MOOC Research Research Articles

Conceptualising language MOOC diversity: The creation of a defined taxonomy through the analysis of course indicators

AbstractLanguage MOOC research has experienced a notable evolution from practice to conceptuality since its emergence as a subdiscipline of computer-assisted language learning. The versatility of the MOOC format for language learning has led to experimental designs that combine linguistic acquisition with other educational activities. This has been considered to be conducive to new ways of understanding how language learning occurs in LMOOCs, although there is no solid classification of LMOOCs subtypes to date based on course design. This study aimed to contribute to the conceptualisation of the field by creating a taxonomy for existing LMOOCs. Grounded theory strategies were adopted, so evidence was systematically collected to develop conceptual categories based on a thorough analysis process of the syllabus and short description of 432 courses. As a result, six LMOOC modalities emerged from the analysis: general language learning LMOOCs, LMOOCs for academic purposes, LMOOCs for professional purposes, LMOOCs focused on a specific language skill development, cultural-oriented LMOOCs, and meta-language learning LMOOCs. This study means a significant contribution to the LMOOC research field inasmuch as it is one of the first empirical-based attempts to broaden the definition of LMOOC.

Dropout Prediction Model for College Students in MOOCs Based on Weighted Multi-feature and SVM

Due to the COVID -19 pandemic, MOOCs have become a popular form of learning for college students. However, unlike traditional face-to-face courses, MOOCs offer little faculty supervision, which may result in students being insufficiently motivated to continue learning, ultimately leading to a high dropout rate. Consequently, the problem of high dropout rates in MOOCs requires urgent attention in MOOC research. Predicting dropout rates is the first step to address this problem, and MOOCs have a large amount of behavioral data that can be used for such predictions. Most existing models for predicting MOOC dropout based on behavioral data assign equal weights to each behavioral characteristic, despite the fact that each behavioral characteristic has a different effect on predicting dropout. To address this problem, this paper proposes a dropout prediction model based on the fusion of behavioral data and Support Vector Machine (SVM). This innovative model assigns different weights to different behavior features based on Pearson principle and integrates them as data inputs to the model. Dropout prediction is essentially a binary problem, Support Vector Machine Classifier is then trained using the training dataset 1 and dataset 2. Experimental results on both datasets show that this predictive model outperforms previous models that assign the same weights to the behavior features.

The irreplaceable role of medical massive open online courses in China during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundMassive open online courses (MOOCs) have become innovative open-learning approach in medical education. This study aimed to evaluate the dynamic changes in the construction and application of medical MOOCs before and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in China.MethodsThe dynamic changes of usages about medical MOOCs before and after 2020 were mainly searched on the Smart Education of China Higher Education platform, and the detailed learning profiles and outcome indicators were further analyzed using 40 national first-class medical MOOCs from ‘zhihuishu’ platform.ResultsA total of 2,405 medical MOOCs were exported from the Smart Education of China Higher Education platform, of which 1,313 (54.6%) were launched since 2020. The total and average numbers of participants of 141 national first-class medical MOOCs peaked during the initial spread of COVID-19 in 2020. We further analyzed the dynamic usage of MOOCs from 2018 to 2022 based on 40 national first-class medical MOOCs launched on the ‘Zhihuishu’ platform. The findings revealed that the number of registered learners (3,240 versus 2,654), questions and answers (27,005 versus 5,116) and students taking the final examination (2,782 versus 1,995) per semester were significantly higher since 2020 compared to these before 2020. Especially, the number of registered learners, registered schools, questions and answers, and students participating in online discussion, taking the unit quiz, taking final examinations and passing final examinations all peaked in the 2020 spring–summer semester. Pearson's correlation analysis found that the number of questions and answers and the number of learners who participated in online discussion were both positively correlated with the number of students who passed the final examination, and the correlation was especially strong since 2020. Moreover, the number of publications on medical MOOC research has soared since 2020 and has maintained a continuous upward trend.ConclusionsHigh-quality medical MOOCs have been launched rapidly since the COVID-19 pandemic in China. The number of participants and online interactions of medical MOOCs peaked during the initial spread of COVID-19 in 2020. MOOCs are reliable and valid digital sources that facilitate medical higher education and play irreplaceable roles in emergency management.

