for the first years of the Bachelor’s degree in law, is initially given ex cathedra for one hour, then a second part of the course is given in the form of a work session.

The students are divided into several large groups and the sessions are interactive, but it remains difficult to mobilize strong student participation in such large groups.The teacher was keen to offer students new, more modern and flexible teaching and learning methods. In view of the new ways in which students learn, and the ever-increasing constraints of time management, the teacher wanted to lighten the ex cathedra course with a few sessions in the form of MOOCs available online.

For several reasons, it was important to be able to offer students a variety of teaching methods. The increase in enrolments for the Bachelor of Law course was beginning to raise a logistical problem in terms of available auditorium space. Furthermore, in the course’s initial evaluations, more and more students mentioned the need to adjust their timetables, as they were increasingly having to reconcile their studies with family responsibilities and/or employment.

Out of pedagogical interest and in order to address these issues, the teacher wanted to create a few course sequences in the form of a MOOC and replace the course itself.

In short, when the sequences on certain notions exist, the course is not held and is replaced by the viewing of the created sequences combined with the structuring of the course in a flipped classroom.The introduction of MOOC sequences for the constitutional law course was originally a pilot project supported by the Rectorat.

Project implementation

During the academic year, 6 ex cathedra courses take the form of filmed sequences, edited and then animated in the manner of a MOOC. The student acquires the theoretical elements and the fundamentals of the theme planned for the week, by viewing the sequence.

Students then prepare exercises and readings at home based on practical cases that are then dealt with in a working session in the presence of the teacher and the assistant. The exercises are approached in an interactive way between the teacher and the students.

This flipped classroom format has the advantage of broadening the course offerings in order to accommodate the virtual teaching mode. It offers more availability to students, in that it is possible to (re)view the course ex cathedra at their convenience.

The combination with the face-to-face work session allows the theoretical knowledge acquired through the videos to be deepened through the resolution of practical exercises and the possibility of asking questions to the teacher.

Thoughts and advice

Reactions from students are mixed: the MOOC has a destabilizing effect in the first year, as students have to adapt to a new university climate.

However, the positive effect is that students are more willing to take ownership of the material. Students understand better and more easily by learning at their own pace and testing their knowledge with quizzes.

To prevent students from becoming apprehensive about this new approach, the teacher recommends taking the time to explain the working conditions, the various teaching methods and their organization during the academic year.

It’s important to avoid trying to compress an entire subject in front of a camera. We don’t know how students will react if we don’t have them in front of us. It’s important to calibrate and script the material very carefully, so that there’s a common thread and a pedagogical approach.

Embarking on a MOOC is a challenge, and you mustn’t think it’s an easy solution. On the contrary, it’s a major undertaking that requires a great deal of commitment, but it’s well worth it, because it meets the expectations of the new generation of students. Freedom of organization in learning is highly valued by students.

Student feedback

“Replacing certain courses with MOOCs is very fashionable in the United States, I’m glad that the University of Geneva is among the Universities that are keeping pace with new trends, pioneering and daring projects like this.” “It’s a very good idea that these videos are broadcast on the internet given that now technology is used a lot. It’s a new way of transmitting knowledge. You’re free to watch the lessons whenever you want, you can press stop to take notes, you can review the videos that are there until you’ve mastered the concept. It’s all the more appreciable when you’re working or you don’t speak French.” “The MOOC is double-edged, you have this freedom to follow the course, but the risk is of not being regular and falling behind.” “It allows students who have obligations (professional or family or other) to be able to have the same access to the course as those who physically come to class. Seeing (and not just listening) allows you to pay more attention because several senses are awakened, and to retain better thanks to the fact that you can see the teacher’s gestures and facial expressions”. “From a technical subject, better audiovisual transmission compared to a lecture hall where there can be noise which lowers the quality of listening.” “Very well structured course, both in its ex cathedra teaching and the sessions to watch on Mediaserver. Combined with the other courses, it’s not always easy to keep up with the readings, but they’re still very useful for assimilating the course.” “The structure is very clear and the handouts given in the first week help the teaching. What’s more, the recording of the ex-cathedrals and the work sessions make learning easier because you can listen to a recording several times and write a complete answer and also take good notes.” “The problem with a video is that you tend to want to write everything down and therefore spend far more time than the period devoted to actual lessons.”