Open Online Courses Research Articles

The Implementation of a MOOC-Based Flipped Classroom Teaching Method in the Context of Oncology Radiotherapy Residency Training.

The objective of this study is to examine the efficacy of the flipped classroom blended teaching method in the context of massive open online courses (MOOCs) for implementing standardized training and teaching of residents in oncology radiotherapy. A total of 48 junior residents who received standardized training at the Oncology Radiology Department of Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital between September 2021 and August 2023 were randomly divided into two groups-i.e., the research group (24 cases) and the control group (24 cases)-using the random number table method. The control group received conventional didactic training, whereas the research group participated in a blended learning approach based on the MOOC model. The assessment results, along with the evaluations of teaching effectiveness, self-learning ability, and teaching satisfaction questionnaires, were observed and compared for the two groups of students. Compared with the control group, the research group presented significantly higher scores on theoretical foundations, skill operation, and case analysis (P < 0.05). The research group also showed greater outcomes than the control group in terms of improved theoretical knowledge, problem-solving skills, self-learning ability, teamwork, and communication (P < 0.05). The students in the research group presented significantly higher scores on measures of self-motivation beliefs, task analysis, self-monitoring and adjustment, and self-evaluation than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The research group also demonstrated significantly higher levels of satisfaction than the control group in terms of improvements in learning interest and initiative, clinical thinking ability, problem-solving ability, team cooperation ability, and the level of radiotherapy target delineation (P < 0.05). The implementation of MOOC-based flipped classroom blended teaching was shown to have positive effects on the standardized training and teaching of residents in the field of oncology radiotherapy. This approach can undoubtedly enhance students' academic performance, problem-solving abilities, and self-learning aptitudes while effectively stimulating their learning interests and initiative. Therefore, MOOC-based flipped classroom blended teaching is a valuable candidate for clinical application and promotion.

Developing an Adaptive Learning Recommendation Algorithm and System for MOOCs

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) based learning platform had totally changed the educational environment by providing easy and accessible learning opportunities for global learners. But even such environment display high dropout and low learner engagement which remain a significant challenge to be addressed. To handle the challenge of this study, propose an Adaptive Learning Recommendation System (ALRS) that is designed to personalize learning paths based on individual preferences and performance metrics. The study employed Open University Learning Analytics Dataset (OULAD) and build recommendation model that combine k-means Clustering, Content-based Filtering, Collaborative Filtering, and Random Forest (RF) classifiers to make course recommendations. The proposed model have shown better recommendation when compared to other models with Precision of 0.92, Recall of 0.89, F1 Score of 0.90, and AUC of 0.95. Also the proposed model had shown the lowest Mean Squared Error (MSE) and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) at 0.042 and 0.205, respectively.

ORGANIZATION OF NON-FORMAL EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS AND ITS EFFECT ON THEIR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

The use of massive open online courses as one of the main resources for non-formal education in the Republic of Kazakhstan is discussed in the article. The purpose of the article is to describe the organization of non-formal education for the students of the educational program “Pedagogy and psychology” and determine its effect on students’ academic performance. To demonstrate the data collected throughout the research process, a number of pedagogical methods as theoretical and comparative analysis, testing, content analysis and pedagogical experiment were utilized. The description of organization of non-formal education at the university aims at providing a comprehensive overview for readers the ways to understand and compare the key concepts and organization stages in the field of non-formal education. 4 massive open online courses on the Coursera platform were included into the educational process as non-formal education. Moreover, the courses content, strategies and assessment effected on students’ learning outcomes and their academic performance in general. The results of empirical study illustrated that massive open online courses offered by Coursera improved students’ academic performance by 15.6% and gave them the opportunity to pursue their goals outside the classroom, moreover, fostered the development of their metacognitive skills. Keywords:non-formal education, professional development, personal development, Coursera, academic performance, university students.

