Massive Open Online Courses Learners Research Articles

Enhancing digital competence through story-based learning: a massive open online course (MOOC) approach

PurposeThis study investigated a story-based learning MOOC’s effectiveness in enhancing digital competence.Design/methodology/approachA quasi-experimental design with 5,501 participants enrolled in a developed MOOC course was assessed through pretests, formative assessments and posttests. K-means clustering, using the Self-Efficacy in Digital Competence Scale (SDCS), was employed to classify experimental and control groups and analyze differences in perceived competence across age groups (10s–60s).FindingsLearners’ digital competence significantly improved (p < 0.001) after the MOOC, demonstrating knowledge and skill gains across various domains. The highest SDCS domain was communication and collaboration, while the lowest was digital content creation. Additionally, the SDCS data showed higher self-efficacy in the 20–40s age group and lower in the 10, 50 and 60s.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings suggest a gap in learners’ digital content creation competence. Additional content could be incorporated to bridge this gap. This study supports story-based learning MOOCs for promoting digital competence.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the field by developing and evaluating a MOOC with story-based learning to explore learners’ digital competence and its relationship with age.

Early detection of serious but struggling learners in MOOCs using ensemble deep learning

ABSTRACT This study works on the early identification of serious but struggling students in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which facilitates a transition to a hybrid learning format. Firstly, we exclusively utilize basic behavior log features that are universally available across all MOOC platforms. Secondly, we encode each learning activity with a distinct identifier, which helps us utilize the current advances in NLP to address our problem. Thirdly, we seamlessly integrate our LSTM model with a Logistic Regression model, configured as a single dense layer with a sigmoid activation function, within the broader framework of deep learning.

Community in the Open: Supports, Challenges, and Impacts of Local Learning Communities of K-12 Adolescent MOOC Learners from Nepal

This exploratory qualitative study investigates the obstacles, local support, and learning outcomes for adolescent learners in Nepal taking massive open online courses (MOOCs). This study found that the major difficulties these learners faced were a lack of scaffolding, language barriers, limited technology and internet access, and unmatched learning capacity and MOOC learning objectives that were designed for adults originally. To address these challenges, a local community of teachers, peers, schools, and families played a significant role in inspiring learning, providing scaffolding and guidance, fostering a collective and open local learning environment, instilling motivation, and offering both emotional and technical support. MOOC learning increases the independence of these adolescent learners, supplementing school learning, supporting their career paths, providing practical skills beyond theories, and achieving mental well-being.

Examining Student Characteristics, Self-Regulated Learning Strategies, and Their Perceived Effects on Satisfaction and Academic Performance in MOOCs

The ultimate goals of education and training are the development of learners’ learning outcomes. The prospect of achieving high academic results should function as a driving force for students to be engaged in learning. Recognition of the factors affecting their learning satisfaction should facilitate their learning process, especially in online learning environments such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The purpose of this study was to examine the interactions among students’ characteristics, their perceived values of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies, satisfaction and academic performances. A mixed-methods design was employed to investigate the issue under exploration. The 227 surveyed responses were collected from English majors who had experience in MOOCs and were studying at a private university in Can Tho city in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Data from the survey was analysed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 25 for the correlations between their characteristics and the quantitative variables, while Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was performed to examine the perceived effects of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies on their satisfaction and academic outcomes. Qualitative data was collected through open-ended survey questions and analysed based on thematic analysis guidelines. The results revealed that SRL strategies such as strategic planning, time management, environment structuring, and help-seeking positively influenced both student satisfaction and academic performance. Notably, the study identified flexible learning time, self-paced learning, and the ability to choose study locations as significant factors enhancing student satisfaction. Conversely, limited social interaction, poor internet connectivity, and low motivation were found to be demotivating factors. Additionally, the study highlighted the importance of gender and prior online learning experience in shaping students' satisfaction and performance in MOOCs. While gender showed no significant correlation with SRL strategies, satisfaction, or academic performance, prior experience in online learning environments, such as the number of completed MOOC courses, was significantly correlated with better academic outcomes. However, a weak negative correlation between students' academic years and their satisfaction was observed, suggesting that more advanced students might face increased academic pressure and higher expectations, leading to lower satisfaction levels. The research underscores the critical role of SRL strategies in facilitating effective learning in MOOCs, especially in the context of English major students who often lack direct interaction with instructors and peers. Training students in SRL strategies can help them better manage their learning processes, overcome challenges, and achieve their academic goals. This study contributes to the understanding of how student characteristics and SRL strategies affect learning in online environments and suggests practical implications for enhancing MOOC experiences. Future research should investigate additional SRL strategies and include a larger, more diverse sample to provide a more comprehensive understanding of their impact on student satisfaction and academic performance in MOOCs. Furthermore, exploring the specific challenges faced by different academic disciplines in MOOCs could offer more tailored solutions to improve online learning experiences.

