Massive Open Online Courses Research Articles

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) in genomic variant interpretation: An innovative education strategy for the growing genetic counselor workforce.

The growth in genomic testing in healthcare requires a highly trained specialist workforce to ensure evidence based clinical germline variant interpretation. Genetic counselors form a core part of the clinical genomics multidisciplinary team (MDT) and represent a growing workforce participating in variant interpretation from data analysis to the patient consultation. Standardized, high-quality variant interpretation training for Genetic Counselors has historically been ad hoc and variable, with existing programs lacking capacity to reach the entire workforce. To address the requirement for scalable variant interpretation training for genomics healthcare professionals (HCPs), two Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) were developed. We analyzed the data from 17 Genetic counselors, as part of an evaluation cohort completing the first run of these MOOCs. Overall genetic counselors enjoyed the courses, felt they were clinically relevant and would recommend them to colleagues. Common challenges amongst the genetic counseling workforces included utilizing relevant databases and finding time in the workday to complete training. These findings suggest MOOCs could be an acceptable option to ensure a consistent and transferrable high standard of training, complimentary to existing curricula. They also hold the potential to facilitate large-scale education to update the genetic counseling workforce when changes in variant interpretation guidance occur.

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.

The role of Massive Open Online Courses in transforming academic education and university experience

The role of Massive Open Online Courses in transforming academic education and university experience

Massive open online courses learners' continuance intention: shaping a roadmap to micro-credentials

PurposeThis study intends to investigate the determinants of learners' continuance intention to use massive open online courses (MOOCs) for personal or professional development.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed quantitative research design. The respondents were individual learners from six selected universities in China who used MOOCs for continuous learning. A purposive sampling technique was employed to obtain 270 valid samples. Data were analyzed and analytical outputs were produced using the techniques of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling and Importance-Performance Matrix.FindingsExpectation confirmation was found to have a positive relationship with perceived usefulness, flow experience, learning self-efficacy and satisfaction with MOOCs. Perceived usefulness, flow experience and leaning self-efficacy were also found to have a positive relationship with MOOC satisfaction. In addition, perceived usefulness, flow experience, learning self-efficacy and MOOC satisfaction had a positive impact on continuance usage intention.Originality/valueThe outcomes of the study can serve as a practical reference for MOOC providers and decision-makers to develop relevant strategies to increase the course completion rates.

A Study on Design, Development and Implementation of MOOCs by Faculty Members in Central Universities of India: Problems and Prospects

Technology is a promising development in education, allowing learning materials to be accessed anytime and anywhere, providing a global learning environment. MOOCs, Massive Open Online Courses, are designed to support unlimited participation of teacher/instructor and learner. Thousands of people can access knowledge disseminated across the globe through MOOCs, which can offer a solution to those who might have a problem limiting or compromising access to the traditional way of formal learning. Purpose: With the new education policy of having a virtual university, the creation of e-content and making them available on digital platforms, the Government of India has taken a step to modernize the education system of India. The creation of MOOCs platform Swayam is a very new initiative taken by the Government of India to promote online learning and offer quality education to people’s doorstep. UGC has urged all the universities to adopt online courses available on the Swayam platform and to motivate faculties to design and deliver MOOCs. The present study investigated the growth of MOOCs at the Swayam platform, and the involvement of Central University (CU) faculty in the design, development and implementation of MOOCs. Methodology: A census survey is conducted among the faculty of Central University, particularly those offering a MOOCs on the Swayam platform. The researchers used the Google Form platform to disseminate the questionnaires and collect responses. Findings: The findings of the study showed the existence of a total of 26 Central University faculty members offering MOOCs on the Swayam platform. Institutional Reputation, Creating National Identity and personal Interest are the factors motivating the design and delivery of MOOCs. The study also revealed the key factors required for designing MOOCs including support from the Institution, Hardware/Software Resources, Time for Designing MOOCs, Availability of Contents (OERs), Learning Contents for the Course, Instructor’s Role, Duration of the Course, Objectives of the Course and Pedagogical Approaches. Lack of Infrastructure is the most common problem faced by the faculty while designing MOOCs. Originality: The study is an original research work conducted using an online questionnaire, and the results drawn are based on the data received from the respondents.

