Promoting engagement in online courses: What strategies can we learn from three highly rated MOOCS

Abstract

Although past research has sought to identify the factors of student engagement in traditional online courses, two questions remained largely unanswered with regard to Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): do the factors that could influence student engagement in traditional online courses also apply to online courses that are massive and open? What factors do students consider important in terms of their perceived ability to promote a satisfying or engaging online learning experience? This paper reports a case study of three top‐rated MOOCs in the disciplines of programming languages, literature, and arts & design in order to address these very questions. Using a mixed methods approach that combines participant observation with analysis of reflection data from 965 course participants, this paper seeks to understand the factors behind the popularity of these MOOCs. Five factors were found. These include the following, ranked in terms of importance: (1) problem‐centric learning with clear expositions, (2) instructor accessibility and passion, (3) active learning, (4) peer interaction, and (5) using helpful course resources. The specific design strategies pertaining to each factor are further discussed in this paper. These strategies can provide useful guidance for instructors and are a worthwhile subject for further experimental validation.

Analysis of the scientific literature on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) / Análisis de la literatura científica sobre los cursos en línea abiertos y masivos (MOOC)

“…It was classified works that directly address research related to access, view and add-on fees of the courses, as the work by Zhuhadar and Butterfield (2014); sentiment analysis and social interactions, as in Harris, Zheng, Kumar, and Kinshuk (2014) and students' engagement, as in Hew (2014).…”

Learning through engagement: MOOCs as an emergent form of provision

“…We acknowledge the term 'engagement' encompasses a range of dimensions and understandings incorporating behavioural, psychological and socio-cultural aspects of learner and institutional experiences (Kahu, 2013;Hew, 2014;Trowler, 2010).…”

“…This lack of direct supported instruction is commonly cited as a limitation of MOOCs as high quality effective learning spaces and is seen as a contributor to non completion rates and drop-outs. A study from the University of Edinburgh's Elearning & Digital Cultures MOOC indicated that many participants felt adrift and confused as to where the teaching was (Knox, 2014) and such negative student feedback has been reported in a study of a number of connectivist MOOCs (Kop et al, 2011) However various strategies have been deployed to enhance the sense of teacher presence (Hew, 2014) or at least provide proxies for the teacher in MOOCs. One of the earliest strategies has been establishing the presence of the educator through the use of video lectures.…”

Training Online Physical Educators: A Phenomenological Case Study

“…Conversely, Hew [50] found that students reported a greater feeling of connectedness and commitment to online courses when the instructors held "webcast" office hours. Office hours consisted of a one-hour live interactive discussion among the professor and students that could be accessed by telephone, discussion forums, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube [50].…”

“…Office hours consisted of a one-hour live interactive discussion among the professor and students that could be accessed by telephone, discussion forums, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube [50]. Specific to OLPE, Mosier [40] suggested that creative medians of student-to-student interactions can be facilitated by collaboration on projects or peer tutoring.…”