How to animate learners to persist in learning massive open online courses? An application of the stimulus-organism-response paradigm

Purpose The purpose of this study is to propose a research model based on the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) model to examine whether network externality, personalization and sociability as environmental feature antecedents to learners’ learning engagement (LE) can influence their learning persistence (LP) in massive open online courses (MOOCs). Design/methodology/approach Sample data for this study were collected from learners who had experience in taking MOOCs provided by the MOOC platform launched by a well-known university in Taiwan, and 371 usable questionnaires were analyzed using structural equation modeling in this study. Findings This study proved that learners’ perceived network externality, personalization and sociability in MOOCs positively affected their cognitive LE, psychological LE and social LE elicited by MOOCs, which jointly led to their LP in MOOCs. The results support all proposed hypotheses, and the research model accounts for 76.2% of the variance in learners’ LP in MOOCs. Originality/value This study uses the S–O–R model as a theoretical base to construct learners’ LP in MOOCs as a series of the inner process, which is affected by network externality, personalization and sociability. It is worth noting that three psychological constructs including cognitive LE, psychological LE and social LE are used to represent learners’ organismic states of MOOCs usage. To date, hedonic/utilitarian concepts are more often adopted as organisms in previous studies using the S–O–R model, and psychological constructs have received lesser attention. Hence, this study’ contribution on the application of capturing psychological constructs for completely expounding three types of environmental features as antecedents to learners’ LP in MOOCs is well documented.

Massive Open Online Courses in Social Sciences and Their Implementation at Universities in Delhi

Universities around the world have successfully incorporated Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) intotheir curricula and have facilitated credit transfers. The present study examines the integration of MOOCs inseven Indian universities. Moreover, the study focuses on the level of amalgamation of MOOCs, perceptions ofinstitutions regarding the provision of online courses, and transition of MOOCs from informal to formal education. Furthermore, the study investigates the hindrances faced by higher educational institutions in providing services to MOOC learners. Purposive sampling technique was employed to facilitate selection of institutions. The responses were collected using a structured questionnaire. The study found moderate level, low level and very low-level integration of MOOCs in all seven universities. Six out of seven institutions namely, JNU, JMI, DU, GGSIPU, DBRAUD and NLU, adopted “Explain the perceived usefulness” as a strategy to influence the affordability uptake of MOOCs. Five out of seven institutions educate users about different MOOC platforms in the information literacy events. Surprisingly, two institution libraries out of seven revealed that their library services align with MOOCs. Surprisingly, majority of libraries of the seven institutions have not formulated any noteworthy strategy to foster the uptake of MOOCs among the academic community. Therefore, LIS professionals ought to grasp the nuances of various MOOC platforms. Also, library strategies should include MOOCs so that users can benefit.

