what is peer graded assignment in coursera

Center for Teaching

Getting to know coursera: peer assessments.

Posted by Rhett Mcdaniel on Monday, January 7, 2013 in Commentary .

by Katie McEwen, graduate assistant

The answer, for Coursera at least, is other students.  And while peer assessments have garnered a fair bit of attention , they’ve also quickly enough underscored some of the more pervasive, and truly difficult, issues faced by the Coursera model .  Plagiarism is perhaps only the most obvious one.  Peer assessments—the ways they work, they ways they don’t—raise serious issues about creating and cultivating community online; navigating questions of authority  and language proficiency; and about grading as a reflective practice.

Laura Gibbs, an experienced teacher of online courses, provides a thoughtful response to her own experience with peer feedback in the recent “Fantasy and Science Fiction” class on her blog Coursera Fantasy .  There, she also addresses some of deeply problematic aspects of grading in Coursera.

Unlike automatically graded quizzes and programming assignments, peer assessments require a good-faith effort on the part of each student not only to submit original work in the proper format and the proper language (still largely English), but also to then anonymously evaluate the work of others attentively and constructively.  So for each assignment submitted in a course, students are generally then asked to evaluate the work of up to 4 or 5 peers.  That’s not a negligible amount of work or time, especially in those courses with weekly or every-other-week peer-assessed assignments.

For example, students are asked to write short essays in “A History of the World since 1300;” or work through a series of project briefs in “Human-Computer Interaction;” participate in assignments and design challenges in “Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society;” or formulate final projects for “Introduction to Sustainability.”  David Owens, a professor at Vanderbilt’s Graduate School of Management, will try out group projects in his upcoming Coursera course on “Leading Strategic Innovation in Organizations.”

As we can see, peer assessment is a part of the course requirements for a wide spectrum Coursera courses across disciplines, not just those dedicated to literature.  In fact, of the 50 Coursera courses opened between June to October 2012, 14 (or 28%) required at least one peer-graded assessment.  And four of those 14 courses required only peer-graded assessments, with some unexpected titles in the mix: “Health Policy and the Affordable Care Act,” “Fantasy and Science Fiction,” “A History of the World since 1300,” and “Computer Architecture.”

Given this, it’s important to keep in mind that feedback on Coursera is anonymous.  That means you don’t know whose work you’re reviewing or who’s reviewed your work.  This makes any actual discussion of the feedback essentially impossible.  Want to follow up on a comment?  Or continue the discussion?  Not easy in a class of 50,000.  “Modern and Contemporary American Poetry” gets around this structural problem by asking students to post their completed and graded essays in the forum (in addition to the peer-assessment system) for more feedback and more engaging discussion.

But already, this question of anonymity in Coursera—which protects privacy while making it impossible to ask questions, or engage in a direct conversation, about the feedback—points to larger issues of how privacy and pedagogy intersect online.  How do we create sustainable online learning communities in Coursera if students are not accountable to their peers or for their feedback?

And when are students supposed to learn how to grade?

It generally seems that the piece most often missing in peer assessments is not good-faith effort on the part of most students to submit and evaluate work.  Rather, it’s that many (or even most) students simply do not have experience in evaluating the work of others.  And how could they?  While some courses offer peer-assessment training, this doesn’t seem to have yet bridged the skill gap.  So what are students really getting from this peer feedback?  Is it helping them to write better essays or to create more complex projects?

Part of the problem is, of course, that grading is difficult no matter the medium: online or face-to-face, seminar or lecture.  Neither is it a problem limited to students: many instructors likewise lack formal training in evaluating student work.

And, here, we run up against another unspoken assumption at work in Coursera: that grading is a relatively transparent, relatively straightforward process that can be “learned” quickly enough and well enough to be effective online.  To guide students, Coursera encourages instructors to develop detailed rubrics for evaluation.  Coursera also presents some limited data suggesting that their rubrics have improved over time.  This data , or rather the conclusions drawn from it, is far from conclusive.  It could be that it is the students’ ability to grade effectively improves over time, or even that only the more dedicated and skilled students continue to participate in peer grading.

