Fanatical behind MOOCs, we must ponder what essence is it? Ultimately, MOOCs origin is online learning, which is a form of education. Since it is education, course design is a systematic approach to its success. The study began this question: Whether course design of Chinese MOOCs effectively promote learning? To solve this problem, data analysis is running by the domestic representative 622 courses which contain all information from the following five aspects: learning path, learning objectives, learning assessment, learning activities, and learning. The study found that the use of Chinese MOOCs whole "watch micro-courses + online discussions + test'' learning paths, less emphasis on the design of learning objectives, learning evaluation mostly in the form of a single "test'' to "online discussion'' as the key learning activities and "micro-course'' as the main learning resources. To more effectively promote learning, increase completion rates, research suggests multiple strategies designed learning paths, SMART learning objectives, diversified evaluation methods, scaffold-like learning activities, and effective micro-courses.

Keywords

course design · MOOC research · online discussion