Gamification Increases Completion Rates in Massive Open Online Courses

Krzysztof Nesterowicz,Tamás Szádeczky,Ulkar Bayramova,Anna Maria Augustyn,Ana Scarlat,Seyed-Mohammad Fereshtehnejad,Anthony Ash

doi:10.4018/ijicte.294447

Abstract

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) aim at unlimited participation and open access via the web. There are concerns about the actual value of such courses. This is predominantly due to higher dropout rates. According to studies, only 7-13% go on to complete these courses. The high dropout rate in MOOCs is a challenge for education providers. This paper aims to explore reasons for high dropout rates within MOOCs and how they can be minimized. With this in mind, two research questions have been set for this study: 1) Why do MOOC participants not complete their courses? 2) How can the course completion rate be increased? Implementation of the strategies investigated in this paper can increase completion rates in MOOCs. In conclusion, after analyzing the collected data, the final results have shown that gamification increased the completion rate of MOOCs.

Highlights

Among the various e-learning courses offered, one option is the MOOC model, which is “a course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web” (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2016) “with a publicly shared curriculum and open-ended outcomes” (McAuley et al, 2010)
This paper aims to explore reasons for high dropout rates within MOOCs and how they can be minimized
Two research questions have been set for this study: 1) Why do MOOC participants not complete their courses? 2) How can the course completion rate be increased? Implementation of the strategies investigated in this paper can increase completion rates in MOOCs

Summary

Introduction

Among the various e-learning courses offered, one option is the MOOC model, which is “a course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web” (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2016) “with a publicly shared curriculum and open-ended outcomes” (McAuley et al, 2010). Higher education institutions have become more receptive to integrating new technologies into their teaching and learning processes over the last decade. One of these new technologies has been MOOCs (Costa et al, 2018). Taking the perspective of the supply side, Hollands and Tirthali looked into why institutions offered MOOCs, with a qualitative study of 83 interviews with leaders of 29 US institutions. They identified 6 main objectives (Hollands & Tirthali, 2014): 1. Only a 7-13% pass rate or sometimes even less than that go on to complete these courses (Jordan, 2014)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion