General policies
How do I know which course is right for me?
Carefully review the description where you will find the course objectives, who it’s for, and, if applicable, the prerequisites.
What is the instructional methodology?
The course materials combine the following pedagogical strategies to make it easier to achieve each module’s
general and specific objectives.
Instructivism: Teacher-centered learning model. The teacher defines the objectives and
presents relevant content.
Examples:
- Tutorials with animations and graphic resources
- Text pages with images, graphs, figures, and diagrams
Constructivism: Practice-centered model. Encourages participants to create, which helps them “develop” their
knowledge. It aims to have participants develop something that a real practitioner would make.
Examples:
- Project-based work
- Assessable and non-assessable activities
Anchored instruction: A learning experience is “anchored” in a narrative (e.g., a case study or media content).
Participants acquire new knowledge or skills applied to a context. At regular intervals, participants use
the knowledge or skills described in the anchor in several parallel contexts, thereby being able to situate
the instructional content within the central narrative.
Examples:
- Case studies
- Project-based work
Connectivism: Learning through others. A social learning network in which its members interact feeds the
cycle based on sharing and receiving information. It is a way to refine mental models and form
interdisciplinary connections. Through peer interactions, participants are encouraged to relate and identify
patterns among knowledge nodes. They are also encouraged to seek answers to community questions. Course
staff will promote this interaction.
Examples:
- Interventions in discussion forums
- Collaborative project-based work
- Surveys and word clouds with real-time results
Who teaches the courses offered by MIT xPRO?
MIT xPRO courses are taught by MIT faculty. In addition, there will be sessions in which industry professionals who have made significant contributions to their respective fields will be invited to participate. The course description pages provide detailed information about the faculty and their biographies.
Who participates in the MIT xPRO online courses?
Professionals from around the world with different personal, professional, and academic backgrounds will participate. These professionals include scientists, engineers, technicians, managers, consultants, entrepreneurs, students, and various agents working in industry, government, the military, non-profit organizations, and academia.
Regarding the accessibility of xPRO courses, what happens if I have a disability and special needs?
MIT xPRO’s commitment to accessibility:
Our platform is compatible with a screen reader; downloadable transcripts are available for all videos.
If you have any special needs to participate in a course, please do not hesitate to contact us as soon as possible so we can find a solution. You should contact us at least two weeks before the course starts. Requests will be considered through an interactive process to meet both the accessibility requirements of participants with special needs and MIT xPRO’s commitment to academic integrity.
What languages are xPRO courses taught?
MIT xPRO courses are taught in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
If English is not my native language, can I participate?
MIT xPRO courses are taught in English. However, participating in a course does not require English language proficiency.
Should you wish to take the course, it is up to you to identify whether you are comfortable enough with English to take the course.
Are there any technical requirements or is there a special browser needed?
Our educational software works best with current Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge versions. For the best possible experience, we recommend switching to an updated version of Chrome. If you do not have Chrome installed, you can get it for free here: http://www.google.com/chrome/browser/.
Are the courses given in real time or are they pre-recorded?
The course faculty pre-recorded the course’s video content to maximize participants’ time and flexibility. During the course, you can participate in discussion forums and attend live Q&A webinars with the course faculty. The webinars will be recorded and made available on the course website for viewing by those who did not participate in the live session.
Where are the courses held?
The courses are held online.
When are the courses offered?
Check our catalog at https://globalalumni.xpro.mit.edu/ to find information regarding the dates of the courses we offer.
Will I have the opportunity to meet the teachers or other participants at some point?
MIT xPRO courses have a board for participants to post messages and encourage them to open discussions to interact with their peers. There will be a team of facilitators who will act as moderators.
The teaching team will schedule at least one live webinar during each course so that participants can submit questions related to the content and have them answered in real-time by the teacher or another course instructor. Attendance at the live session is optional, and participants will have the video available after the live session concludes.
Would I have access to a demonstration of the course before taking it?
There are no course demonstrations at this time. If you have questions regarding the content of a course, please consult the information on the corresponding website or contact us by email.
The refund period is seven working days after the course start date. If you pay the amount and enroll before that date, you will have access to the content of the first week of the course and can decide if you wish to proceed.
Please note that the refund period is not changeable.
When will I have access to the course I enrolled in?
Log in to your MIT xPRO account and start the course on the announced start date. You will receive a welcome email after completing the payment, and you will receive your login credentials one week before the start of the course. If you do not see that you have received it, please check your spam folder and add MIT xPRO as a contact.
Are video subtitles available?
