Dive Brief:
- Massive open online course provider Coursera is tackling project-based learning with 12 new courses focusing on applied experiences.
- Students can already enroll in the new courses in business, computer science, and art and music from campus partners that include the Berklee College of Music, Michigan State University, and the University System of Georgia.
- In announcing the courses on its blog, Coursera said students will learn more efficiently by applying new concepts to real-world projects, receiving guidance from instructors and peers along the way, and finishing the course with a completed project to be used and shared.
Dive Insight:
Along with Udacity and edX, Coursera has experimented with new learning formats since MOOCs first rocked the higher education world, if more in concept than in practice, a few years ago. The company’s “specializations” have given career-oriented students a way to learn skills they can prove in the job market with paid-for certificates. These courses feature capstone projects, often designed by partner companies, that completers can incorporate into portfolios for their job searches.
Project-based learning more generally is becoming popular as higher education responds to the research that shows it is a successful learning strategy and to students who want to be as marketable as possible after graduation. MIT professor and dean for graduate education Christine Ortiz announced she is leaving the university to create a new, residential university that will have project-based learning at its center.