The Design of a MOOC on Health Behaviors: A Practical Blueprint for the Instructional Design of MOOCs

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are a primary mode of scaled-up online learning. They have enjoyed great popularity, which grew significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the growing demand for MOOCs and the desire of institutions to develop high-quality courses, research indicates that the educational impact of MOOCs is limited. Low instructional design quality has been cited as a culprit for the failure of MOOCs to support learning and skill development, prompting calls for a more thorough design of MOOCs. The aims of our work are to describe the systematic development of guiding principles that informed instructional design decisions for our MOOC on health behaviors and to showcase how these principles were implemented in practice. Through triangulation of various sources of evidence on anticipated learners and the MOOC learning environment, we identified four key aspects we needed to address with our instructional design to facilitate learning. We formulated guiding principles that both addressed these aspects and served as a reference point during instructional design. Our approach to making instructional design decisions can serve as a practical blueprint for other MOOC developers.

Learner Engagement and Demographic Influences in Brazilian Massive Open Online Courses: Aprenda Mais Platform Case Study

This paper explores the dynamics of student engagement and demographic influences in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The study analyzes multiple facets of Brazilian MOOC participation, including re-enrollment patterns, course completion rates, and the impact of demographic characteristics on learning outcomes. Using survey data and statistical analyses from the public Aprenda Mais Platform, this study reveals that MOOC learners exhibit a strong tendency toward continuous learning, with a majority re-enrolling in subsequent courses within a short timeframe. The average completion rate across courses is around 42.14%, with learners maintaining consistent academic performance. Demographic factors, notably, race/color and disability, are found to influence enrollment and completion rates, underscoring the importance of inclusive educational practices. Geographical location impacts students’ decision to enroll in and complete courses, highlighting the necessity for region-specific educational strategies. The research concludes that a diverse array of factors, including content interest, personal motivation, and demographic attributes, shape student engagement in MOOCs. These insights are vital for educators and course designers in creating effective, inclusive, and engaging online learning experiences.

CR-LCRP: Course recommendation based on Learner–Course Relation Prediction with data augmentation in a heterogeneous view

Course recommendation aims to offer suitable courses for learners and alleviate dropout issue in Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) learning scenarios. The present studies focus on learning semantic representations by modeling the learner’s personal information and the courses’ teaching attributes. However, with massive courses offered and various learners involved, the data sparsity and cold start are still two dominant challenges hindering the booming of online learning, which roughly results from the scarce exploitation on various relationships between learners and courses. To alleviate the above issues, we leverage the strong ability of Heterogeneous Information Network (HIN) in modeling heterogeneous data types and complex structural characteristics, and propose a Course Recommendation method based on Learner–Course Relation Prediction (CR-LCRP) with multi-granularity data augmentation strategy. Specifically, the multi-source interactive data on courses, the learner–learner similarity and the course–course similarity are integrated in building a heterogeneous information network. With both explicit and implicit features extracted and structural information from meta-paths enhanced, the CR-LCRP method learns high-quality representations of learners and courses, and eventually performs learner–course relation prediction in MOOC learning scenarios. Finally, extensive experiments are conducted on real-world MOOCs datasets and the experimental results demonstrate that the proposed CR-LCRP method outperforms the state-of-the-art baseline models with superior performance on several widely used evaluation metrics.

Towards Quality Assurance in MOOCs: A Comprehensive Review and Micro-Level Framework

MOOCs (massive open online courses), because of their scale and accessibility, have become a major area of interest in contemporary education. However, despite their growing popularity, the question of their quality remains a central concern, partly due to the lack of consensus on the criteria establishing such quality. This study set out to fill this gap by carrying out a systematic review of the existing literature on MOOC quality and proposing a specific quality assurance framework at a micro level. The methodology employed in this research consisted of a careful analysis of MOOC success factor’s using Biggs’ classification scheme, conducted over a four-year period from 2018 to 2022. The results highlighted the compelling need to consider various indicators across presage, process, and product variables when designing and evaluating MOOCs. This implied paying particular attention to pedagogical quality, both from the learner’s and the teacher’s point of view. The quality framework thus developed is of significant importance. It offers valuable guidance to MOOC designers, learners, and researchers, providing them with an in-depth understanding of the key elements contributing to MOOC quality and facilitating their continuous improvement. In addition, this study highlighted the need to address aspects for future research, including large-scale automated evaluation of MOOCs. By focusing on pedagogical quality, MOOCs can play a vital role in providing meaningful learning experiences, maximizing learner satisfaction, and ensuring their success as innovative educational systems adapted to the changing needs of contemporary education.