Predicting Dropout in Programming MOOCs through Demographic Insights

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have gained widespread popularity for their potential to offer education to an unlimited global audience. However, they also face a critical challenge in the form of high dropout rates. This paper addresses the need to identify students at risk of dropping out early in MOOCs, enabling course organizers to provide targeted support or adapt the course content to meet students’ expectations. In this context, zero-time dropout predictors, which utilize demographic data before the course commences, hold significant potential. Despite a lack of consensus in the existing literature regarding the efficacy of demographic data in dropout prediction, this study delves into this issue to contribute new insights to the ongoing discourse. Through an extensive review of prior research and a detailed analysis of data acquired from two programming MOOCs, we aim to shed light on the relationship between students’ demographic characteristics and their likelihood of early dropout from MOOCs, using logistic regression. This research extends the current understanding of the impact of demographic features on student retention. The results indicate that age, education level, student status, nationality, and disability can be used as predictors of dropout rate, though not in every course. The findings presented here are expected to affect the development of more effective strategies for reducing MOOC dropout rates, ultimately enhancing the educational experience for online learners.

A Classification and Retrieval System for Learning Resources of MOOC

In this information age, massive open online courses (MOOCs) have become an integral component of modern education. These courses encompass a wide range of resources, such as videos, audios, texts, and other forms. An accompanying question is how to effectively organize, classify, and retrieve these resources. However, currently available classification and retrieval methods are mostly based on text retrieval technologies. As a result, multi-modal resources such as videos and audios are often ignored or incorrectly classified. Furthermore, more current methods exhibit low efficiency when processing the vast amount of data in MOOCs. To address and solve these issues, this study focuses on the extraction and fusion of multi-modal features of MOOC resources. It proposes an efficient classification and retrieval method based on 3D convolution, aiming to offer a more accurate and efficient approach for classifying and retrieving MOOC resources.

Massive Online Open Course „Essential Radiochemistry for Society“

The massive open online course "Essential radiochemistry for society" represents a modern form of education. Due to its attractive design, varied content and interactive nature, it has the potential to appeal to various interest groups. Thematically, the course is divided into five weeks: Radiochemistry for the environment, health, industry, nuclear energy and society. In addition to radiochemistry and nuclear chemistry, which are the basis of the course, direct connections can be found to biology, physics, ecology, art and culture. The course is comprehensive; a participant can study only selected chapters or the entire course independently. Recommendations and tips for effectively using the course in classes have been compiled for teachers and lecturers.

E-learning for Alzheimer's Disease

With the increase of the aging population, the incidence rate of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is also rising. Faced with this challenge, e-learning, as an innovative educational method, has shown great potential in the care and management of Alzheimer's disease patients. This article reviews the application progress of E-learning in Alzheimer's disease. E-learning has revolutionized the field of education, providing learners with accessible and flexible learning opportunities. This paper provides an overview of various aspects of e-learning, including virtual classrooms, mobile learning, blended learning, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), webinars, and the challenges associated with implementing e-learning.The background section explores the evolution of e-learning, highlighting its rise in popularity and the advancements in technology that have facilitated its growth. Virtual classrooms for adult learners are discussed, showcasing how these online platforms facilitate interactive and collaborative learning experiences. Mobile learning for adult learners is examined, emphasizing the convenience and accessibility provided by mobile devices in delivering educational content.Blended learning is another approach explored in this paper, which combines traditional face-to-face instruction with online components, offering a balanced learning experience. The benefits and challenges of implementing MOOCs, which provide free and open access to educational resources from top institutions, are also examined. Additionally, webinars are discussed as a popular method for delivering live online presentations and workshops to adult learners.Finally, the paper addresses the challenges of E-learning, including technological barriers, lack of personal interaction, and the need for self-discipline and motivation. Strategies for overcoming these challenges are suggested, such as providing technical support and fostering online community engagement.Overall, this paper provides valuable insights into the background and various approaches to E-learning, as well as the challenges encountered in its implementation. Understanding these aspects will help educators and institutions effectively harness the potential of E-learning to enhance adult education.

