Improving understanding of disease control implementation research through a mooc with participants from low- and middle-income countries: Evaluating participant reactions and learning

The Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases developed a massive open online course (MOOC) on implementation research with a focus on infectious diseases of poverty (IDPs) to reinforce the explanation of implementation research concepts through real case studies. The target MOOC participant group included public health officers, researchers and students. By reshaping institutions and building resilience in communities and systems, implementation research will allow progress towards universal health coverage and sustainable development goals. This study evaluates learners’ knowledge in implementation research after completing the MOOC using anonymous exit survey responses. Of the almost 4000 enrolled in the two sessions of the MOOC in 2018, about 30% completed all five modules and the assessments, and were awarded certificates. The majority of the participants were early to mid-career professionals, under the age of 40, and from low- and middle-income countries. They were slightly more likely to be men (56%) with a Bachelor or a Master’s degree. Participants were public health researchers (45%), public health officers (11%) or students (11%). On completion of the course, an exit survey revealed that 80.9% of respondents indicated significant improvement to strong and very strong implementation research knowledge. This evaluation clearly shows the usefulness of the MOOC on implementation research for reaching out to field researchers and public health practitioners who are facing problems in the implementation of control programmes in low- and middle-income countries.Author summary: Implementation research (IR) focuses on how to improve access to, and distribution and use of disease control interventions, which are under-utilised in many low- and middle-income countries. Effective implementation of disease control interventions can have significant impacts by reducing illness and mortality. Despite this, IR is not widely recognised, researched or taught. Education and training in IR is not readily available or accessible and, for this reason, Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) developed a massive open online course (MOOC) on the topic of IR with a focus on infectious diseases of poverty (IDPs). A MOOC is a free online course that anyone can participate in and can provide training and education to large audiences of learners. A MOOC may consist of online media, short videos, lectures, case studies, quizzes and other assessments, online discussion forums, and readings. The TDR IR MOOC targeted field researchers and public health practitioners facing problems in the implementation of control programmes in low- and middle-income countries and was open to anyone who was interested. In this study, we explore the demographics of those who registered for, participated in, and completed the MOOC, and whether the MOOC increased their knowledge of the topic. Findings reveal that registrants were most commonly from the WHO African region, were English language speakers and public health researchers. The MOOC was found to be successful in increasing learners’ knowledge in implementation research.