Massive open online courses (MOOCs): Insights and challenges from a psychological perspective

Abstract

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) offer an exciting range of opportunities to widen access and participation in education. The massive and open nature of MOOCs places the control of learning at the discretion of the learner. Therefore, it is essential to understand learner behaviour. This paper examines the psychological considerations inherent in learning and explores the psychological determinants of learner behaviours relevant to MOOCs. A number of psychological challenges specific to the development and use of MOOCs such as the motivational, emotional and intellectual commitment of MOOC learners, and the skills profile that effective MOOC learners require are discussed. The psychological barriers that learners may encounter when engaging with MOOCs are identified. In doing so, we highlight the importance of considering the psychosocial and cognitive profile of the learner, and provide a psychological characterisation of many of the practical and theoretical issues that inform the design, development and delivery of MOOCs. For example, digital literacy skills, individual differences in motivation and self-regulation are key learner attributes in the context of MOOC-based learning. The temporal dimension of learning is also addressed: how learners perceive time online, how this influences time spent on tasks and how this may impact on the effective use of MOOCs. Given that MOOCs are increasingly being accessed using mobile devices, the psychological challenges of mobile MOOC-based learning are explored. It is anticipated that the insights derived from a psychologically informed consideration of MOOC-based learning will serve as a catalyst for debate, discussion and future research.

Research contributions on the educational use of MOOCs

“…In contrast the Delphi technique is used in «Problems with the application of MOOCs». Although other problems are starting to appear, such as that regulating to finding theoretical enclaves with educational and psychological theories, an aspect that has started to be considered by a number of authors in recent times (Terras and Ramsay, 2015). spanish journal of pedagogy year LXXV, n. 266, january-april 2017, 7-27 We must note that in a significant number of works falling within the qualitative methodology, interviews with key informants are used to collect information about the opinions that different groups (teachers, learners and administrators) have with about the educational possibilities of MOOCs and their limitations Cano, Fernández, and Crescenzi, 2015).…”

A Learning Analytics Approach for Evaluating the Impact of Interactivity in Online Video Lectures on the Attention Span of Students

“…Hence, offering them diverse tools from which they can choose those that fit their learning preferences is expected to increase their academic motivation and performance (Chandler & Teckchandani, 2015;Keller & Karau, 2013). Terras and Ramsay (2015) emphasize the importance of considering the diverse psychosocial and cognitive profiles of learners during the design, development, and delivery of MOOCs. Moreover, different types of video lectures have dissimilar effects on the sustained attention and cognitive load of verbalizers and visualizers (Chen & Wu, 2015).…”

Systematic literature review on self-regulated learning in massive open online courses

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Despite arguments about the importance of self-regulated learning (SRL) in massive open online courses (MOOCs) (Terras & Ramsay, 2015), understanding of the topic is limited. This study offers a systematic review of empirical research on SRL in MOOCs.

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“…Glance, Forsey, and Riley (2013) and Barnes (2013) explained that most MOOCs usually include short lecture videos with embedded questions, auto-graded quizzes, peer reviewing or assessment, and online discussion forums. As MOOCs place "control of learning at the discretion of the learner" (Terras & Ramsay, 2015, p. 1), it is essential to understand the learner behaviours required for autonomous learning in MOOCs (Terras & Ramsay, 2015). While little has been discovered about learner behaviours in MOOCs, self-regulated learning (SRL) has recently gotten attention as a crucial factor related to learner behaviours in MOOCs (deWaard, 2011;Terras & Ramsay, 2015).…”

“…As MOOCs place "control of learning at the discretion of the learner" (Terras & Ramsay, 2015, p. 1), it is essential to understand the learner behaviours required for autonomous learning in MOOCs (Terras & Ramsay, 2015). While little has been discovered about learner behaviours in MOOCs, self-regulated learning (SRL) has recently gotten attention as a crucial factor related to learner behaviours in MOOCs (deWaard, 2011;Terras & Ramsay, 2015). SRL has been identified as one of the vital factors positively affecting students' success in traditional online learning environments (Cho & Shen, 2013;Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2005).…”