7 surprising lessons learned from teaching iOS programming to 30,000+ MOOC students

In this paper, we experimentally explore the impact of different teaching paradigms on teaching a large-scale iOS programming MOOC consisting of 30,162 students. Our initial approach utilizes methods from our in-person lecturing experience. After launching the initial version of the course, we analyzed our performance and student feedback based on which we recreated and re-launched the entire course with a particular focus on clarity, video-quality, and packaging the topics in 1-2 minute micro-modules. Based on feedback from 650 students, we observed that the overall lecture positive feedback increased from 65% before our course adjustment to 83% after the adjustment. In this paper we will provide a detailed overview of the lessons learned and the impact of our new teaching methods on each section of the course. We also noticed a slight increase in course completion rates, from 5.4% before the adjustment to 5.8% after the adjustment.