Personalization at Scale: Making Learning Personally Relevant in a Climate Science MOOC

Personalization and choice in learning activities can increase student engagement, satisfaction, and learning gains. But does this effect hold when implemented at scale? The current work explores the effects of personalization and learner's choice in a Climate Science MOOC. We manipulated these by creating two versions of course assignments. Learners who completed the assignments (N=219) received either Generic assignments focusing on global climate issues or Personalized assignments in which learners explored their own regions. Following the manipulation, learners in the Personalization group reported equal understanding of both Global and Local climate issues while learners in the Generic group reported better understanding of global issues and reduced understanding of local issues. Further, personalization did not affect interest or assignment length. We describe opportunities for personalization at scale and discuss their outcomes.