Certainly, I don’t doubt the value of peer grading.  Nor do I doubt the ability of some, perhaps even many, Coursera students to grade effectively and insightfully.  I do, however, doubt that this is what actually happens in Coursera.  And initial anecdotal evidence — drawn from my own research into common practices in Coursera, as well as the experiences of others (see here , here , here , and the comments here ) — would seem to indicate that it is not.

Because as we know, grading is often one of the most difficult aspects of teaching.  It is a reflective practice, like any other we undertake in the classroom, changing over time, and requiring dedication, energy, and engagement.  Ideally, it would also include a commitment to helping others learn and improve.  How do we work to cultivate this kind of community culture online?  And what might we need to do differently to facilitate community online?

The real sticking point, for me, isn’t simply the issue of students grading effectively or ineffectively online.  Rather, it’s that Coursera doesn’t quite acknowledge that there is an implicit pedagogy or ideology at work on the platform.  Which suggests that grading is work to be outsourced, that the division of academic labor operating in most large university programs in the US, like those where the Coursera founders work—in which professors teach, graduate students (or machines) grade—is one worthy of replication online.

By thus separating expertise and grading, Coursera would seem to rely on an impoverished conception of grading, which privileges international perspectives over expert critique.  The model of peer assessment supported by Coursera folds together two assumptions: that peers can approximate or replace the kinds of substantive, constructive expert feedback critical to deeper understanding and that a grade is necessary to learn, full stop.  Even when credit is not granted .

So although there is no shortage of innovative projects assigned in Coursera courses, which ask students to apply and expand their knowledge in exciting, creative, and challenging ways, there is still a lack of sustained conversation around what grading, or peer assessment, means in this online environment.

Next time, we’ll continue our discussion to take a look at one outcome of grading in Coursera: certification.

Image: “ Score Cards ,” Marcus Hodges, Flickr (CC)

Tags: Coursera

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The Problems with Peer Grading on Coursera

November 27, 2023

We are witnessing "Plagiarism at Scale"

If you have enrolled in a MOOC on Coursera , chances are you’ve submitted a peer-graded assignment. Peer-graded assignments - unlike auto-graded assignments - rely on the feedback of other students. On paper, this makes sense: several critics pointed out the limitations of auto-graded assignments. And, while, auto-graded assignments might work for certain coding exercises, it most certainly does not work well for descriptive/creative/exploratory projects. In peer-graded assignments, you receive descriptive feedback from your fellow studymates. And, unlike auto-graded assignments, peer-graded assignments are not binary: students understand that certain answers can vary, and the answer isn’t always a 1 or 0. Coursera is one of the largest MOOC platforms today, helping millions of students worldwide. It’s also an experiment in progress for students and educators, who are witnessing online learning at scale. But, while creating and sharing content with millions of learners is achievable, Assessment, Feedback, and Communication have still not been achieved at scale. In this post, I’d to highlight some of the challenges with peer-reviewed assignments and suggest a few ways we can help improve them. 

The Problems

Problem 1: plagiarism/cheating.

On Coursera , just like in real educational institutions, plagiarism is quite prevalent. You don’t even need to copy answers from papers or textbooks. Just make a quick search on Google or YouTube, and you will find something like this:

Unfortunately, we are witnessing “Plagiarism at Scale”. Of course, this is not the MOOC platform’s intention, but ours. A few keywords, often taken from the assignment prompt itself, are usually all that’s needed to find solutions online. Some popular courses even have complete walkthroughs on YouTube. While providers usually ask students to uphold an Honor Code, sometimes checking a box before submitting an assignment, doesn’t seem to do much to deter motivated cheaters.

Problem 2: Delays

Let’s say you are an honest student. You enroll in a MOOC, study the material, and submit your work on time. In order to pass an assignment (on Coursera), your work needs to be graded by at least 3 students. Plus, you need to grade the work of 3 other students too. Several students have reported a delay in getting their assignments graded - thus, the delay in completing the MOOC. Delays occur when no one is available to review your assignment. Some course forums are full of pleas to “Please assess my assignment”. In fact, requesting reviews on the forum is one of Coursera’s own recommendations, but not a very useful one considering many course forums are deserted. This problem is worsened when students enroll in a specialization and pay on a monthly subscription basis. Due to delays, you might end up paying for an extra month. Since students are not studying synchronously, you might have to wait till another student completes the assignment and shares his feedback.