The significance of instructional design: Analysis of content in Language MOOC forums

Language MOOC research has evolved over the last three years to a more mature stage in which researchers have gained a deeper comprehension of the theories that enable effective language learning in this format. The application of these theoretical advances should be reflected in the instructional design of the courses. This study is based on this premise and monitors the quality of the design of communication and discussion forums considering the different levels of engagement in a LMOOC, the accessibility, ease of navigation, assessment of learning processes, and support to participants in in the development of self-determination strategies. This is done by analysing the content of the forums and applying two instruments created upon the research needs. The results show the relevance of the instructional design of the forums in LMOOCs, and subsequently a suitable analytical framework is put forward, which can be easily replicated due to its simplicity and concreteness. This is the main contribution of this paper, since the elaboration of common analytical frameworks in LMOOC research strengthens the field and reinforces the significance of instructional design in successful language learning in these online courses.

Trends in MOOC research performed using technology frameworks: A systematic literature review of (2010-2022)

Trends in MOOC research performed using technology frameworks: A systematic literature review of (2010-2022)

Theoretical Development of Connectivism through Innovative Application in China

As a learning theory that reveals a new learning in the Internet environment, connectivism has become a popular academic topic at the forefront of online learning. The MOOC Research Team at the Distance Education Research Centre at Beijing Normal University designed and developed the first massive open online course, adapting a connectivist (cMOOC) approach in China. Using the data collected from six offerings of the cMOOC over 3 years, the big data paradigm was used for data analysis including complex network analysis, content analysis, text mining, behaviour sequence analysis, epistemic network analysis, and statistical and econometric models. This paper summarizes the findings of the patterns of connectivist learning, including a) the basic characteristics and evolutional patterns of complex networks, b) the characteristics and modes of knowledge production, c) the patterns of instructional interactions, and d) the relationships between pipe and content and between facilitators and learners. It is expected that the outcome of this study could make contributions to understanding the changes of online learning in depth and further promote the theoretical development and practical application of a connectivist approach.

Mapping the MOOC Research Landscape: Insights from Empirical Studies

Several reviews have been conducted of empirical studies of MOOC learners and teachers.The scope and foci of such reviews has varied, as has the reporting of the details of how they were conducted.This study analysed 1,435 published articles determining 922 to be empirical studies. We analyzed the full text of 826 of these articles to which the research team had access using the scienometic tool Scival, manual researcher evaluation and topic modelling to determine: the impact as measured by citations; geographic and institutional publishing patterns; and the themes and types of MOOC research. We found that MOOC research is mostly clustered in the discipline of computer science. Learner persistence and self-regulated learning continue to be a focus of study and most impactful finding respectively as studies of previous periods have found. Research is carried out worldwide, with the most influential studies and researchers clustered in particular institutions and countries. Implications of this study are that MOOC research is clustered in certain ways which may give rise to particular biases, that researchers should consider more interdisciplinary approaches in their research and greater awareness and use of open science principles and practices in their work.

Taiwanese engineering students’ self-efficacy and academic performance

Despite the popularity and the importance of MOOCs in global education in recent years, they have not become the focus of self-efficacy studies. In addition, most available MOOC research resides in Western economies, not in Asian countries. No studies up to this point have explored the change in engineering student self-efficacy before and after they finish a MOOC or the relationship between engineering students’ self-efficacy and academic performance in a MOOC learning environment. This present study examined if there were any changes in the self-efficacy levels of a group of students before and after they attended a blended MOOC on English Technical Writing skills. It explored the relationship between self-efficacy and academic performance and looked for possible differences in self-efficacy and academic performance with respect to different demographic variables. A Paired-samples t-test helped to measure differences in self-efficacy scores at the beginning and end of the course. Pearson correlation was conducted to examine if self-efficacy predicted students’ course grades at the end of the course. Descriptive analysis, t-test, and ANOVA were used to measure the differences between the mean scores of self-efficacy and academic performance regarding different demographic variables. Results showed that students became more self-efficacious after they attended the blended MOOC. Self-efficacy significantly predicted academic performance. Students who reported higher self-efficacy levels gained better scores. Participants differed significantly in their self-efficacy and academic performance in relation to age group, English proficiency level, and educational level. Suggestions for future research are made based on the results of the study.