University Students’ Levels of Motivation and Engagement, Perceived Benefits, and Challenges in MOOCS

The study identified university students’ levels of motivation and engagement, perceived benefits, and challenges in Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). It used the mixed-method research design and involved third- and fourth-year English language students (n = 61) who completed the Content-based Instruction (CBI) – MOOC offered by the Regional English Language Office, Manila, Philippines. The validated MOOC Learner Engagement and Motivation Scale (MEM Scale) was adopted to determine the learners' levels of motivation and engagement in MOOCs. A focus group discussion was also done to determine the students’ perceived benefits of and challenges in MOOCs. Results of the MEM Scale show that the students had upper-medium level of motivation (x̄ = 3.54) and a high level of engagement (x̄ = 4.22) in the CBI – MOOC. Also, the data revealed five perceived benefits of MOOCs: 1) appreciation of the self-paced learning; 2) complementation to formal learning; 3) international certification; 4) provision of professional development opportunities; and 5) attainment of intercultural competencies. Generally, the students experienced five challenges while enrolled in the course: 1) language barriers; 2) lack of social interaction; 3) digital divide; 4) time-related constraints; and 5) challenging course content. Given the benefits of MOOCs, higher education institutions (HEIs) are encouraged to incorporate open online courses in the learning experiences of their students. Further, it is recommended that HEIs extend available resources to participants to lessen the perceived challenges of MOOCs which could promote higher levels of motivation and engagement of the students in the courses.

A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH ON DROPOUT IN OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING

The purpose of this study is to examine research on school dropout in open and distance education in the Web of Science (WoS) database using bibliometric analysis and to reveal trends in this area. In line with this goal, a total of 1,615 studies published between 1980 and 2022 were identified in the Web of Science (WoS) indexes. Descriptive and evaluative bibliometric methods were employed in the analysis of these publications, and the results were visualized using VOSviewer software. According to the research findings, studies on school dropout in open and distance education intensified in 2019. The analysis revealed that E.T. Pascarella is the most cited author, and F.D. Pereira has the highest co-authorship network. An examination based on institutions showed that the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona has the highest number of publications, while the University of Michigan ranks first in terms of citation numbers. Furthermore, in terms of publication productivity and citation numbers, the United States is ranked first, followed by Spain. Looking at the keywords used in articles on the topic, early studies emphasized concepts such as “distance education”, “student retention”, “attrition”, “student success”, “social integration”, “academic integration”, “survival analysis”, “education policy”, “graduation”, and “financial aids”. In subsequent years, these were replaced by terms such as “learning analytics”, “educational data mining”, “systematic review”, “engagement”, “drop prediction”, “decision tree”, “student performance”, “gamification”, “massive open online course- MOOC”, and “artificial intelligence”. In this context, discussions were conducted within the framework of the literature, and various recommendations were provided based on the obtained findings.

A Quantitative Approach for Appraising Quality of Online Education

Abstract : Conventional approaches fall short of managing the current scale of data, underscoring the significance of big data analytics in the field of data science. The study highlights the importance of big data analytics in data science, focusing on sentiment analysis and developing a machine learning framework for identifying sentiments in product reviews and assessing Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Online education proved its value to the academic community during the COVID-19 pandemic, when much of the world was at a standstill. Since the coronavirus outbreak, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have taken over many public schools and undergraduate degree programs as the new norm. Nowadays, online courses are being incorporated into traditional educational programs. Therefore, it has become crucial to develop a framework that both government and nongovernment organizations could use to assess public opinion before implementing online education programs. This article offers a methodology for utilizing deep learning and natural language processing techniques to examine public sentiments toward online education and courses such as MOOCs.Public reviews from Coursera and Udemy are utilized to assess the quality of online courses. Using sentiment analysis, the proposed methodology employs the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) model to classify public reviews into positive and negative categories. Positive and negative reviews are clustered using the k-means algorithm to evaluate the quality of MOOCs. The study's findings indicate that MOOCs with qualified professors are beneficial for learning basic concepts. But they may lack advanced knowledge, real-world experience, and enough examples. These courses are lengthy, and students request more questions after lessons to comprehend the concept. The proposed framework assists in assessing public opinion before implementing online education and may provide valuable insight to the developers of the courses. Keywords : MOOC, BERT, K-means Algorithm, Clusters, Word Cloud.

Evaluation of a massive open online course for just-in-time training of healthcare workers.