Problem 3:Lack of Quality Feedback (and the lack of feedback on feedback)

Essay-styled feedback sounds great on paper. But, in reality, most students do not give critical feedback on your work. There are two main reasons: 1. Creating critical feedback takes a lot of time and energy. 2. Peer-graded feedback assumes that students are qualified enough to rate each other’s work. But, most students are enrolling in the MOOC for the first time. If you misunderstand a concept, you are going to give improper feedback as well. In addition, there is no way for you to give feedback on a feedback. If a student provides low-quality feedback, or improper feedback (due to the student’s misunderstanding), there is no way you can correct your peer and try to clarify his error. Thus, erroneous feedback is considered feedback.

Problem 4: Anonymous Feedback

No one knows who’s assessed one’s work; no one knows who they’re assessing. While ostensibly meant to protect student privacy, this raises some serious when you can’t ask for clarification when you can’t gauge your feedback based on what you know about the author and their particular strengths and weaknesses, and unfortunately when anonymity brings out Internet trollishness in some students who feel they can leave nasty comments without any repercussions. Admittedly, Coursera does ask for ID verification for certain courses. But, you will still find proxy/troll accounts giving improper feedback. 

Possible Solutions

This is perhaps the best solution to tackle all the challenges of non-sync learning. Cohort learning means studying a MOOC live, in sync with a group of students. This ensures that all the students are studying the course at the same rate. You will receive feedback on time (or, minimum delay), since students have to meet deadlines and work week-by-week, the number of proxy/troll accounts will also decrease considerably. Cohort-based courses (CBCs) are considered the next iteration of online learning. The only problem is that CBCs are not scalable - at least not to the extent of pre-recorded courses.

2. Less emphasis on certificate, more on learning

A reason you find rampant plagiarism and troll accounts is that some students enroll in MOOCs exclusively for the certificate. We need to inculcate this culture of learning for the sake of development and growth and keep the certificates secondary. I like the fact that Coursera (even edX) provides the option of auditing courses. Thus, students can at least study the materials for free. Lastly, there are also 100% free MOOCs on Coursera, that you can study for free - and you do not provide any certificate on completion.

3. Quality Feedback

Instead of providing essay-styled text submission, students can present their work through audio/video. This will obviously require more time and resources, but it is also a richer format. In video submissions, students can present their work as a presentation, showcasing their project/assignment, while explaining how they built it. A video submission also helps the grader make a better judgment about the student’s work. If you are able to explain your work in simple words, that’s a good sign that you actually understood the concepts you used. Lastly, for big projects, these video submissions can help you find your next internship/job. Again - you will spend a considerable time on filming and editing - but, the returns are high as well.

4. Points on Feedback

Apart from receiving points from someone’s feedback on your submission, students can also receive points if they provide critical feedback. If you receive feedback from 3 students, you can select the best feedback from the list, and this user will receive a few points/marks for that. Thus, MOOC platforms can incentivize users to provide high-quality feedback.

5. Penalty for missing deadlines

Just like incentivizing high-quality feedback, MOOC platforms can penalize students for late submissions. This could mean a points/marks deduction. Or, perhaps, if you keep missing the deadlines, you might be deterred from the MOOC until a certain date, or you won’t be able to access some features.

6. Limit the number of submissions

In the peer-graded assignments, once you submit your work, you can grade (and study) other students’ submissions. Unfortunately, some students misuse this system. They will submit a black file/document, look at other’s submissions, and copy-paste it. They will then make another submission, with the copied material. Not only does this compromise the cheater’s work, but it also undermines the honest student’s work. With unlimited submissions of auto-graded multiple-choice quizzes and peer-graded assignments, it’s easy to pass and receive a certificate without learning anything, and you don’t even have to cheat to do it.MOOC platforms can limit the number of submissions. Or, at least provide a time delay or mark deduction for re-submissions.

This analysis comes from a place of concern and respect. I truly appreciate Coursera’s achievements. It has changed hundreds of  thousands (if not millions) of lives, all across the world. In order to help the educators, students, and the online learning community, it’s important that we address the problems that we are facing today, so that can build a better tomorrow.

RELATED POSTS

Peer reviews are a type of assignment used in online learning  — though prior to this analysis, we wouldn’t have guessed that more than a third of Coursera’s courses used them.

