Massive Open Online Courses (or MOOCs, as you probably know them by now) have been growing in popularity since their emergence in 2012, and Penn State’s sixth one will be the first that students can take for Penn State credit.
CRIM 201, “Presumed Innocent? The Social Science of Wrongful Conviction,” will debut June 25 and looks incredibly interesting (full disclosure: I’m a CRIM major, so maybe that’s just me). As the name suggests, it will explore psychological, anthropological and other factors that contribute to wrongful convictions in the American justice system. According to professor Timothy Robichauex, who will teach the MOOC, 1 of 25 death row inmates are actually innocent.
“Wrongful convictions happen for a multitude of reasons. The most common cause is mistakes made by eyewitnesses, because memory can be fickle, but people also falsely confess, lie and say they had accomplices, or have an inadequate defense,” Robichauex said in the press release.
Robichauex’s MOOC will also look to reinforce why wrongful convictions are so terrible and why they have become so common.
The MOOC can also be taken for free. Students who take it for Penn State credit will have to complete extra work on ANGEL, and that option opens on July 2. If you do take it for credit, it will count for three social and behavioral (GS) general education credits. You can register for it here.