COVID-19 created a global need for healthcare worker (HCW) training. Initially, mass trainings focused on public health workers and physicians working in intensive care units. However, in resource-constrained settings, nurses and general practitioners provide most patient care, typically lacking the training and equipment to manage critically ill patients. We developed a massive open online course (MOOC) for HCWs in resource-constrained settings aimed at training bedside providers caring for COVID-19 patients. We describe the development, implementation and analysis of this MOOC. From May through June 2020, the course was developed by a multi-disciplinary team and launched on two online platforms in July. The 4-hour course comprises 6 video-based modules. Student knowledge was assessed using pre- and post-module quizzes and final exam, while demographics and user experience were evaluated by pre- and post-course surveys and learning platform data. From July 17th to September 24th, 30,859 students enrolled, 18,818 started, and 7,101 completed the course. Most participants worked in healthcare (78%) and resided in lower middle- (38%) or upper middle- (20%) income countries. Learners from upper middle-income and lower middle-income countries had higher completion rates. Knowledge gains were observed from pre-module to post-module quizzes and a final exam. Afterward, participants reported increased self-efficacy regarding course objectives, a 0.63 mean increase on a 4-point scale (95% CI [0.60,0.66]). Most participants (93%) would recommend the course to others. This article demonstrates the potential of MOOCs to rapidly provide access to emerging medical knowledge during a public health crisis, particularly for HCWs in high- and middle-income countries.

A review of engagement strategies for massive open online courses

A review of engagement strategies for massive open online courses

THE IMPACT OF GAMIFICATION WITH AN EMPHASIS ON EXTERNAL MOTIVATION IN MOOCS FOR STUDENTS IN EMERGING REGIONS FROM AN UNDERPRIVILEGED GROUP: A CASE STUDY OF THE LEVEL UP COURSE BY GAMELAB KBTU AND UNICEF IN KAZAKHSTAN

This paper examines the impact of gamification and external motivation on the engagement and completion rates of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), with a focus on underprivileged groups in emerging regions. The research centres around the “LEVEL UP” course, a gamified MOOC designed to enhance STEM skills among young women in Kazakhstan, developed by GameLab KBTU in collaboration with UNICEF. Utilizing a combination of quantitative data analysis and literature review, the study investigates the efficacy of gamification strategies in increasing course completion rates, which are traditionally low in MOOCs. The findings indicate that the inclusion of gamification and external motivational elements, such as competitive elements and rewards, can improve completion rates. The LEVEL UP course, for example, achieved a completion rate of 10%, which is higher than the average completion rate of MOOC courses, which 5–8%. However, the study also highlights the complexity of balancing external and internal motivational factors to sustain long-term engagement and deep learning. Limitations encountered, including technical issues and platform constraints, underline the challenges of implementing such strategies effectively. Recommendations for further research include exploring the long-term impact of gamification, the optimal balance of motivational elements, and the customization of gamification to individual learner needs. This paper contributes to the growing body of evidence supporting the use of gamification in education, emphasizing the need for nuanced approaches that enhance both engagement and learning outcomes, particularly in the context of democratizing education for learners worldwide.

Nursing students' experiences of digital learning in Chinese higher education institutions: A descriptive qualitative study

BackgroundAs digital learning is rapidly developing and being applied to almost all subjects in higher education nursing. Although digital learning has been shown to have a wide range of benefits, little is known about research into Chinese students' perceptions of digital learning, and there is a need to explore students' digital learning experiences. AimThis study aimed to explore the digital learning experiences of undergraduate nursing students in Chinese higher education institutions, with the aim of informing future improvements in digital teaching and learning. DesignA descriptive qualitative study. SettingsThis study was conducted at six universities in three cities in China. ParticipantsTwenty-six nursing students with at least one year's experience of digital learning. MethodSemi-structured online interviews were used to collect the data, and conventional content analysis was used to analyze the data. FindingsNursing students' digital learning experiences were categorized into three themes: positive digital learning experience, negative digital learning experience, and barriers to digital learning perception of students. ConclusionsWith the help of advanced digital technology, students can access rich and diversified learning resources anytime and anywhere according to their personal learning pace and interests, which greatly enhances their autonomy and interest in learning. Open online courses have effectively compensated for regional differences in teachers' qualifications, enabling students in remote areas to enjoy high-quality teaching from top educational institutions and giving a solid impetus for improving nursing education in China. However, with the popularity of digital teaching, its design and innovation shortcomings have gradually emerged: students feel lonely and alienated when learning online, and long for more of the interaction and care found in traditional teaching. At the same time, the lack of regulation and assessment standards has created inequities in learning and affected student motivation.