Peer reviews on Coursera work as follows:

• You complete an assignment , typically involving open-ended questions that you address by writing a few paragraphs of text. You submit it, but you don’t get a score just yet.
• You score other learners’ assignments , according to a specific rubric, giving more or fewer points depending on how well the assignment addressed each rubric item. In addition, you may write comments.
• You get your assignment score back , but only after (1) you’ve scored enough assignments, and (2) your assignment has been scored by enough learners.

Unfortunately, precisely because they introduce a human factor, peer-reviewed assessments come with limitations. Humans can be cunning. Our colleague @pat has written an article on the issues of peer reviews, which include cheating, delays, and inconsistencies .

That said, in our experience, many learners tackle these assignments earnestly, providing fair scores and useful feedback that can help one gain a better understanding of the course topic.

So if you’re looking for a good online course with peer-reviewed assessments, you can find our selection below.

Personal Development Online Courses

• Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects from Deep Teaching Solutions ★★★★★(23699)
• Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential from McMaster University ★★★★★(7496)
• Apprendre comment apprendre (ACA) : Des outils mentaux puissants qui vous aideront à maîtriser des sujets difficiles from Deep Teaching Solutions ★★★★★(397)
• Aprender from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México ★★★★★(107)
• Introduction to Public Speaking from University of Washington ★★★★☆(14)
• Creative Thinking: Techniques and Tools for Success from Imperial College London ★★★★★(14)
• Introduction to Negotiation: A Strategic Playbook for Becoming a Principled and Persuasive Negotiator from Yale University ★★★★★(13)
• Story and Narrative Development for Video Games from California Institute of the Arts ★★★★★(9)
• Successful Career Development from University System of Georgia ★★★★★(9)
• How to Get Skilled: Introduction to Individual Skills Management (Project-Centered Course) from State University of New York ★★★★☆(8)
• Teamwork Skills: Communicating Effectively in Groups from University of Colorado Boulder ★★★★★(8)
• Positive Psychology: Resilience Skills from University of Pennsylvania ★★★★☆(7)

Programming Online Courses

• An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python (Part 1) from Rice University ★★★★★(3360)
• Predictive Modeling and Machine Learning with MATLAB from MathWorks ★★★★★(60)
• An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python (Part 2) from Rice University ★★★★★(58)
• Introduction to HTML5 from University of Michigan ★★★★☆(51)
• Programming Mobile Applications for Android Handheld Systems: Part 1 from University of Maryland, College Park ★★★★☆(41)
• Object-Oriented Design from University of Alberta ★★★★☆(39)
• Exploratory Data Analysis with MATLAB from MathWorks ★★★★★(38)
• Julia Scientific Programming from University of Cape Town ★★★★☆(30)
• Programming Languages, Part A from University of Washington ★★★★★(27)
• Responsive Website Basics: Code with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript from University of London International Programmes ★★★★☆(27)
• Design Patterns from University of Alberta ★★★★★(27)
• C++ For C Programmers, Part A from University of California, Santa Cruz ★★★☆☆(26)
• HTML, CSS, and Javascript for Web Developers from Johns Hopkins University ★★★★★(25)
• Object Oriented Programming in Java from University of California, San Diego ★★★★★(18)
• Introducción a la programación orientada a objetos en Java from Universidad de los Andes ★★★★★(18)

Health & Medicine Online Courses

• Understanding Clinical Research: Behind the Statistics from University of Cape Town ★★★★★(759)
• De-Mystifying Mindfulness from Leiden University ★★★★★(95)
• Severe to Profound Intellectual Disability: Circles of Care and Education from University of Cape Town ★★★★★(25)
• Positive Psychiatry and Mental Health from The University of Sydney ★★★★★(22)
• Organ Donation: From Death to Life from University of Cape Town ★★★★★(14)
• Herbal Medicine from University of Minnesota ★★★★☆(11)
• Community Change in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University ★★★★☆(10)
• Introduction to Breast Cancer from Yale University ★★★★★(8)
• Managing Your Health: The Role of Physical Therapy and Exercise from University of Toronto ★★★★☆(8)
• Living with Dementia: Impact on Individuals, Caregivers, Communities and Societies from Johns Hopkins University ★★★★☆(7)
• Science of Exercise from University of Colorado Boulder ★★★★★(7)
• Diabetes – a Global Challenge from University of Copenhagen ★★★★☆(7)
• Chemicals and Health from Johns Hopkins University ★★★★☆(6)