Investigating the effects of nudges to promote knowledge-sharing behaviours on MOOC forums: a mixed method design

ABSTRACT Knowledge-sharing in forums is an integral part of many MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). However, forum usage for knowledge-sharing in MOOCs is often inadequate. This study adopts a mixed-methods approach to investigate problems behind MOOC learners’ problematic forum participation and propose real-time sharing-quality-monitoring mechanisms to mitigate the problems. We explore different designs and implementation of computerised nudges to enhance knowledge contribution, considering challenges such as vast data, user aversion to AI monitoring, and complex user interactions. Through testing graphical (Model A), numerical (Model B), and textual message (Model C) interface designs, we found that graphical and numerical designs were most effective in improving performance. However, Model C received conflicting judgments, with some users feeling controlled by the AI while others found algorithmic guidance valuable. Our findings shed light on leveraging computerised nudges for meaningful contributions and address concerns related to AI monitoring. The complex nature of user interactions, behaviours, and the abundance of data present significant challenges that require innovative approaches. This study contributes to understanding the issues in MOOC forum participation and provides insights into effective computerised nudges. We discuss directions for refining the current design, emphasising the need for more design science research in this domain.

What rationale would work? Unfolding the role of learners’ attitudes and motivation in predicting learning engagement and perceived learning outcomes in MOOCs

The aim of this study is to gain insight into the interplay between attitudes, motivation, learning engagement, and perceived learning outcomes in massive open online courses (MOOCs). An online survey was administered to 232 MOOC learners. This study provided comprehensive explanations for individual differences in learning engagement and perceived learning outcomes in MOOCs with a modified model of the expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation. The structural equation modeling revealed that attitudes served as a precursor of participation in MOOCs that significantly influenced self-efficacy, intrinsic value, and task effort cost; self-efficacy and intrinsic value were positively associated with both learning engagement and perceived learning outcomes, while attitudes toward MOOC learning was positively related to perceived learning outcomes only. Furthermore, the mediation analyses highlighted that intrinsic value was a powerful mediator, which positively influenced the effects of attitudes and self-efficacy on learning engagement and perceived learning outcomes. The moderation analyses discovered that task effort cost moderated the effects of attitudes on learning engagement and perceived learning outcomes. Curriculum designers and instructors could benefit from this study to understand what rationales drive individuals to be engaged in MOOC learning and to reach greater perceived learning outcomes in MOOCs.

The Structure and Characteristics of Effective Massive Open Online Course Learning Strategies among College Students: A Qualitative Study

To enhance the development of massive open online course (MOOC) teaching and learning, prevalent methods and characteristics employed by college students in MOOC learning strategies must be investigated. This study employed the grounded theory approach to systematically encode and construct a learning strategy model for the use of MOOCs among college students in China. This study used data obtained from 57 college students and applied qualitative research coding procedures and NVivo software (version 12.0). The results revealed that the core learning strategies used by college students in MOOC learning could be categorized into cognitive, resource management, and metacognitive types. Five specific learning strategies were most frequently used: elaboration, interactive and cooperation, help-seeking, effort management, and information selection strategies. However, association and questioning strategies are infrequently employed by college students in their learning. Therefore, educators must actively guide students to expand their innovative thinking abilities by implementing these strategies.

Development of a Theoretical Framework of MOOCs with Gamification Elements to Enhance Students’ Higher-Order Thinking Skills: A Critical Review of the Literature

