Abstract
This paper reports preliminary findings on students enrolled in a massive open online course, who were also assigned to work in groups. Part of a larger study on the effect of groups on retention and completion in MOOCs, the paper provides students’ demographics (i.e., location, gender, education level, and employment status), and motivation for taking the course. Findings show that women outnumbered men and that students mostly enrolled into the course because of a friend. Indeed, research on MOOCs demonstrates that men outnumber women and that educational pursuit and professional development are the main motivators for taking MOOCs. Yet, this paper shows that when group work is included in a MOOC, women participate more. Furthermore, for students assigned to groups in a MOOC, friends are the principal incentive for enrolling into the course. These results are discussed in light of previous research, and implications for teaching and learning in online environments addressed.
Highlights
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are a recent trend in online or distance education, and research in this area is burgeoning
Identifying characteristics of learners engaged in group work, and their motivations for taking the course can add to the literature on group work in MOOCs and can give insights into how to enhance learning experiences and meet the learning needs of MOOC students working in groups
Drawing from the literature, participants were surveyed to understand if the characteristics of the population in this study focused on grouping students enrolled in this MOOC to assess group effect on persistence and retention, were similar to the characteristics identified in the literature
Summary
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are a recent trend in online or distance education, and research in this area is burgeoning. Discussions on learners’ demographics and motivations for taking a course have been to some extent covered in MOOC research (Despujol, Turro, Busqueis & Canero, 2014; Guo & Reinecke, 2014). Identifying characteristics of learners engaged in group work, and their motivations for taking the course can add to the literature on group work in MOOCs and can give insights into how to enhance learning experiences and meet the learning needs of MOOC students working in groups. The following literature review is divided into two areas: (a) demographics of MOOC learners in terms of gender, employment status and level of education and (b) motivation for enrolling into MOOCs. Taken together, the literature provides a rationale for the main research questions: What. Rebecca Yvonne Bayeck are the characteristics of students participating in a MOOC online group work (i.e., gender, education level, and employment status)? Rebecca Yvonne Bayeck are the characteristics of students participating in a MOOC online group work (i.e., gender, education level, and employment status)? And what motivates participants in this study to take the course?
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