Business Online Courses

• Marketing in a Digital World from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ★★★★★(514)
• The Digital Marketing Revolution from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ★★★★★(333)
• FinTech Foundations and Overview from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ★★★★★(173)
• Preparing to Manage Human Resources from University of Minnesota ★★★★★(145)
• FinTech Security and Regulation (RegTech) from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ★★★★★(94)
• FinTech Risk Management from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ★★★★★(88)
• Financial Markets from Yale University ★★★★☆(37)
• Becoming a changemaker: Introduction to Social Innovation from University of Cape Town ★★★★★(36)
• Digital Marketing Analytics in Theory from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ★★★★☆(35)
• Digital Marketing Analytics in Practice from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ★★★★☆(24)
• The Science of Success: What Researchers Know that You Should Know from University of Michigan ★★★★★(21)
• Foundations of Business Strategy from University of Virginia ★★★★☆(21)
• Protecting Business Innovations via Strategy from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ★★★★★(20)

Humanities Online Courses

• A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment from Indian School of Business ★★★★★(508)
• Miracles of Human Language: An Introduction to Linguistics from Leiden University ★★★★★(95)
• Philosophy, Science and Religion: Religion and Science from University of Edinburgh ★★★★☆(65)
• English for Career Development from University of Pennsylvania ★★★★★(24)
• Philosophy, Science and Religion: Philosophy and Religion from University of Edinburgh ★★★★☆(23)
• The Modern and the Postmodern (Part 1) from Wesleyan University ★★★★★(21)
• Getting Started with Essay Writing from University of California, Irvine ★★★★☆(19)
• Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop from California Institute of the Arts ★★★★☆(19)
• Creative Writing: The Craft of Plot from Wesleyan University ★★★★☆(17)
• Magic in the Middle Ages from University of Barcelona ★★★★☆(16)
• English for Journalism from University of Pennsylvania ★★★★☆(15)
• Tricky American English Pronunciation from University of California, Irvine ★★★★☆(15)
• Writing in the Sciences from Stanford University ★★★★★(14)
• Big History: Connecting Knowledge from Macquarie University ★★★★☆(13)
• Writing for Young Readers: Opening the Treasure Chest from Commonwealth Education Trust ★★★★☆(13)
• Ancient Philosophy: Plato & His Predecessors from University of Pennsylvania ★★★★★(12)
• English for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics from University of Pennsylvania ★★★★★(12)
• Creative Writing: The Craft of Setting and Description from Wesleyan University ★★★★☆(12)

Education & Teaching Online Courses

• Uncommon Sense Teaching from Deep Teaching Solutions ★★★★★(408)
• Uncommon Sense Teaching: Part 2, Building Community and Habits of Learning from Deep Teaching Solutions ★★★★★(91)
• Uncommon Sense Teaching: Teaching Online from Deep Teaching Solutions ★★★★★(31)
• Teaching Character and Creating Positive Classrooms from Relay Graduate School of Education ★★★★★(22)
• American Education Reform: History, Policy, Practice from University of Pennsylvania ★★★★★(9)
• Learning to Teach Online from University of New South Wales ★★★★☆(8)
• Disability Inclusion in Education: Building Systems of Support from University of Cape Town ★★★★★(7)
• Get Organized: How to be a Together Teacher from Relay Graduate School of Education ★★★★☆(6)
• ICT in Primary Education: Transforming children’s learning across the curriculum from University of London International Programmes ★★★★★(5)
• What future for education? from University of London International Programmes ★★★★★(5)
• Teach English Now! Second Language Listening, Speaking, and Pronunciation from Arizona State University ★★★★★(5)
• Foundations of Teaching for Learning: Learners and Learning from Commonwealth Education Trust ★★★★☆(5)
• Assessment for Learning from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ★★★★★(4)
• Aboriginal Worldviews and Education from University of Toronto ★★★★★(4)