All videos have been transcribed, and if you enable closed captioning, you can see the captions at the bottom of the video. Synchronized transcripts allow students to follow the videos and go to a specific part of the video by clicking on the transcript. In addition, all transcripts are available for download. Participants can use the transcripts of the media materials for study and review.
Are the courses graded?
All MIT xPRO courses follow the pass/fail model, i.e., they are not evaluated with grades.
How do I complete a course?
Participants must complete evaluable activities in each course to obtain points. Remember the due dates. You can check your progress throughout the course by clicking “Progress” at the top of the navigation bar. Check that you meet the necessary criteria to pass the course and the minimum number of points required to obtain a certificate. All MIT xPRO courses follow the pass/fail model.
Will I receive a certificate?
Participants who successfully complete a course will receive a Certificate of Completion online.
Enrollment Policy
What are the admission criteria?
There are no specific admission criteria for the course. It is not required to have a degree or a certain level of education. All participants should dedicate four to six hours per week to the course and have the necessary technical resources to access the online course. We also recommend that participants review the course prerequisites.
How do I enroll in a specific course?
Visit the xPRO home page, click on the name of the course you are interested in, and then click “REGISTER.” You will first need to fill in the registration form with your details. Complete this process and then follow the payment process. After registering, you will receive an email with confirmation/instructions.
How do I register a group of participants?
Groups of ten or more participants are eligible for an additional discount—email globalalumni@xpro.mit.edu with the number of people you would like to enroll.
Participants must pay invoices before the course start date and on the same day they are issued. Pay before the course begins to avoid expulsion from the course. No extensions will be granted, and no exceptions will be made.
What is the deadline to enroll in this course?
The registration period ends one week after the course begins. Please note that if you register after the course’s start date, you may not be able to meet the deadline for some evaluated activities. Please consult the course calendar for details and deadlines for evaluated activities. A calendar is available on the course website.
Who cannot enroll in this course?
Sanctions activated by the United States prevent this course from being offered to participants currently residing in the Crimean region of Ukraine, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria.
What happens if I want to take a course at a later date? Can I register for courses later than scheduled?
Please visit the course pages to check the calendar. We will post information there as we confirm new dates. Please get in touch with us if you do not see a listing of upcoming dates.
Can someone else attend in my place?
At this time, we are unable to accept any requests for substitution.
Academic Policy
What is the MIT xPRO honor code?
We take academic honesty very seriously and monitor participants’ work. If we become aware of any attempt to engage in dishonest practice (e.g. plagiarism, sharing of answers, or inappropriate collaboration on assessable activities), we reserve the right to take action: suspend the offender, not award the course certificate, revoke the MIT xPRO certificate, and/or prohibit access to future MIT xPRO courses.
Once I have completed an xPRO course, will I be considered a former MIT student?
Only those participating in an MIT undergraduate or graduate course are considered former MIT students.
Participants who complete an online course are considered former MIT xPRO students.
What is the policy regarding course deadlines and evaluated activities?
When creating courses, we consider flexibility vital for professional students. If you miss a due date, the grade you will get for that evaluable activity will be 0. However, many courses offer the possibility of not counting the lowest grade when calculating the final grade. The facilitator teams will send reminders of upcoming dates by email.
Can I participate if I’m a high school student?
MIT xPRO courses aren’t designed for high school students but target professionals with industry experience. On the MIT website, there is a list of several courses for high school students.
Can university students participate?
This course is designed primarily for professionals with graduate training, but undergraduates are welcome if they have the appropriate background. Please note that courses will only earn continuing professional education (CEU) credits, not credits that can be applied toward a bachelor’s degree.
Can I repeat this course to get better grades?
All MIT xPRO courses follow the pass/fail model. If you do not pass this course, you may reapply for a place in a future course. The admission and tuition fee payment in one cohort will not be valid for future cohorts.
Is there any way to reduce the time required to complete and pass a course?
Each course has a defined start and end date; access before or after these dates is not permitted. Nor is it possible after the course has ended. However, once you start the course, participants can follow their own pace instead of going through the exercises week by week at the pace we suggest. Please note that while participants can study the course content according to their schedule, there are specific evaluable activities with a due date because they require coordination between participants’ deliveries.
Will I have access to the material after the course ends and for how long?
In the case of both stand-alone and multi-course courses, participants who pay a fee will have access to the materials for three months after the end of the course. You may be able to access support services, facilitators and teachers, and discussion forums up to 30 days after the course’s end date, but you will not be able to do so after this period.
You will continue to have access to the course materials, as they pertain to the course you enrolled in, but you will not receive updates to those materials. You cannot download the materials for most courses, but you are welcome to take notes. Some xPRO courses have downloadable materials (usually in PDF format).