Networks in Education: A Travelogue Through Five Decades

For over five decades, researchers have used network analysis to understand educational contexts, spanning diverse disciplines and thematic areas. The wealth of traditions and insights accumulated through these interdisciplinary efforts is a challenge to synthesize with a traditional systematic review. To overcome this difficulty in reviewing 1791 articles researching the intersection of networks and education, this study combined a scientometric approach with a more qualitative analysis of metadata, such as keywords and authors. Our analysis shows rapidly growing research that employs network analysis in educational contexts. This research output is produced by researchers in a small number of developed countries. The field has grown more recently, through the surge in the popularity of data-driven methods, the adoption of social media, and themes as teacher professional development and the now-declining MOOC research. Our analysis suggests that research combining networks and educational phenomena continues to lack an academic home, as well as remains dominated by descriptive network methods that depict phenomena such as interpersonal friendship or patterns of discourse-based collaboration. We discuss the gaps in existing research, the methodological shortcomings, the possible future directions and most importantly how network research could help advance our knowledge of learning, learners, and contribute to our knowledge and to learning theories.

Surfing on Three Waves of MOOCs: An Examination and Snapshot of Research in Massive Open Online Courses

The purpose of this research is to examine the research that has been done on MOOCs by applying data mining and analytic approaches and to depict the current state of MOOC research. The text mining revealed four broad themes: (I) MOOCs as a mainstreaming learning model in HE, (II) motivation and engagement issues in MOOCs, (III) assessment issues in MOOCs, and (IV) MOOCs for social learning. The social network analysis indicated that MOOCs are a significant aspect of online education and that learning analytics are considered a solution to current MOOC handicaps. Both pivotal contribution analysis and timeline analysis demonstrated that MOOC research has a heavy focus on motivation and engagement, high drop out and low retention rates, and instructional quality. Overall, the research concludes that the first wave of MOOC research largely concentrated on the qualitative characteristics of the phenomenon, while the second and third waves of MOOC research concentrated on the quantitative characteristics.

What are the key themes associated with the positive learning experience in MOOCs? An empirical investigation of learners\u2019 ratings and reviews

Past MOOC research has tended to focus on learning outcomes valued in traditional higher education settings, such as achievement and retention. This study recognises that student ratings are an important alternative outcome measure in MOOCs. This paper adopted a semiautomatic text mining approach to collect and analyse 8475 ratings and reviews submitted for 1794 MOOCs. The analysis revealed six important themes that contributed to positive ratings: ‘learning’, ‘understanding’, ‘interesting’, ‘videos’, ‘recommend’, and ‘questions’. The paper then investigated the characteristics of each identified theme based on the proximity of themes, distribution of concepts within themes, and important connections. Based on research findings, the paper presents the following propositions to assist educators and providers to enhance the learning experience in MOOCs: (1) provide realistic learning contexts and instructional conditions in MOOCs to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge that transfers more readily to real-world practices; (2) carefully design the instructional conditions so that some mental challenge and stimulation is required for learners to achieve a full understanding of the content, rather than making MOOCs too simple or effortless to complete; (3) design the course content, materials, and communications to generate interest; (4) allocate sufficient resources to create high-quality video lectures; (5) employ video lectures to elicit positive emotions from MOOC learners and simplify complex, difficult concepts; and (6) incorporate discussion boards in MOOCs and invest in human and digital resources to address learners’ queries.

Raranga te Kete Aronui—Weaving the Basket: Continuing With Open, Flexible, and Distance Learning

This issue of the Journal uses the metaphor of raranga te kete aronui (weaving the basket of the pursuit of knowledge) as it continues the conversation of developing areas of open, flexible, and distance learning (OFDL). It comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted traditional face-to-face teaching in classrooms on a global scale, and the value of open, flexible, and distance learning has become starkly apparent. This issue has five articles which contribute to the ongoing knowledge presented in this issue. There are two articles based on educational theory: Higgins explores the theoretical history of OFDL, and the work of Nichols et al. is based on Mezirow’s 10 stages of transformative learning. Three research articles provide insight into a range of specific areas: Sime et al. use networked learning theory to investigate the design of a social exploration MOOC, Irons and Hartnett present exploratory research into the teaching of computational thinking in junior classrooms in New Zealand, and Nyugen describes the design and development of qualifications in early childhood education and care to meet a demand for New Zealand home-based early childhood educators to be qualified. These are all contributions to our weaving and filling of te kete aronui.

