Designing a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in Face-to-face Sessions. a Blended Design to Teach Practical Histology

Teaching histology, through virtual microscopy in educational strategies, undeniably moved towards the digitization and distancing of teaching. The setting up of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) entitled "Introduction to Histology: exploring the tissues of the human body" made it possible to exploit the potential to share digital resources with a wider audience while being integrated into the teaching on-campus students. Our work described the pedagogical choices prevailing during the design of the MOOC and its combination with face-to-face sessions to achieve specific learning outcomes. The combination of the MOOC modules with face-to-face sessions which had been precisely described according to their cognitive levels, with online and face-to-face learning activities and evaluation methods has been demonstrated. The impact of such a blended design into an academic program has been ascertained using perception and performance data. Student satisfaction and engagement as well as motivational cues were identified. The level of performance was maintained in the educational strategy implemented and made it possible to achieve the objectives expected by the teachers. In a broader and current context related to the digitization and general distancing of teaching and how to integrate digital teaching resources into the university curriculum, this research also suggested considering MOOCs as an educational resource particularly useful for teachers, especially during a pandemic situation. The benefits of integrating a MOOC with classroom-based teaching were highlighted, as well as barriers that could hinder the successful implementation.