How MOOCs can be used as an instrument of scientific research

Claudia Zimmermann

Michael Kopp

Martin Ebner

„Have you ever researched medical information online to diagnose yourself?“

The Dr. Internet Project

Relevance?

Digital era – Health Literacy – „Morbus Google“

Research question?

How does the practice of searching online for medical

information affects the doctor-patient relationship, and what

benefits and risks are associated with this behavior?

Research design?

MOOC & interview study & questionnaire-based survey

Current state?

MOOC completed, data collection finished, data

analysis in progress

Description of the MOOC

Short questionnaire at the beginning

Six medical case studies to be

assessed and diagnosed by the

participants

Special quiz format to gather data on

diagnosing preferences and to

provide feedback

Informative interviews with the

general practitioner who designed the

case studies © Uni Graz / Tzivanopoulos

5

Teaser Dr. Internet MOOC

6

Diagnostic Quiz

7

Diagnostic Quiz (resolved)

8

MOOC Questionnaire

Results (MOOC questionnaire, n=208)

Sociodemographics:

60% female

Average age 38.5 years (range 11-75)

57% university education

Health:

69% content or very content with their health

57% fairly or very health-conscious

Internet:

93% have googled symptoms of diseases before

40% told their physician about google results

32% skipped a medical consultation because of their online search results

10

Results (Diagnostic Quiz)

MOOC users: n = 130-43 Doctors: n = 7 or 19

1

2

3

4

Case 1

MOOC

Doctors

11

1

2

3

4

Case 2

MOOC

Doctors

1

2

3

4

Case 3

MOOC

Doctors

1

2

3

4

Case 4

MOOC

Doctors

1

2

3

4

Case 5

MOOC

Doctors

12

Diagnostic Quiz

1

2

3

4

Case 6

MOOC

Doctors

Results (diagnostic quiz)

Correlation coefficients for the diagnosing

assessments of doctors and MOOC users confirm

a strong correlation (r > .79 in all but one case)

Doctors and MOOC users have a similar

standard deviation (averaged per case), with

MOOC users varying between 0.72-0.88 and

doctors between 0.59-0.94)

LIMITATIONS: sample size, doctors‘ specialty

BENEFITS

Simple and convenient

Innovative way of

presenting materials,

administering tests, etc.

Motivation

Repeated testing

Intervention research

(evaluation and

implementation)

MOOCs as research tools

DRAWBACKS

Recruting bias

Limitations with regard

to research topics

Low completion rate and

declining frequency of

activities

Costs involved

Challenges in research

design and data analysis

Curious? (…and in command of the German language?)

Register at www.imoox.at

Start date (2nd run): May 2nd 2016

Duration: 6 weeks