Aim/Purpose: This study aims to develop a theoretical framework for enhancing students’ higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) by integrating massive open online courses (MOOCs) with gamification elements. Background: There is a growing demand to develop students’ innovative thinking abilities through MOOCs, focusing on higher-order thinking skills (HOTS), which are essential for 21st-century challenges. While gamification has shown potential in enhancing HOTS, its integration within MOOCs to improve these skills remains underexplored. Enhancing students’ HOTS through MOOCs combined with gamification is crucial for developing advanced skills like analysis, evaluation, and creativity. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a robust theoretical framework that effectively merges MOOCs and gamification to enhance students’ HOTS. Methodology: This research used a qualitative research approach employing critical analysis techniques. The research procedures were guided by the SALSA framework. A total of 19 articles from the SCOPUS and Google Scholar databases were selected based on specific criteria: articles published between 2013-2023, articles with keywords such as MOOCs, gamification, higher-order thinking, or engagement, and articles written in English. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify common themes in the selected articles. The proposed framework was developed by drawing upon well-established theories in the fields of educational technology, online learning, collaborative learning, connectivism, student engagement, and Bloom’s taxonomy. Contribution: This study not only synthesizes existing research on MOOCs but also presents a holistic and integrated framework for leveraging learning theories, gamification elements, student engagement dimensions, and HOTS to enhance the effectiveness of MOOC-based education. The proposed framework aims to provide researchers and educators with a comprehensive model for integrating gamification elements into MOOCs to enhance students’ higher-order thinking skills. By utilizing this framework, educators can design more engaging and effective online courses, while researchers can further investigate the impact of gamification on learning outcomes and student engagement. Findings: This study proposes a framework that integrates three main components: connectivism, online collaborative learning, and gamification principles. Implementing these components in the MOOC learning environment aims to enhance digital higher-order thinking as proposed by Churches and improve students' feelings and perceptions towards MOOC learning. Recommendations for Practitioners: By recognizing the unique challenges of maintaining students’ attention in the context of MOOC learning, practitioners can incorporate gamification elements into MOOC learning environments to enhance students’ HOTS. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers can further explore the understanding and measurement of the dynamics of interactions and engagement within MOOCs. Additionally, they should aim to identify which gamification elements effectively capture students’ attention and contribute to their overall engagement. Impact on Society: By focusing on HOTS, especially through gamification, society can anticipate a generation of individuals with improved critical thinking, problem-solving, and innovative capabilities. Furthermore, the implementation of connectivism in MOOCs can promote a global exchange of knowledge, resulting in diverse perspectives and a shared pool of information. This, in turn, will contribute to a more interconnected and collaborative world to address complex challenges. Future Research: The future direction of research in MOOC learning contexts should prioritize guaranteeing and fostering student engagement. It should also involve exploring the potential of gamification within MOOCs and refining instructional designs to specifically enhance higher-order thinking skills. By addressing these critical aspects, researchers can contribute to the ongoing evolution of online education and ensure its effectiveness and relevance in the ever-changing landscape of digital learning.

Designing effective discussion forum in MOOCs: insights from learner perspectives

IntroductionThe study focuses on addressing the gap between the perspectives of learners and the designers of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), with a particular emphasis on asynchronous discussion forums within these courses. The primary objective of this study is to bridge the gap in understanding between MOOC designers and learners regarding the organization and usability of discussion forums.MethodsIt aims to achieve this objective through a navigation experiment that investigates three main factors: (1) Classification of Discussion Forum Posts: This involves how discussion forum posts are categorized or organized. (2) Design of Different Discussion Forum Patterns: The study explores the effectiveness of various discussion forum design patterns. (3) Evaluation of Learners’ Perspective: It assesses the learners’ experiences and viewpoints regarding the discussion forums. The study identifies a gap in prior research, where the learner’s perspective has often been neglected when examining discussion forum organization and usability in MOOCs.ResultsThe results of the study indicate that the redesigned discussion forum was successful in reducing the time required by learners to navigate and explore the discussion forum. This suggests that improvements in interactive user interfaces, design elements, usability, and time efficiency can enhance the design of asynchronous discussion forums in MOOCs. The study offers recommendations and insights that MOOC designers can implement to create more effective and engaging discussion forums. These recommendations are based on the identified features and design elements that are crucial for learner satisfaction and interaction efficiency. Implementing the study’s findings by considering learner perspectives, MOOC designers can enhance the overall quality of the learning process. This includes making the learning environment more engaging for both learners and instructors.DiscussionThe study contributes to the field of online education by emphasizing the importance of learner perspectives and offering practical guidance on optimizing the design, usability, and time efficiency of discussion forums in MOOCs. In summary, this study seeks to improve the design of asynchronous discussion forums in MOOCs by focusing on the learners’ perspective, usability, and efficiency. It not only identifies key factors but also provides recommendations for MOOC designers to enhance the learning experience and engagement within these online courses.