Multi-Section Open Course Design: Design and Implications for Faculty, Sessional Instructors, and Learners

As open course designs are being implemented in regular post-secondary credit courses (beyond massive open online courses), new issues and processes need to be considered that are fundamentally different from courses offered within the traditional learning management system. In this paper, we will review our approach to multi-section open course design and share our experiences working through emergent issues, such as content placement, intellectual property, attribution, etc. We will provide insights and recommendations for institutional leadership and administration, faculty area advisors, technical support staff, and sessional instructors.

Prospects for Using E-Learning Tools to Implement the Concept of “Lifelong Learning”

This article examines the current state and prospects of utilising e-learning tools within lifelong learning. The study aims to identify methods for leveraging various e-learning platforms to enhance adult lifelong education and assess the potential effectiveness of electronic tools in advancing "lifelong learning." The research employed a case study approach, analysing existing scientific literature and focusing on nine popular adult e-learning tools, such as Coursera, EdX, Moodle, Udemy, and Google Classroom. To achieve this, 50 scientific articles from various databases were reviewed, and the characteristics and potential applications of popular e-learning tools and the role of artificial intelligence in education were investigated. The findings were systematically organised and presented in tables and diagrams, showcasing different categories and applications of e-learning tools for lifelong learning. The study categorises these e-learning tools and highlights their features and applications in the context of lifelong learning. Additionally, the study explores the integration of artificial intelligence in e-learning, discussing its various applications and how it can facilitate adult education. The e-learning tools selected for adult education are divided into four categories: Open Educational Resources (OER), Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) (digital), and Communication tools (MS Teams, Zoom, and Google Classroom). This research contributes to lifelong learning by demonstrating the potential of selected online platforms and programs to increase the accessibility, inclusivity, and personalisation of lifelong learning tailored to individual learner needs.

Research on the Design of Performance Evaluation System for Physical Education Major Based on Multimedia Information Processing Technology

The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform, despite its reach and potential, faces significant challenges related to learner diversity, including variations in student backgrounds, work experiences, and learning environments. By integrating the principles of ant colony clustering algorithms with MOOC platform dynamics, our study devises a strategy for grouping students based on shared characteristics, thereby fostering a tailored learning environment. A streamlined MOOC platform design framework is outlined, accompanied by a detailed blueprint for a peer-evaluation information system, aimed at accurately gauging students' academic progress within their disciplines. This platform enables students to effortlessly access and engage with courses aligned with their interests, while the reciprocal assessment mechanism heightens understanding of course materials and alleviates pressure on educators. Our research contributes a pragmatic solution to the challenge of student assignment clustering within MOOCs, enhancing both individual learning outcomes and the broader instructional quality.

Investigating the impact of virtual simulation experiment and massive open online course (MOOC) on medical students’ wound debridement training: a quasi-experimental study

ObjectiveThis study aims to evaluate the impact of virtual simulation experiment teaching model and Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) teaching model on the teaching effect in debridement teaching.MethodsThe study adopted a quasi-experimental design and used virtual simulation technology to construct a virtual simulation experimental teaching platform for debridement. This study was conducted at the Second Clinical College of Wuhan University. The experimental group was composed of 135 third-year clinical medicine students in the 2020 grade, who received the virtual simulation experimental teaching model; the control group was 122 third-year students in the same major in the 2019 grade, who used the MOOC teaching model. The performance of the two groups of students was evaluated through theoretical tests and animal experiment operation. In addition, the effectiveness of the experimental teaching model and student satisfaction were evaluated through questionnaire surveys.ResultsThe theoretical test scores and animal experiment report scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group, and the debridement animal experiment operation time of the experimental group was shorter than that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The post-class questionnaire survey of the experimental group showed that most students were satisfied with the virtual simulation experimental teaching model and believed that it represented the future teaching trend.ConclusionsIn the teaching of debridement, virtual simulation experiment is an effective t teaching model, which not only helps to improve student performance, but also significantly reduces skill operation time and is recognized by students.

