ABSTRACT
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are now being used across the world to provide millions of learners with access to education. Many learners complete these courses successfully, or to their own satisfaction, but the high numbers who do not finish remain a subject of concern for platform providers and educators. In 2013, a team from Stanford University analysed engagement patterns on three MOOCs run on the Coursera platform. They found four distinct patterns of engagement that emerged from MOOCs based on videos and assessments. However, not all platforms take this approach to learning design. Courses on the FutureLearn platform are underpinned by a social-constructivist pedagogy, which includes discussion as an important element. In this paper, we analyse engagement patterns on four FutureLearn MOOCs and find that only two clusters identified previously apply in this case. Instead, we see seven distinct patterns of engagement: Samplers, Strong Starters, Returners, Mid-way Dropouts, Nearly There, Late Completers and Keen Completers. This suggests that patterns of engagement in these massive learning environments are influenced by decisions about pedagogy. We also make some observations about approaches to clustering in this context.
- BOHANNON, J., 2014 (23 May). Replication effort provokes praise -- and 'bullying' charges. Science, 344, 6186.Google ScholarCross Ref
- CLOW, D., 2012. The learning analytics cycle: closing the loop effectively. In LAK12, 29 April--2 May Vancouver, BC, 134. Google ScholarDigital Library
- CLOW, D., 2013. MOOCs and the funnel of participation. In LAK 2013, 8--12 April Leuven, Belgium, 185--189. Google ScholarDigital Library
- DANIEL, J., 2012. Making sense of MOOCs: Musings in a maze of myth, paradox and possibility In Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 18. Retrieved from http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/jime/article/view/2012-18Google Scholar
- DOWNES, S., 2012. Connectivism and Connective Knowledge. Retrieved from http://www.downes.ca/files/books/Connective_Knowledge-19May2012.pdfGoogle Scholar
- DOWNES, S., 2014. Like Reading a Newspaper (21 March). In Half an Hour. Retrieved from http://halfanhour.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/like-reading-newspaper.htmlGoogle Scholar
- JORDAN, K., 2014. Initial trends in enrolment and completion of massive open online courses. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 15, 1, 133--160.Google ScholarCross Ref
- JORDAN, K., 2014. MOOC Completion Rates: The Data. From www.katyjordan.com/MOOCproject.htmlGoogle Scholar
- KIZILCEC, R. F., PIECH, C., and SCHNEIDER, E., 2013. Deconstructing disengagement: analyzing learner subpopulations in massive open online courses. In LAK 2013 (8--12 April), Leuven, Belgium, 170--179. Google ScholarDigital Library
- KOP, R., FOURNIER, H., and SUI FAI, J. M., 2011. A pedagogy of abundance or a pedagogy to support human beings? Participant support on Massive Open Online Courses. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 12, 7, 74--93.Google ScholarCross Ref
- LAURILLARD, D., 2002. Rethinking University Teaching: a Framework for the Effective Use of Learning Technologies. RoutledgeFalmer, London.Google Scholar
- LITTLEJOHN, A., 2013. Understanding Massive Open Online Courses. CEMCA.Google Scholar
- PASK, G., 1976. Conversation Theory: Applications in Education and Epistemology. Elsevier, Amsterdam and New York.Google Scholar
- SHARPLES, M. and FERGUSON, R., 2014. Innovative Pedagogy at Massive Scale: Teaching and Learning in MOOCs. In EC-TEL 2014 (16--19 September) Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 8719, 98--111. Google ScholarDigital Library
- SIEMENS, G., 2012. MOOCs are Really a Platform. www.elearnspace.org/blog/2012/07/25/moocs-are-really-a-platform.Google Scholar
- SOLAR, 2011. Open Learning Analytics: An Integrated & Modularized Platform. White Paper. In Society for Learning Analytics Research. Retrieved from http://solaresearch.org/OpenLearningAnalytics.pdfGoogle Scholar
Index Terms
Examining engagement: analysing learner subpopulations in massive open online courses (MOOCs)
Recommendations
Visualizing patterns of student engagement and performance in MOOCs
LAK '14: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Learning Analytics And KnowledgeIn the last five years, the world has seen a remarkable level of interest in Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs. A consistent message from universities participating in MOOC delivery is their eagerness to understand students' online learning ...
MOOCs and the funnel of participation
LAK '13: Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Learning Analytics and KnowledgeMassive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) are growing substantially in numbers, and also in interest from the educational community. MOOCs offer particular challenges for what is becoming accepted as mainstream practice in learning analytics.
Partly for this ...
Deconstructing disengagement: analyzing learner subpopulations in massive open online courses
LAK '13: Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Learning Analytics and KnowledgeAs MOOCs grow in popularity, the relatively low completion rates of learners has been a central criticism. This focus on completion rates, however, reflects a monolithic view of disengagement that does not allow MOOC designers to target interventions or ...
Comments