Popular MITx philosophy MOOC introduces instructor grading | MIT News

Photo: Maria Cruz Lopez

"If one of the core philosophies of online learning is to democratize education, then a new verified certificate option for a philosophy course on MITx on edX — the massive open online courses (MOOCs) offered by the Institute — brings the concept full circle." summarizes Maria Cruz Lopez, Office of Digital Learning.

In an MITx Philosophy MOOC, online learners can have their work graded and commented upon by professional philosophers.

Starting Aug. 29, Introduction to Philosophy: God, Knowledge and Consciousness will enable students to obtain a verified ID certificate and have their work graded and commented upon by professional philosophers. Learners from any background, anywhere in the world, can pursue the certificate option to add credibility and value to the accomplishment of completing the course.

“This is a big deal — the first MITx humanities course to offer students the chance to write a paper and have it carefully reviewed by instructors,” says Caspar Hare, who will be running the popular MOOC for the third time. “Listening to lectures and reading books is great, but philosophy is all about taking complex ideas and organizing them in a simple way. You learn by writing, specifically writing to someone.”

By writing philosophy papers and interacting with instructors online, students develop the critical reasoning skills necessary for success in any field or for an advanced degree. In fact, philosophy majors consistently outperform all other majors on the GRE, coming out on top in two of the three components of the grad school exam — Analytical Writing and Verbal Reasoning — while also excelling in Quantitative Reasoning. Philosophy majors also tend to earn more, with mid-career salaries in the 90th percentile when comparing all majors, and way ahead of all other humanities.
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Source: MIT News