2005 Program Evaluation Findings Report

Abstract: With 1,400 courses now available, MIT is delivering on the promise of MIT OpenCourseWare. We have heard from educators and learners around the world that they are benefiting from the materials offered freely and openly on the MIT OCW site. In order to understand how well MIT OCW is fulfilling its mission -- as well as to establish a thorough and continuous feedback process that guarantees its improvement over time -- we have developed a substantial evaluation program. The evaluation is focused on understanding specifics in three areas of user behavior: Access: Who is accessing MIT OCW, what are their profiles (educator, student, self-learner, other), what are their disciplines (or other interests), and where are they located? Use: How do educators and learners use MIT OCW and is MIT OCW designed appropriately to facilitate that use? To what extent and in what ways are MIT course materials adopted or adapted for teaching purposes? Impact: What effects -- positive or negative, intended or unintended -- are being realized through the use of MIT OCW? The evaluation was undertaken in 2005. Data collection employed an integrated "portfolio approach," as a combination of methods helped to achieve both breadth and depth in the evaluation.

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