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.

Widening Horizons. Why Russian Universities Place MOOCs on Open Learning Platforms

The main objective of this article is to find out the Russian universities’ motives for developing and placing exponential massive open online courses (xMOOCs) on open educational platforms. The study shows that in such decisions the universities are motivated not only by the direct profit from their courses implementation, but also by other reasons, which can be divided into two groups: 1) encouraging the use of university development opportunities and 2) aiming to overcome deficiencies and shortages in university’s activities. The majority of motives, such as “online programs promotion for additional and further professional education”, “the university’s overall brand promotion”, and “online higher education programs promotion”, are focused on development opportunities, only one (“teachers’ qualifications improvement”) aimed at overcoming deficiencies.

CNN-Bi-LSTM Model for MOOC Forum Post Classification

The discussion forum of the massive open online course (MOOC) is a platform for students to communicate with teachers, teaching assistants, and platform managers. It is one of the important factors related to course quality. A reasonable classification of discussion posts in the forum will help students better communicate and solve problems, so as to improve the quality of teaching. Aiming at the classification of discussion forum posts, this paper proposes a text classification model integrating convolutional neural networks (CNN) and bidirectional long-short-term memory (Bi-LSTM). Firstly, the user types and behavior characteristics are analyzed to build the taxonomy. The taxonomy includes three categories: course related, teacher related and platform related. Then, a text classification model is constructed based on CNN and Bi-LSTM. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model, it is applied to the classification of 19285 discussion posts from the MOOC platform of icourse163.org. The overall classification accuracy of the proposed model is 93.6%, which is 12%, 10%, and 8% higher than traditional machine learning methods, CNN and Bi-LSTM, respectively. The model is used for automatic text classification in MOOC discussion forum, which can provide effective help and support for learners, teachers and platform managers, and improve the automation level of MOOC platform.

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.

Improving Massive Open Online Course Quality in Higher Education by Addressing Student Needs Using Quality Function Deployment

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are playing an increasingly important role in higher education. However, some MOOCs still suffer from low quality, which hinders the sustainable development of higher education. Course characteristics reflect students’ needs for online learning and have a significant impact on the quality of MOOCs. In the course improvement process, existing research has neither improved the MOOC quality from the perspective of student needs nor has it considered resource constraints. Therefore, to deal with this situation, we propose a student-needs-driven MOOC quality improvement framework. In this framework, we first map students’ differentiated needs for MOOCs into quality characteristics based on quality function deployment (QFD). Then, we formulate a mixed-integer linear programming model to produce MOOC quality improvement policies. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is verified by real-world data from China’s higher education MOOCs. We also investigate the impacts of budget, cost, and student needs on student satisfaction. Our results revealed that to significantly improve student satisfaction, the course budget needs to be increased by a small amount or the course cost needs to be greatly reduced. Our research provides an effective decision-making reference for MOOC educators to improve course quality.

Vocational College Students’ Learning Efficiency on The Use of Computer English MOOC in Hybrid Learning

With the improvement of educational technology modernization, the promoting effect of network technology on education has been widely concerned by educational circles Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have emerged as a popular platform for learners to access and utilize educational resources. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between various aspects of hybrid learning in the Computer English MOOC platform, including students' learning objectives, methods, concentration, collaborative skills, teacher supervision, and learning efficiency. The research utilizes a quantitative approach to analyze data obtained from 168 vocational college students majoring in computer-related subjects. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it was not always possible for students to go to school in person, but when it came to learning Computer English, they had clear goals. Students were able to get complete and organized information through hybrid learning. And there is a strong relationship between learning cooperation and learning proficiency via hybrid learning. Learning cooperation has the most significant influence on learning proficiency. This study lies in its potential to bridge the knowledge gap regarding the specific factors that impact English language acquisition in the vocational college setting. This research seeks to provide valuable insights and recommendations to inform pedagogical practices, curriculum development, and institutional policies in higher vocational colleges in China.

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.