The Track, Hotspot and Frontier of International MOOC Research 2008–2018 — A Scientometric Analysis Based on SCI and SSCI

The aim of this paper is to objectively present the development and trend of international MOOC research. Metadata taken from 660 literature records is used to visualize the state of MOOC research. The records were published between 2008 and 2018, and Citespace software is employed to visualize key data about the research contained on the SCI and SSCI platform. It has the following findings. First, since 2012, the number of international MOOC research papers and cited frequency has shown an upward trend. The research force was mainly concentrated in North America, Europe and Asia, and the publishing institutions were mainly concentrated in Universities of various countries, and formed a more obvious international cooperation network. Second, journals such as [Formula: see text]INT REV RES OPEN DIS[Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]COMPUTERS & EDUCATION[Formula: see text] are the foundational literatures of MOOC research. George Siemens, Stephen Downes, John Daniel and others have made important contributions to the foundation research of MOOC. Third, Breslow, Liyanagunawardena et al. were cited more frequently and formed eight research clusters such as teaching interaction, relativism/behaviorism theory, individualized learning and diversified education. Fourth, distance education, online learning, learning situation analysis, curriculum construction and platform construction are the hot topics of international MOOC research in the recent decade. Fifth, the development of international MOOC has spread to various disciplines and promoted the interdisciplinary research of environment, biology, medicine, philosophy, psychology and other disciplines.

Reflections on the last decade of MOOC research

AbstractMassive open online courses (MOOCs) represent important pedagogical transformations that aim at unlimited participation and open access to high‐quality educational experiences and resources. MOOCs are quite different from classical distance learning settings in terms of their open‐access features, such as open licensing of course content, and their use of specific infrastructures for communications and learning tools. Studies over the past 2 years (2018, 2019) have examined the multitude of experimental business models for MOOCs. However, MOOCs have also experimented with a wide variety of course content, teaching and learning methods, and assessment strategies. Very few articles have systematically examined these significant changes. To address this gap, we conducted an extensive, qualitative meta‐analyses of over 200 peer‐reviewed articles describing research on MOOCs. This analysis is organized around the following questions: (a) How can we classify existing MOOCs in terms of their support for learners and learning? (b) Which learners are benefiting from MOOCs, and to what degree have MOOCs explored approaches to student‐centered learning? (c) To what degree are MOOCs meeting the needs of different learner audiences? (d) How can MOOC providers and participants communicate effectively to support student learning and engagement? (e) How can student activities be monitored to ensure that assessments of learning are performed effectively? The results of these analyses provide a reflection on the last decade of MOOC research and discussing the main achievements and the major research directions pursued in those years and points toward areas in need of additional research and development.

A comprehensive systematic review of MOOC research: Research techniques, topics, and trends from 2009 to 2019

This study examines the research methods, topics, and trends of empirical MOOC research to gain a comprehensive understanding of the MOOC phenomenon through reviewing 541 empirical MOOCs research published from 2009 to 2019. The results indicate that: (1) the majority of studies adopted quantitative research methods followed by mixed research methods and qualitative research methods, (2) the most frequently adopted data collection method was survey, followed by platform database and interviews, (3) almost half of the studies used at least two data collection methods such as survey and interview, (4) the majority of researchers adopted descriptive statistics for data analysis, followed by inferential statistics and content analysis, (5) the research topics primarily focused on students, followed by design-focused, context and impact-focused, and instructor-focused. Among these student-focused topics, learner retention, learning experience, social learning, and engagement were the most mentioned, and (6) the affiliations of the first authors of the MOOC studies were mainly from the U.S. followed by China and Spain. Implications and future research were discussed.

