Validation of the Questionnaire of Quality Assessment of Online Courses adapted to MOOC

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC) constitute a virtual training modality which is already present at today’s educational scenario, and which reflects a specific conception of e-learning. Universities are integrating this type of training as part of their formative offer or, at least, are debating whether to integrate it or not. In the light of the above, it becomes necessary to gauge what the characteristics of these courses should be so that they can configure a high-quality virtual training format. These are considered to be necessary instruments when it comes to guaranteeing the quality of MOOC from different perspectives, the pedagogical one in this case –since the success and consolidation of this e-learning format will depend thereon. The aim sought with the present study was therefore to validate a questionnaire for the pedagogical evaluation of MOOC through an adaptation of the cuestionario de evaluacion de cursos virtuales [questionnaire for the evaluation of virtual courses] (Arias, 2007). The validity and reliability of the said test was checked using a principal components factor analysis with Varimax rotation. The conclusion drawn is that it would suffice to introduce adaptations on the list of dimensions proposed in this questionnaire that take into account the specificities of MOOC, since the latter cannot be exclusively analyzed from the general perspective of e-learning –as it was prior to MOOC. Thus, the dimensions which serve as the basis for that questionnaire are: 1) quality of communication and multimedia elements in online massive courses; 2) curricular consistency in such courses as well as their degree of adaptation to the user; and 3) quality of their didactic planning.