Meta concept recommendation based on knowledge graph

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are playing a key role in improving educational ways. Abundant learning resources make it difficult for online users to find suitable learning content. The current personalized service in the field of online education relies more on course recommendations. However, coarse-grained recommendations cannot help users discover the defects of their knowledge network effectively. In this paper, we propose a Knowledge-Aware Meta-Concept (KAMC) framework to provide fine-grained recommendation services. We innovatively incorporate Knowledge Graph (KG) into the field of educational recommendation to provide abundant auxiliary information. However, simply combining knowledge graphs with educational recommender systems cannot improve the performance of existing recommendation models, and may even weaken the performance of the models. Because the modeled KG ignores the enhancements on the user side and only considers the enhancements on the item side. We further propose to enrich the semantic representation of users with collaborative information in user-item interactions, and at the same time enrich the semantic representation of items with information in KG. Furthermore, to provide users with more accurate and fine-grained personalized recommendation services, we propose a user-based attention mechanism to capture users’ fine-grained semantic information. Our method is experimentally validated on three real-world datasets. In the three datasets, KAMC’s AUC evaluation index is 6.2%\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$6.2\\%$$\\end{document}, 6.9%\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$6.9\\%$$\\end{document}, and 2.2%\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$2.2\\%$$\\end{document} higher than the latest baseline method (KGAN), respectively. Experimental results show that the KAMC method outperforms the current state-of-the-art baseline methods.

Enhance Massive Open Online Courses Integrity: AI for Exam Proctoring

Enhance Massive Open Online Courses Integrity: AI for Exam Proctoring

On the Role of Group Competition Mechanism in International Chinese Classroom

International Chinese language education is a field that has attracted much attention in recent years. Under the background of China's increasing international influence, more and more people realize the importance of learning Chinese. However, with the development of international Chinese education, we should also pay attention to the research of international Chinese education classroom strategy. Based on the observation of online open courses, with group competition mechanism as the theoretical basis, take the class “Whose bag is this” in the first grade of a primary school in the Philippines as an example, observed the classroom group competition mechanism, this paper mainly introduces the competition mechanism into the Chinese language teaching classroom advantages and disadvantages, and further put forward the principles and methods of classroom competition mechanism. The aim is to provide new teaching ideas for Chinese teachers and facilitate and improve their teaching efficiency and quality.

The Application, Limitations, and Improvement Measures of MOOCs in Education in the New Era

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are an internet-based online education model that provides teaching resources and services to global users via web platforms. The development of MOOCs can be traced back to 2002, with significant acceleration in recent years. In education, MOOCs have been widely applied, such as in flipped classrooms and teacher training. They offer high flexibility and rich learning resources, significantly improving students' learning efficiency and reducing learning costs. However, MOOCs also face challenges, such as uneven teaching quality, lack of learner self-discipline, and insufficient humanistic care. For the sustainable development of MOOCs, there is a need to strengthen teacher training, improve teaching quality, enhance teaching evaluation and feedback, and perfect online education regulation. With the rapid development of information technology and the internet, MOOC education has become a prominent educational model. This paper aims to discuss the application of MOOCs in education in the new era, analyze the existing problems, and propose effective improvement measures to more effectively promote the development of MOOC education.

Enhancing access and Efficiency: The Digital Transformation of Private University Libraries in Bangalore

Introduction: Libraries worldwide are experiencing significant upheaval, mostly as a result of developments in the field of information and communication technologies. Many older libraries are making the switch to digital resources, and the majority of new libraries are also becoming digital. Aim of the study: the main aim of the study is to Enhancing Access and Efficiency: The Digital Transformation of Private University Libraries in Bangalore Material and method: A study was conducted to evaluate the condition of the libraries at private institutions to facilitate the implementation of MOOCs. Conclusion: The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not libraries and library staff at certain private institutions in the Bangalore area were ready to provide massive open online courses (MOOCs) to faculty and students.

TFETF Framework Development in MOOC Based on Art-Technopreneurial

This study explores family economic empowerment through the Framework Economy of the Family (TFETF) through the implementation of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) through concrete-based pottery, supporting the development of creative family technopreneurs. Integrating traditional arts, entrepreneurship education and technology is the key to creating innovative human resources in the digital era. This research uses the ADDIE model to design a MOOC curriculum that facilitates collaboration in entrepreneurship and craft technology. The results of the research in the form of developing the TFETF framework obtained a media expert validation score of 91.45%, material expert validation 90%, practicality test 90%. The TFETF framework developed has proven effective in strengthening the family economy by providing adaptive learning materials, helping overcome geographic and socio-economic barriers and encouraging social inclusion and global connectivity.