Motivation for learning in campus-integrated MOOCs: Self-determined students, grade hunters and teacher trusters

Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) integration into campus education is rising, in many different forms. When integrating MOOCs, motivation to learn demands consideration as it is related to academic achievement and well-being. Student motivation in formal integrated MOOC learning is understudied. This study aimed to characterize the shape of motivation to learn in integrated MOOC learning. Motivation profiles of undergraduate students that learn in three different MOOC integration designs were explored, as was the distribution of profiles among integration designs. Finally, factors that underpin motivation were compared between integration designs. Six motivation profiles were recovered through a two-step cluster analysis: Self-determined students, highly self-determined students, grade hunters, and teacher trusters who are moderately, highly, or extremely trusting. Proportions of motivation profiles differed significantly between MOOC integration designs, and psychological needs were satisfied and frustrated significantly different between designs. Implications for future MOOC integration research and practice are discussed.

Learning Outcome of Course Plantform, Teacher Ability and Students Satisfaction in Utilizing Massive Open Online Course (MOOCs)

The study assessed the effectiveness of course platforms, teachers’ ability, and students’ satisfaction in utilizing Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) for learning, and the research locale is in Hunan Province of China where learners and teachers from over 40 colleges take courses using MOOC learning platform. The study was conducted in the 2023 academic year. The research design is the quantitative approach utilizing the descriptive comparative-correlational research design. The sample size was 350 students who participate in MOOC courses in Hunan Province. And for the interview questions-10 teachers participated in the interview. SPSS22.0 version was used to process and analyze the results of the questionnaire survey. Results showed that there were more male student-respondents who participated in this study. Majority of the respondents are below 20 years old, and most of them have used the platform for at least 3 years. The highest ranked dimension in effectiveness is the effectiveness of the course designs which suggests that the course designs in the MOOC platforms are extremely effective. Meanwhile, the least of the dimensions is the course materials which also suggests that the course materials are extremely effective. Students who are 20 years and below have significantly higher assessment scores for course materials, structure and presentation, and overall effectiveness of course platforms compared to those who are 22 years old. Furthermore, there are no significant differences in the assessment of the students on course design among levels of age and years of use. However, the assessment of female students on course design is significantly higher compared to male students. On the other hand, in teachers’ ability, the highest ranked dimension is the teachers’ ability in interactive learning which suggests that the teachers are extremely competent. The least of the dimensions is the teachers’ ability in their teaching styles which also suggests that the teaching styles of the teachers proved that they are extremely competent. There are no significant differences in the assessment of the students about their teacher’s ability in MOOCs and in terms of interactive learning and knowledge of course content among levels of sex, ge, and years of use. As for students’ satisfaction, he highest ranked dimension is the students’ satisfaction with the learning outcomes which suggests that the students are extremely satisfied. The least of the dimensions is the students’ satisfaction with the attitude towards the use of online courses which suggests that the students are extremely satisfied. There are no significant differences in the level of satisfaction of the students in utilizing MOOCs based on learning outcomes, course engagement, and attitude toward the use of online courses among levels of sex, age, and years of use. Moreover, there are no significant relationships between the effectiveness of MOOC course platforms and the students’ assessment on their teacher’s ability and satisfaction. However, there are significant positive relationships between the student’s assessment of their teachers’ teaching styles and teaching ability and their attitude towards the use of online courses. Some of the challenges experienced by teachers while teaching in MOOC platforms include heavy workload, substantial time commitment, insufficient support and lack of compensation, difficulty in providing individualized feedback, and high rate of course dropouts among others.

