I’m a psychology major student, and I took an online psychology course on Coursera before, which is an online learning platform that offers courses from universities, colleges, and organizations. The course included video lectures, readings, quizzes, and discussions. I found the online learning format attractive. I chose this online course because I was watching a TV show called Lie to Me, and I found the psychological analysis in the show very interesting. And the online learning format was the most schedule fitting format, it allowed me to use small pockets of free time to study, instead of needing to follow a fixed class schedule.
My motivation started to shift as the course approached the second half. At the beginning of the course, the lecture videos were interesting, and there were some funny experiments and examples that related to the real world. For example, I found Pavlov’s dog experiment about classical conditioning was engaging. However, as the course went on, I found that it becomes more definition memorizing. And instead of understanding the experiments, it became more like memorizing the different combinations of the experiment’s results. The course became mostly about watching online lectures and writing notes. Some topics were meaningful to me, but the course did not always help me connect them to real-life situations. It felt more like memorizing definitions rather than understanding how psychology can explain real human behaviour.
There were several parts of the course design that made it harder for me to stay motivated. For example, the only interaction with other learners was through the discussion boards. The quizzes also focused mostly on memorizing experimental results and theories. I felt like I was completing requirements rather than actually learning something.
From the perspective of Self-Determination Theory, the course lacked connection with others. As I mentioned, the discussion boards were the only place where learners could interact with each other, but no one was really active there. I would also say that the course did not support my sense of competence very well. When I had questions for the course instructor, it sometimes took about a week before I received a response.
To improve the course design, it could include more real-life case studies. Instead of only introducing theories or definitions, the course could show how these ideas apply to real-world situations. This would help learners connect new concepts to their own experiences. Some group work or peer activities can make learners feel more connected.
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