Learning transfer

Does It Take Place in MOOCs? An Investigation into the Uptake of Functional Programming in Practice

Conference paper (2016)

Authors

G. Chen Web Information Systems -

D.J. Davis Web Information Systems -

C. Hauff Web Information Systems -

G.J.P.M. Houben Web Information Systems -

Research Group

Web Information Systems () (TU Delft)

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Published Date

25-04-2016

Language

English

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Faculty

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Department

Software Technology

Research Group

Web Information Systems

Abstract

The rising number of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) enable people to advance their knowledge and competencies in a wide range of fields. Learning though is only the first step, the transfer of the taught concepts into practice is equally important and often neglected in the investigation of MOOCs. In this paper, we consider the specific case of FP101x (a functional programming MOOC on edX) and the extent to which learners alter their programming behaviour after having taken the course. We are able to link about one third of all FP101x learners to GitHub, the most popular social coding platform to date and contribute a first exploratory analysis of learner behaviour beyond the MOOC platform. A detailed longitudinal analysis of GitHub log traces reveals that (i) more than 8% of engaged learners transfer, and that (ii) most existing transfer learning findings from the classroom setting are indeed applicable in the MOOC setting as well.