A tale of two MOOCs: How student motivation and participation predict learning outcomes in different MOOCs

Abstract

Recent scholarly discussions about massive open online courses (MOOCs) highlight pedagogical and practical issues that separate MOOCs from other learning settings, especially how theories of learning translate to MOOC students' motivation, participation, and performance. What is missing from these discussions is the purpose of the MOOC. We report a comparative study of two MOOCs that differ in educational purpose, but are similar in design. Our sample consisted of 983 students in a professional development MOOC, and 648 students in a MOOC focused on general interest. We first report differences between the two MOOCs, in terms of student demographics, achievement motivation, and participation. For each MOOC, we ran a two-stage regression analysis to determine the extent to which motivation variables (stage 1) and participation variables (stage 2) predicted performance. Patterns in demographic background and motivation differed in ways that were consistent with the MOOCs' purposes. Motivation and participation predicted performance, but this relationship differed between the two MOOCs and reflected the patterns of participation. Professional development motivation contributed to final grade in the professional development MOOC, but not the general interest MOOC. The findings have implications for how MOOC designers think about their target audience, and for students who aim for high final grades.Massive open online courses (MOOCs) offer people the opportunity to study a variety of courses for a variety of reasons, including personal interest, professional development, and social networking. Likewise, the MOOCs themselves vary in intended purpose, in terms of how designers intend their MOOC to serve the needs of prospective students, especially in addressing intrinsic goals (e.g., general interest), or extrinsic goals (e.g., professional development). Recent research has examined the relationship between MOOC students' motivation, participation, and performance (DeBoer, Kizilcec & Schneider, 2015;Milligan, Littlejohn, & Margaryan, 2013;Xiong et al., 2015). What is unclear is how MOOCs with different intended purposes might impact students' motivations and participation, and how these subsequently impact performance. Understanding this relationship has important pedagogical and practical implications for future MOOC success.In this paper, we report on a comparative study of two MOOCs that are similar in instructional design, in that they have similar learning environments (e.g., online platform, length of time, year) and use similar learning and instructional objects (e.g., discussion forums, video lectures, quizzes [Spector, Johnson, & Young, 2014]); but they differ in the designer's intended purpose. First, we briefly consider the emerging literature on MOOCs, paying particular attention to the varied purposes of MOOCs, student motivation and participation. We examine the differences between the two MOOCs, and outline how these differences are -and are not -reflected in the student demographics, achievement motiva...

Do tutors make a difference in online learning? A comparative study in two Open Online Courses

“…Therefore Onah et al (2015) suggested that student motivation might be more important in predicting success. Similarly, Brooker, Corrin, de Barba, Lodge and Kennedy (2018) reported that in a professional development MOOC (which would be consistent with our situation), professional development motivation contributed to the final grade, and their review of the literature emphasised the importance of motivation in student participation and performance. Although we did not measure motivation, our results lead us to conclude that motivation to complete the course is likely to be a confounding factor, influencing both commitment to participation in discussion forums and the outcomes of grades and course completion.…”

Open Praxis vol. 11 issue 3

“…Therefore Onah et al (2015) suggested that student motivation might be more important in predicting success. Similarly, Brooker, Corrin, de Barba, Lodge and Kennedy (2018) reported that in a professional development MOOC (which would be consistent with our situation), professional development motivation contributed to the final grade, and their review of the literature emphasised the importance of motivation in student participation and performance. Although we did not measure motivation, our results lead us to conclude that motivation to complete the course is likely to be a confounding factor, influencing both commitment to participation in discussion forums and the outcomes of grades and course completion.…”

Factors for Success and Course Completion in Massive Open Online Courses through the Lens of Participant Types

“…Therefore, the emergence of this factor might stem from the features of course design. A number of studies have also underlined the importance of interaction among students as an ingredient for success in the MOOC (Brooker et al, 2018;İbicioğlu & Antalyalı, 2005;Koutropoulos & Hogue, 2012;Loizzo & Ertmer, 2015;Soong et al, 2001). Consequently, designing online courses which can enhance interaction among participants and offer collaborative activities can promote participants' achievement in the MOOC.…”