Nurses’ MOOCs continuance intention and task performance: antecedents and mediators

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to propose a research model based on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model to explore whether media richness and social interaction as environmental feature antecedents to nurses’ learning engagement (LE) can affect their continuance intention of massive open online courses (MOOCs) and task performance.Design/methodology/approachSample data for this study were collected from nurses at five university-/medical university-affiliated hospitals in Taiwan. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed, and 303 (60.6%) usable questionnaires were analyzed using structural equation modeling in this study.FindingsThis study proved that nurses’ perceived media richness and social interaction in MOOCs positively influenced their behavioral LE and psychological LE elicited by MOOCs, which jointly caused their continuance intention of MOOCs and, in turn, enhance their task performance. The results support all proposed hypotheses and the research model, respectively, explains 84.3% and 63.7% of the variance in nurses’ continuance intention of MOOCs and task performance.Originality/valueThis study uses the S-O-R model as a theoretical base to frame nurses’ continuance intention of MOOCs and task performance as a series of the internal process, which is affected by environmental stimuli (i.e. media richness and social interaction) and organismic states. Noteworthily, while the S-O-R model has been extensively used in prior literature, little research uses this paradigm to expound nurses’ continuance intention of MOOCs in the work settings. Besides, there is a dearth of evidence on the antecedents of nurses’ task performance in the context of MOOCs. Hence, this study’s empirical evidence contributes significantly to the existing literature on bridging the gap of limited evaluation for the research on the impact of nurses’ MOOCs learning on their task performance in the work settings, which is very scarce in the S-O-R view.

MOOCMaven: Bridging M-Learning and Open Data for Enhanced Unified MOOC Exploration

We live in a modern environment where learning does not have any barriers. Our work aims to become the main gateway for people of any interest to take advantage of the full opportunities of e-learning. We also built a dataset of e-learning courses from various sources and developed a platform that can understand search queries. We introduce a unified massive open online courses (MOOCs) searching platform using semantic methodology called MOOCMaven. Our platform can be accessed both via web and mobile. This paper demonstrates the platform’s efficiency in generating a list of courses relevant to search queries. Additionally, MOOCMaven offers an application programming interface (API) collection to ensure access to the data. Our approach could find the gaps in e-learning course discovery and highlight the solution to the public. This paper provides a detailed description of the algorithms, methodologies, and technologies utilized to augment the usefulness and efficacy of the platform.

University MOOC should be added with farmer interested sections and provide individualized service to adapt to farmer training.

Vegetables represent an important agricultural industry in China. New farmers and new technologies for vegetable production have emerged in recent years, which makes farmer training very necessary. On the other hand, massive open online courses (MOOCs) are currently widely used in universities. The purpose of this study is to investigate the importance of different sections of a university MOOC focused on olericulture to farmers with different demographic characteristics and provide a basis to improve university MOOCs for farmer training. The survey results suggest that the age, education level, gender, farmer scale, facility type and profit of farmer learners are important factors determining evaluations of the importance of different MOOC sections, indicating that services customized to different farmer populations are necessary. Among different sections of MOOC "Olericulture", farmers with younger age, higher education, larger farm, more advanced facility and more profit were more interesting in sections include cultural, social and theoretical knowledge, and less interesting in practical skill sections. Based on the survey, eight new sections including one marketing subsection (new agricultural supplies and market news), one social subsection (laws and regulations), two practical subsections (practice videos, photos and videos from other farms), and three comprehensive subsections (discussion of practical issues, mechanization, and smart olericulture) were added to the original MOOC, and the results indicate that this improvement is efficient in enhancing the importance evaluations and profits of all farmer learners, especially among those with high education levels.

Smeshannaya model' obucheniya anglijskomu yazyku v vuzah Kitaya v ramkah strategii «Internet Plyus»

The article studies the construction strategy of blended instructional mode of university English under the background of “Internet+". The hypothesis is put forward that the blended instructional mode based on the background of “Internet+" has great use value and can promote the overall improvement of the quality of English-related talents. It is concluded that the creation of flip classrooms, implementation of MOOC (massive open online courses) instructional mode and introduction modern software stimulate students' interest in English and improve their language application ability.