Adaptive learning presents educators with a possibility of providing learning opportunities tailored to each student's individual needs. As such, adaptive learning may contribute to both improving student learning outcomes and increasing student motivation and engagement. In this paper, we present the findings from a pilot of adaptive quizzes in a fully online unit at an Australian higher education provider. Results indicate that adaptive quizzes contribute to student motivation and engagement, and students perceive that adaptive quizzes support their learning. Interestingly, our results reveal that student scores did not increase significantly as a result of the introduction of adaptive quizzes, indicating that students may not be best placed to assess their own learning outcomes. Despite this, we conclude that adaptive quizzes have value to increase student motivation and engagement.
We report on a study conducted on a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to explore and improve understanding and practice about MOOC learning design and participant motivations and expectations. The “Carpe Diem” MOOC was designed, developed and delivered in 2014. The MOOC participants' experiences were studied through surveys and interviews, and the analysis was triangulated. Three dominant motivations to complete the MOOC were found: to further existing knowledge, to acquire skills in the learning design process and to apply the learning design methodology in practice. We describe the relationship between participant motivations and expectations in this MOOC, which was undertaken mainly by participants who were themselves educators, and make recommendations for pedagogical design in MOOCs to promote and enable participant engagement and completion.
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