Data Science Online Courses

• Reproducible Research from Johns Hopkins University ★★★★☆(27)
• Data Visualization from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ★★★☆☆(21)
• Developing Data Products from Johns Hopkins University ★★★★☆(18)
• Finding Hidden Messages in DNA (Bioinformatics I) from University of California, San Diego ★★★★★(17)
• Process Mining: Data science in Action from Eindhoven University of Technology ★★★★☆(17)
• Data Visualization and Communication with Tableau from Duke University ★★★★☆(9)
• Quantitative Methods from University of Amsterdam ★★★★★(7)
• Introduction to Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis from Johns Hopkins University ★★★★★(6)
• Genome Sequencing (Bioinformatics II) from University of California, San Diego ★★★★★(5)
• Social Network Analysis from University of California, Davis ★★★★★(5)
• Qualitative Research Methods from University of Amsterdam ★★★★☆(5)
• What is Data Science? from IBM ★★★★☆(4)

Social Sciences Online Courses

• Protecting Business Innovations via Patent from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ★★★★★(159)
• Social Psychology from Wesleyan University ★★★★★(88)
• Protecting Business Innovations via Copyright from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ★★★★★(64)
• Protecting Business Innovations via Trademark from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ★★★★★(53)
• Greening the Economy: Sustainable Cities from Lund University ★★★★★(53)
• EU policy and implementation: making Europe work! from Leiden University ★★★★★(51)
• Chinese Politics Part 1 – China and Political Science from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ★★★★★(36)
• The Science of Well-Being from Yale University ★★★★★(29)
• Introduction to Psychology from University of Toronto ★★★★★(27)
• Introduction to Sustainability from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ★★★★☆(16)
• Security & Safety Challenges in a Globalized World from Leiden University ★★★★★(16)
• Understanding Research Methods from University of London International Programmes ★★★★☆(15)
• Chinese Politics Part 2 – China and the World from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ★★★★★(15)
• America’s Written Constitution from Yale University ★★★★☆(10)
• Risk in Modern Society from Leiden University ★★★★★(8)
• Positive Psychology: Applications and Interventions from University of Pennsylvania ★★★★★(7)

Computer Science Online Courses

• Computational Social Science Methods from University of California, Davis ★★★★★(115)
• Computer Simulations from University of California, Davis ★★★★★(42)
• Computational Social Science Capstone Project from University of California, Davis ★★★★★(31)
• Fundamentals of Reinforcement Learning from University of Alberta ★★★★★(24)
• Algorithmic Thinking (Part 1) from Rice University ★★★★☆(15)
• Introduction to the Internet of Things and Embedded Systems from University of California, Irvine ★★★★☆(13)
• Algorithmic Thinking (Part 2) from Rice University ★★★★☆(9)
• Interfacing with the Arduino from University of California, Irvine ★★★★☆(7)
• C for Everyone: Programming Fundamentals from University of California, Santa Cruz ★★★★☆(5)
• The Unix Workbench from Johns Hopkins University ★★★★★(4)
• Programming Languages, Part B from University of Washington ★★★★☆(4)
• Machine Learning for Data Analysis from Wesleyan University ★★★★☆(4)
• Machine Learning with Python from IBM ★★★★★(4)
• Leading Change in Health Informatics from Johns Hopkins University ★★★★★(3)

Art & Design Online Courses

• Gamification from University of Pennsylvania ★★★★★(58)
• Fundamentals of Music Theory from University of Edinburgh ★★★★☆(25)
• Songwriting: Writing the Lyrics from Berklee College of Music ★★★★★(25)
• Fundamentals of Graphic Design from California Institute of the Arts ★★★★☆(22)
• Guitar for Beginners from Berklee College of Music ★★★★★(22)
• The 3D Printing Revolution from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ★★★★★(19)
• Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society from University of Pennsylvania ★★★★☆(18)
• Developing Your Musicianship from Berklee College of Music ★★★★★(16)
• Introduction to Game Design from California Institute of the Arts ★★★★★(14)
• Roman Architecture from Yale University ★★★★☆(13)
• 3D Printing Software from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ★★★★★(13)

