diff --git a/coursera/coursera_dl.py b/coursera/coursera_dl.py
index d1d4ed1..0a6027d 100644
--- a/coursera/coursera_dl.py
+++ b/coursera/coursera_dl.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ from .define import (CLASS_URL, ABOUT_URL, PATH_CACHE,
                      OPENCOURSE_CONTENT_URL)
 from .downloaders import get_downloader
 from .utils import (clean_filename, get_anchor_format, mkdir_p, fix_url,
-                    decode_input, BeautifulSoup)
+                    decode_input, BeautifulSoup, is_debug_run)
 
 from .network import get_page, get_page_and_url
 from .api import CourseraOnDemand, OnDemandCourseMaterialItems
@@ -310,6 +310,7 @@ def parse_on_demand_syllabus(session, page, reverse=False, intact_fnames=False,
     """
 
     dom = json.loads(page)
+    course_name = dom['slug']
 
     logging.info('Parsing syllabus of on-demand course. '
                  'This may take some time, be patient ...')
@@ -317,7 +318,13 @@ def parse_on_demand_syllabus(session, page, reverse=False, intact_fnames=False,
     json_modules = dom['courseMaterial']['elements']
     course = CourseraOnDemand(session=session, course_id=dom['id'])
     ondemand_material_items = OnDemandCourseMaterialItems.create(
-        session=session, course_name=dom['slug'])
+        session=session, course_name=course_name)
+
+    if is_debug_run():
+        with open('%s-syllabus-raw.json' % course_name, 'w') as file_object:
+            json.dump(dom, file_object, indent=4)
+        with open('%s-course-material-items.json' % course_name, 'w') as file_object:
+            json.dump(ondemand_material_items._items, file_object, indent=4)
 
     for module in json_modules:
         module_slug = module['slug']
@@ -1026,6 +1033,10 @@ def download_on_demand_class(args, class_name):
                                        args.subtitle_language,
                                        args.video_resolution)
 
+    if is_debug_run():
+        with open('%s-syllabus-parsed.json' % class_name, 'w') as file_object:
+            json.dump(modules, file_object, indent=4)
+
     downloader = get_downloader(session, class_name, args)
 
     # obtain the resources
diff --git a/coursera/utils.py b/coursera/utils.py
index 3155d37..e58d4e8 100644
--- a/coursera/utils.py
+++ b/coursera/utils.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import random
 import re
 import string
 import sys
+import logging
 
 import six
 from bs4 import BeautifulSoup as BeautifulSoup_
@@ -48,6 +49,16 @@ else:
         return x
 
 
+def is_debug_run():
+    """
+    Check whether we're running with DEBUG loglevel.
+
+    @return: True if running with DEBUG loglevel.
+    @rtype: bool
+    """
+    return logging.getLogger().isEnabledFor(logging.DEBUG)
+
+
 def random_string(length):
     """
     Return a pseudo-random string of specified length.