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MITx: 11.155x Design Thinking for Leading and Learning

Frequently Asked Questions

What time is it?

In order to coordinate with your peers from around the world, this course uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The current time is shown here and you can use this site to convert to your own time zone.

How do I pass this class? How do grades work?

In this course, we have shifted the emphasis away from grades. What’s important is the effort you put in and the experiences you have. This especially means engaging with the community of your peers, and working on personally meaningful projects. These things don’t lend themselves to automated evaluation, but benefit greatly from discussion and reflection. For this reason, the course has you focus on peer evaluation and the honor system to earn your certificate.

At the end of each unit's content, there will be a completion checklist for you to keep track of assignments completed. The more you do, the more you will get out of the course, but you should also feel free to tailor your experience in the course to your own interests and goals.

The grade distribution for each unit's completion checklist is as follows:

Steps 1 through 6: 1 point each

Step 7: 2 points

Readings: 1 point 

What kind of certificates are there for this course? Do I have to pay?

EdX offers verified certificates, which are available for a fee that varies by course. For 11.155x, the fee is $49 (USD). You will be required to verify your identity before you can receive your certificate. You can also audit any edX course, including 11.155x. You do not receive a certificate if you audit a course, but you can print your progress page for the course if you want evidence of your achievement. In the past, edX also offered honor code certificates. These certificates are no longer available. If you earned an honor code certificate in a previous course, you still have access to your certificate through your dashboard. Please note that the edX honor code still applies to all courses. 

Please note that if you want the Verified Certificate, you must choose it and complete the ID verification process by April 11, 2017.

You must complete 60% or more of the assigned work and indicate that by filling out the appropriate checklists by the course end date, May 3, 2017 to pass the course and earn a Verified Certificate.

When are assignments due?

Each assignment will list a 'suggested' due date in its description - usually two weeks after its assignment unless the unit is longer.  However, the assignments won't close until the course ends - you can turn in your assignments, and review your peer's assignments, up till the last day of the course.

However, we strongly encourage students to turn in their work before the next unit launches, and ask that peer reviews be completed within about four days of the 'expected' due date.

When does the course end?

11.155x officially ends on May 3, 2017, and certificates will be generated around May 10, 2017. However, some course materials will still be available after that date in archive form

What is the content release schedule for this course? Why are we releasing content this way?

We will spend two weeks in Unit 1 exploring the design process together. After Unit 1, the content for Units 2 and 3 will launch simultaneously. 

We want to give you the freedom and support to explore the last two units in a way that is meaningful and valuable for you for this four week period after Unit 1. 

  • Pathway 1. Participants who want an equal balance of design thinking for learning and design thinking for leading could spend two weeks on Unit 2 content and then the next two weeks on Unit 3 content with an equal amount of effort into both assignments.
  • Pathway 2. Participants who are eager to learn more about sharing design thinking with students will focus on the Unit 2 content and assignment, but will also spend time exploring Unit 3.
  • Pathway 3. Participants who feel most excited about using design thinking for systemic change will focus on the Unit 3 content and assignment, but will also spend time exploring Unit 2.

Where should I go if I have questions?

  • If you have technical questions about the edX platform, try using the "Support" tab in the upper left corner of every page.
  • If you don't find your answer there, or if you find bugs or issues with the forums site, please post your question in the Technical Help thread in the Course Admin folder in the forums.
  • If you have non-technical questions, we encourage you to post them in the appropriate discussion on the forums.
  • Or, if all else fails, you can email the 11.155x staff at dtllmooc@gmail.com. We'll do our best to help you out, though we can't guarantee a timely reply given the massive nature of this course.

What about the other Microsoft in Education courses?

Read more about the Microsoft in Education series here.