Pilot study of massive open online course (MOOC) implementation in electrocardiography (ECG) learning: perspectives from general practitioners

Link of Video Abstract: https://youtu.be/N3kTT9WiLNw Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is Indonesia's primary cause of morbidity and mortality. Rapid detection and appropriate treatment of CVD cases are needed to reduce mortality. Electrocardiography (ECG) is a simple examination modality that can detect many cardiac abnormalities. General practitioners are expected to master the interpretation of basic ECG. Massive open online course (MOOC) is a breakthrough that can facilitate profound learning without temporal and physical barriers and support continuing medical education. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the implementation of MOOC in ECG learning among a limited number of general practitioners. Methods: Consecutive sampling was used to recruit the subjects. Subjects were given ten weeks to finish all modules and quizzes. Pre-test and post-test were taken. User satisfaction was evaluated using a questionnaire. A focused group discussion (FGD) was conducted to explore subjects' learning experiences and perspectives toward the learning system using MOOC. Results: 17 general practitioners participated in the study, but only seven could finish all the modules and quizzes. All subjects were aged under 30 years old. Those who could complete the course took 10-39 days. Post-test scores were significantly higher than pre-test scores (p=0.038). Although subjects agreed that MOOC was convenient, attractive, and suitable for general practitioners in clinical practice, they demanded an explanation of the quiz answers. They suggested that some modules should be optional. Conclusion: MOOC learning was suitable for general practitioners to improve their ECG interpretation skills. Some features should be added to increase user satisfaction. A study with extensive subjects is needed to analyze the effectiveness of this ECG course.

Unlocking teachers’ potential: MOOCLS, a visualization tool for enhancing MOOC teaching

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are revolutionizing online education and have become a popular teaching platform. However, traditional MOOCs often overlook learners' individual needs and preferences when designing learning materials and activities, resulting in suboptimal learning experiences. To address this issue, this paper proposes an approach to identify learners' preferences for different learning styles by analyzing their traces in MOOC environments. The Felder–Silverman Learning Style Model is adopted as it is one of the most widely used models in technology-enhanced learning. This research focuses on developing a reliable predictive model that can accurately identify learning styles. Based on insights gained from our model implementation, we propose MOOCLS (MOOC Learning Styles), an intuitive visualization tool. MOOCLS can help teachers and instructional designers to gain significant insight into the diversity of learning styles within their MOOCs. This will allow them to design activities and content that better support the learning styles of their learners, which can lead to higher learning engagement, improved performance, and reduction in time to learn.

Exploring the impact of chat-based collaborative activities and SRL-focused interventions on students’ self-regulation profiles, participation in collaborative activities, retention, and learning in MOOCs

AbstractDespite their potential to deliver a high-quality learning experience, massive open online courses (MOOCs) pose several issues, such as high dropout rates, difficulties in collaboration between students, low teaching involvement, and limited teacher–student interaction. Most of these issues can be attributed to the large number, diversity, and variation in self-regulated learning (SRL) skills of participants in MOOCs. Many instructional designers try to overcome these issues by incorporating collaborative activities. Others try to scaffold students’ SRL levels by making SRL-focused interventions. However, limited research combines the study of SRL-focused interventions with students’ engagement in collaborative activities, course retention, and learning outcomes of MOOC environments. We deployed a programming-oriented MOOC in which we incorporated chat-based collaborative activities, supported by a learning analytics dashboard. Students were asked to complete SRL-focused questionnaires at the beginning and the end of the course. Based on their score, we calculated an average score that forms their SRL level, creating three groups: (a) control, (b) general intervention, and (c) personalized intervention in which we provided personalized interventions. We compared the students’ learning outcomes, participation in collaborative activities, and retention in the MOOC. These comparisons provided evidence regarding the positive impact of different intervention modes on students’ engagement in collaborative activities and their learning outcomes, with respect to their various SRL profiles. Students allocated to the general and personalized intervention groups displayed increased participation in the collaborative activities and learning outcomes, as compared to students assigned to the control group. We also documented that the SRL interventions positively affected students’ course retention.