Final report on the pre-course survey of “Understanding Russians:
Contexts of Intercultural Communication” students
Start of the survey: 25.04.2014
Total number of respondents: 2367
Figure 1. Course participant’s level of attainment (N=2364) (%)
32
24
23
17
2
I am completely I am mostly new I am somewhat I am very familiar I am an expert in
new to this
to this subject familiar with the with this subject this subject area.
subject area
area.
subject area.
area.
2
Don’t know
Question: “Prior to taking this course, how familiar were you with the subject area of intercultural
communication?”
1
Figure 2. Previous academic experience in the subject area of the course
(N=2361) (%)
56
20
20
4
I have no academic
I have studied a literature I have completed some I have an academic degree
experience in this subject
in this subject area by coursework in this subject
in this subject area.
area.
myself
area.
Question: “Which of the following best describes your previous academic experience in the subject area
of this course?”
Figure 3. Previous work experience in the subject area of this course
(N=2363) (%)
60
31
10
I have no work experience in I have some work experience in
I have significant work
this subject area.
this subject area.
experience in this subject area.
Question: “Which of the following best describes your previous work experience in the subject area of
this course?”
2
Figure 4. Experience in education using MOOCs (N=2357)
Coursera
74%
No prior experience
23%
EdX
18%
Udacity
8%
Other
8%
Open2Study
4%
Iversity
4%
Question: “Have you ever took classes using platforms of massive open online courses (MOOCs)? If yes,
select all that apply”
Figure 5. Subject areas of courses learned previously via Cousera (top-10)
(N=1726)
Humanities
48%
Social Sciences
38%
Economics & Finance
24%
Business & Management
23%
Arts
20%
Music, Film, and Audio
Biology & Life Sciences
Health & Society
Law
Education
16%
15%
14%
13%
12%
Question: “Please specify the subject area of courses you took at Coursera. Select all that apply”
3
Figure 6. HSE courses on Coursera, in which students of “Understanding Russians” take / are going to
take part (N=600)
Introduction to Neuroeconomics
38%
Financial Markets and Institutions
24%
History of Economic Thought
24%
Public Economics
20%
Macroeconomics
17%
Fundamentals of Corporate Finance
15%
Core Concepts in Data Analysis
14%
Microeconomics Principles
13%
Introduction to LaTeX
10%
Industrial Organization
9%
Labor Economics
8%
Question: “Are you currently enrolled (or going to enroll) in any other Higher School of Economics
Coursera courses this year? Select all that apply”
Figure 7. Resources where participants saw the announcements of the course (N=2324)
84%
No
7%
6%
2%
1%
1%
Facebook
Other
Other websites
Vkontakte
HSE website
Question: “Have you seen any announcements of this course?”
4
Figure 8. Sources of recommendations to enroll in the course (N=2345)
84%
No
4%
4%
Friends from
other
university
Relatives
4%
3%
1%
1%
Colleagues at Other people Friends from Faculty from
work
HSE
other
universities
Question: “Have anyone recommended you to enroll in this course?”
5
Table 1
Respondent’s degree of agreement with statements about their possible purposes of enrolling in the
course (N=2278)
I am taking the course out of
general interest or curiosity
I am taking the course because I
want to learn more about the
teaching of the subject
I am taking the course because
skills it provides may be useful
for obtaining a new job
I am taking the course because
it supports my current job
responsibilities
I am taking the course because
it supports my current or
prospective academic program
I am taking the course because I
am interested in connecting
with other students interested
in this topic
I am taking the course because I
am interested in earning a
Statement of Accomplishment
or Verified Certificate
I am taking the course because I
want to learn how massive open
online courses work
I'm not going to participate on a
regular basis, I just want to have
access to the course materials
I am taking the course because
it is delivered by HSE
I am taking the course because I
have friends who also
participate
I am taking the course because
it is taught by this particular
professor
Strongly
disagree
Somewhat
disagree
Somewhat
agree
Strongly agree
Don’t know
3%
2%
13%
82%
1%
32%
14%
23%
25%
7%
31%
16%
29%
18%
7%
44%
14%
21%
16%
5%
48%
15%
19%
13%
5%
27%
23%
33%
11%
6%
41%
19%
23%
11%
7%
48%
17%
22%
7%
5%
40%
26%
20%
6%
8%
37%
16%
18%
6%
23%
74%
11%
6%
3%
7%
47%
18%
10%
2%
22%
Question: “Further you can see some statements about the purposes of participation in this course.
Assess the degree of your agreement with each of them on a scale from 1 to 4, where 1 is “strongly
disagree” and 4 is “strongly agree”
6
Figure 9. The highest educational attainment level of the students of the course (N=2351) (%)
10
Less than secondary school
degree
12
10
Secondary school degree
10
High school degree
Professional Bachelor's degree or
certificate
Academic Bachelor’s or
Specialist’s degree (or equivalent)
39
Academic Master’s degree (or
equivalent)
28
PhD (or equivalent)
Question: “What is the highest level of education that you have reached so far?”
Figure 10. Employment status of students of the course (N=2346)
I am employed full-time
46%
I am university student
17%
I am a freelancer
15%
I am employed part-time
11%
I am retired
7%
I am an entrepreneur
7%
I don’t study or work
4%
Other
4%
I am on leave
I am secondary/high school student
I am community college/technical school student
3%
2%
1%
Question: “Which of the following best describes your current employment status? Select all that apply”
7
Figure 11.Respondent’s job characteristic (N=1071)
(% of those who work full-time)
It is a job at business organization/enterprise
57
It is a job at educational / academic institution
21
It is a job at public administration agency
10
It is a job at non-profit organization
7
Other
5
Question: “Which of the following best describes your current job? If you have several jobs consider the
one most important to you (or the one you spend most of the time on)”
Figure 12. Industry of organizations where respondents are employed (top-10) (N=1064)
(% of those who work full-time)
Education and Science
25
IT, Internet, telecommunications
16
Healthcare
6
Banks, investment, finances, insurance
6
Manufacturing
5
Consulting and audit
5
Services
4
State and municipal service
Energy and natural resources
Retail
4
3
3
Question: “Which of the following best describes the industry of your organization? If your organization
works in several industries, consider the one to which your job is the most relevant”
8
Figure 13. Areas of activity of departments in which respondents work (top-10) (N=1054)
(% of those who work full-time)
IT, Internet, telecommunications
19
Education and science
19
PR, marketing, advertising
6
Services
6
Banks, investment, finance, insurance
5
Consulting and audit
5
Healthcare
4
Law
4
HR
4
State and municipal service
3
Question: “Which of the following best describes the main area of activity at your department? If your
department has multiple areas of activity, consider the one to which your job is most relevant”
Figure 14. Main areas of respondent’s entrepreneurial activity (N=162)
(% of those who are entrepreneurs)
IT, Internet, Telecommunications
22
Consulting and audit
14
PR, Marketing, Advertising
8
Education and science
7
Banks, investment, finances, insurance
7
Journalism, Media, Press
6
Retail
4
Real estate
4
Leisure and Arts
4
Production
3
Question: “Which of the following best describes your industry? (in entrepreneurial activity)”
9
Figure 15. Main areas of respondent’s job specialization
(% of those who are freelancers) (N=344)
Translating
20
Teaching
14
Consulting
13
Journalism / rewrite / copyright
11
Programming & IT
8
Photo / video / audio
5
Advertising / Marketing /PR
4
Economics and finance
4
Design
Management
3
2
Question: “What is your primary area of specialization? (in freelance activity)”
Figure 16. The academic degree respondents are currently pursuing (N=401)
(% of those who are currently enrolled at the university)
Bachelor degree
41
Master degree
33
Postgraduate studies
18
Specialist degree
A second degree / retraining / MBA
5
3
Question: “Specify the academic degree you are earning”
10
Figure 17. Respondent’s specialization at the university (N= 374)
(top-10) (% of those who are currently enrolled at the university)
Foreign Languages
12
Computer Science
7
Political Science
6
Legal Studies
5
Foreign Affairs
5
Economics
4
Sociology
3
Communication Studies
3
Physics
3
Philology
3
Question: “What are your major (area of specialization) and academic degree you are currently
pursuing?”
Figure 18. Gender of respondents (N=2332) (%)
40
Female
Male
60
Question: “What is your gender?”
11
Figure 19. Age of respondents (N=2288) (%)
5
4
2
1
4
4
5
5
4
4
3
11
343
3
2
22
222
2
2
2
1
111 1 11
1
1
11 1111 111
1
11
1
1
1
18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70
Question: “What is your age?”
Age:
Mode – 25 years
Median– 32 years
Average – 37 years
12
Figure 20. Countries where the students of the course were born (top-10)
(N=2302) (%)
United States
23
Russia
17
United Kingdom
4
Ukraine
3
Germany
3
Spain
3
Italy
3
France
3
Brazil
2
Canada
2
Question: “In what country were you born?”
Figure 21. Countries where the students of the course are currently living (top-10)
(N=2299) (%)
United States
24
Russia
14
United Kingdom
4
Germany
4
France
4
Canada
4
Spain
3
Italy
3
Brazil
2
Netherlands
2
Question: “In what country do you currently live?”
13
Figure 22. English language proficiency
(N=2356) (%)
Native speaker
35
Advanced
41
Upper Intermediate
15
Intermediate
7
Pre-Intermediate
Elementary
2
1
Question: “Specify your English language proficiency”
14