Challenges of Teaching in Massive Open Online Course

MOOC or Massive Open Online Course had gathered considerable interest as a new approach towards leveraging technology in higher education. It can be identified as a disruptive innovation in e-learning and MOOC research also had grown rapidly in terms of peer-reviewed studies over this few years. But until now, majority of MOOC based studies focuses on the learner’s perspectives. Surprisingly, there were limited studies towards MOOC instructor who plays important role in MOOC success. One of the essential aspects that need to be reviewed are the recent challenges faced by the instructor. Challenges are important because it is closely related to the cost of teaching MOOC. Based from the previous studies, they are not focuses exclusively on challenges faced by instructor. It mostly based on instructor’s overall experiences and also as secondary consideration behind learner’s perspectives. Besides that, they do not provide a comprehensive list of recent challenges that are vital towards understanding instructor’s problems in teaching MOOC. This study addressed these issues by investigating the literature on recent challenges faced by instructors in teaching MOOC. It is accomplished by conducting a systematic literature review on the recent literature from 2015 to 2018. 30 MOOC instructor perspectives studies were found where 12 studies are selected as primary studies. The findings offer current statistics of studies that provide recent challenges faced by instructors. 35 recent challenges had been identified we categorize them to 6 main themes of challenges.

Redeveloping a global MOOC to be more locally relevant: design-based research

This study demonstrated a globally and locally relevant MOOC design model. By redeveloping a culturally responsive MOOC based on the course “Learning How to Learn (LHTL)” on the Coursera, the researchers created a sister MOOC to meet the local needs of Chinese learners. In this three-year design-based research study, four major iterations were conducted: (1) to analyze and prototype culturally responsive course contents for Chinese MOOCs learners; (2 and 3) to redevelop, pilot, field-test, and improve the new MOOC; and (4) to develop research-supported instructional practice for continued growth. This research contributed to the study of MOOCs by providing a thorough understanding of the design principles of, and theoretical claims about, the development of a culturally responsive MOOC. We hope this effort will help underpin further studies involving culturally responsive and comparable sister courses to advance MOOC research.

Understanding Language MOOC Learners: The Issue of Capability Development

Having a clear understanding of the learner population has an impact on effective course design and delivery in any learning context. However, it has greater importance in a MOOC learning environment because of the high diversity of participants. Most of the review studies on MOOC research mention learner population as a recurrent theme. These studies focus on behaviours, performance, learner participation and interaction patterns, learner perceptions and preferences, learner experiences, motivation, demographics, and classifications of learners into subpopulations. Nevertheless, there is little knowledge about the learners’ perceptions of their own learning and the learning process, which is a key element of learning according to heutagogy, the theory of self-determined learning. In our study, which is based on two theoretical pillars (heutagogy and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment) we aimed at capturing traces of capability development through language MOOC learners’ reflections and identifying learning activities that are perceived by learners as preferred activities for skill acquisition in a language MOOC learning environment. We designed two open-ended questions in a survey format that were administered in an Italian language MOOC offered by Wellesley College. We were able to capture traces of capability development through learners’ reflections, and we also found that a) based on learners’ perceptions the most preferred way of acquiring new skills is through receptive activity types; b) these activity types coincide with learners’ perceptions of their own understanding (listening and reading) skill development.

Identifying Sign of Grit among Self-Paced MOOC Students Based on Clickstream Data

Previous research that investigate and predict student’s performance share various results concerning the factors that drive the students to retain and success. The factor ranging from intrinsic to extrinsic. However, few MOOC research attempt to scrutinize grit factor. Previous researches results are from survey. However, self-report survey is insufficient because the students may have different interpretation about the questions and measurement for themselves. Therefore, this is a case study that attempts to investigate the sign of grit among self-paced MOOC students using proposed features based on clickstream data. Also, the study observes whether the grit traits have relation with student’s performance. This study found that many students have high grade despite having low grit traits. However, statistical analysis shows that there is still significant correlation between grit traits and student’s grade. Other factor like unrecorded effort outside online learning may contribute to this result which can be investigated by future study. There is potential for better result by combining proposed method with collected survey.

China’s MOOC Research Hotspot Based on the Visual Co-Word Network Map: 1994-2018

In this paper, based on CSSCI and SCI databases’ published papers during 1994-2018 from the data source, we use co-word analysis and social network analysis to build the China’s MOOC research visualization network map to describe the dynamic of the field, and suggest forecast for the future MOOC research. We found out that China’s MOOC research focusing on MOOC development countermeasure research, MOOC educational information, classroom teaching and MOOC hybrid teaching, MOOC and open education resources, MOOC application research of the library in colleges. The future research focuses on the study of the humanistic value of MOOC education and the research on the hybrid teaching mode of classroom teaching and online teaching.