Participating by activity or by week in MOOCs
| Pages | 572-585 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-04-2018-0033 |
| Published date | 08 October 2018 |
| Date | 08 October 2018 |
| Author | Alok Baikadi,Carrie Demmans Epp,Christian D. Schunn |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library & information services |
Participating by activity or by
week in MOOCs
Alok Baikadi
Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Carrie Demmans Epp
Department of Computer Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, and
Christian D. Schunn
Learning Research and Development Center,
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this study was to provide a new characterization of the extent to which learners
complete learning activities in massive open online courses (MOOCs), a central challenge in these contexts. Prior
explorations of learner interactions with MOOC materials have often described these interactions through
stereotypes, which accounts for neither the full spectrum of potential learner activities nor the ways those
patterns differ across course designs.
Design/methodology/approach –To overcome these shortcomings, the authors apply confirmatory
and exploratory factor analysis to learner activities within three MOOCs to test different models of
participationacross courses and populations found within those courses.
Findings –Courses varied in the extent to which participation was driven by learning activities vs time/
topic or a mixtureof both, but this was stable across offeringsof the same course.
Research limitations/implications –The results call for a reconceptualization of how different
learning activities within a MOOC are designed to work together,to better allow strong learning outcomes
even withinone activity form or more strongly encourageparticipation across activities.
Originality/value –The authors validate new continuous-patterns rather than a discrete-pattern participation
model for MOOC learning.
Keywords Participation, MOOCs
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The appearance of massive open online courses (MOOCs), their potential to democratize
learning and the media attention they initially received have more recently given way to
disillusionment over their inability to fulfil the promises of their early proponents. Much of
this disillusionmentcentered on their high attrition rates and the demographicsof those who
succeeded –predominantly educated men living in North America or Europe (Kizilcec and
Halawa, 2015). Arguments around the importance of considering learner intent emerged to
explain why so few learnerscompleted MOOCs (Kizilcec et al., 2013). However, user intent is
only part of the story,and simple explanations that stereotype users as completersand topic
shoppers inhibit our understanding of how people interactwith this technology. We need a
better understanding of the nuanced ways in which learners choose to interact with freely
available educational resources (Anderson et al.,2014;Baikadi et al.,2016;Gasevic et al.,
2014) if we are to improve them by adding new features, designing better content or
ILS
119,9/10
572
Received29 April 2018
Accepted23 June 2018
Informationand Learning Science
Vol.119 No. 9/10, 2018
pp. 572-585
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2398-5348
DOI 10.1108/ILS-04-2018-0033
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