Mathematics Online Courses

• Introduction to Mathematical Thinking from Stanford University ★★★★☆(53)
• Probability and Statistics: To p or not to p? from University of London International Programmes ★★★★★(3)
• Introduction to Complex Analysis from Wesleyan University ★★★★★(3)
• Estadística aplicada a los negocios from Universidad Austral ★★★★☆(2)
• Bayesian Statistics: Techniques and Models from University of California, Santa Cruz ★★★★★(1)
• Improving your statistical inferences from Eindhoven University of Technology ★★★★★(1)
• Introduction to Linear Algebra and Python from Howard University ★★★★★(1)
• What are the Chances? Probability and Uncertainty in Statistics from Johns Hopkins University
• R을 사용한 확률 및 데이터 소개 from Duke University
• Inferenzstatistik from Duke University

Science Online Courses

• Climate Change Mitigation in Developing Countries from University of Cape Town ★★★★★(31)
• Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life from The University of Chicago ★★★★★(28)
• Astronomy: Exploring Time and Space from University of Arizona ★★★★★(23)
• Introduction to Forensic Science from Nanyang Technological University ★★★★☆(17)
• Disaster Preparedness from University of Pittsburgh ★★★★☆(13)
• Epigenetic Control of Gene Expression from University of Melbourne ★★★★★(10)
• Gut Check: Exploring Your Microbiome from University of Colorado Boulder ★★★★☆(10)
• Global Warming I: The Science and Modeling of Climate Change from The University of Chicago ★★★★☆(9)
• Water Supply and Sanitation Policy in Developing Countries Part 1: Understanding Complex Problems from University of Manchester ★★★★★(8)
• Greening the Economy: Lessons from Scandinavia from Lund University ★★★★☆(7)
• Visual Perception and the Brain from Duke University ★★★★☆(6)

Engineering Online Courses

• Our Energy Future from University of California, San Diego ★★★★★(7)
• Introduction to Systems Engineering from University of New South Wales ★★★★★(5)
• BIM Fundamentals for Engineers from National Taiwan University ★★★★☆(3)
• Introduction to GIS Mapping from University of Toronto ★★★★★(2)
• Imagery, Automation, and Applications from University of California, Davis ★★★★★(2)
• GIS Data Formats, Design and Quality from University of California, Davis ★★★★★(2)
• Geodesign: Change Your World from Pennsylvania State University ★★★★☆(2)
• Global Energy and Climate Policy from SOAS University of London ★★★★★(2)
• Solar Energy Basics from State University of New York ★★★★★(1)
• Solar Energy System Design from State University of New York ★★★★★(1)
• GIS, Mapping, and Spatial Analysis Capstone from University of Toronto ★★★★★(1)

Information Security (InfoSec) Online Courses

• Cyber Threats and Attack Vectors from University of Colorado System ★★★★☆(2)
• Introduction to Cybersecurity for Business from University of Colorado System ★★★★★(2)
• Proactive Computer Security from University of Colorado System ★★★★★(1)
• Hacking and Patching from University of Colorado System ★★★★★(1)
• Cybersecurity Capstone: Breach Response Case Studies from IBM ★★★★★(1)
• Security Operations and Administration from (ISC)² ★★★★★(1)
• Systems and Application Security from (ISC)² ★★★★☆(1)
• Identifying, Monitoring, and Analyzing Risk and Incident Response and Recovery from (ISC)² ★★★★☆(1)
• Introduction to DevSecOps from Johns Hopkins University
• Personnel & Third-Party Security from University of California, Irvine

Suparn Patra

Manoel cortes mendez.

Allison 1/25/2023 at 7:13pm

These are great suggestions. While I appreciate the idea behind collaborative grading (learning from others, helping fellow classmates by providing constructive feedback, etc.), the overall process is still highly subjective and often creates unnecessary roadblocks to efficient, timely online learning. I would love to see a similar article highlighting top-ranked courses that omit the peer review component (or tips on how to more easily identify these courses while searching the Coursera site!). Thanks!

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Peer-graded Assignment: Final Assignment

Peer-graded assignment: final assignment >> what is data science.

In this Assignment, you will demonstrate your understanding of the videos and the readings by answering open-ended questions, defining data science and data scientist, and describing the different sections comprising a final deliverable of a data science project. Please note that this assignment is worth 10% of your final grade.

Assignment Solution :

As discussed in the videos and the reading material, data science can be applied to problems across different industries. Give a brief explanation describing what industry you are passionate about and would like to pursue a data science career in? (2 marks)

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