Deconstructing disengagement: analyzing learner subpopulations in massive open online courses
| Published | April 2013 |
| Conference | LAK '13: Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge Pages 170-179 |
| Country | United States, North America |
ABSTRACT
As 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 develop adaptive course features for particular subpopulations of learners. To address this, we present a simple, scalable, and informative classification method that identifies a small number of longitudinal engagement trajectories in MOOCs. Learners are classified based on their patterns of interaction with video lectures and assessments, the primary features of most MOOCs to date.In an analysis of three computer science MOOCs, the classifier consistently identifies four prototypical trajectories of engagement. The most notable of these is the learners who stay engaged through the course without taking assessments. These trajectories are also a useful framework for the comparison of learner engagement between different course structures or instructional approaches. We compare learners in each trajectory and course across demographics, forum participation, video access, and reports of overall experience. These results inform a discussion of future interventions, research, and design directions for MOOCs. Potential improvements to the classification mechanism are also discussed, including the introduction of more fine-grained analytics.
| Keywords | MOOC · learner engagement · trajectories of engagement |
| Published at | California |
| Language | English |
| Refereed | Yes |
| DOI | 10.1145/2460296.2460330 |
| Export options | BibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar |
Viewed by 457 distinct readers
CLOUD COMMUNITY REVIEWS
The evaluations below represent the judgements of our readers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cloud editors.
Click a star to be the first to rate this document
▶ POST A COMMENT
SIMILAR RECORDS
Digging deeper into learners' experiences in MOOCs: Participation in social networks outside of MOOCs, notetaking and contexts surrounding content consumption
Veletsianos, George; Collier, Amy; Schneider, Emily
Researchers describe with increasing confidence what they observe participants doing in massive open online courses (MOOCs). However, our understanding of learner activities in open courses is limited by researchers' ...
Match: schneider, emily
MOOCs for professional teacher development
Jobe, William; Östlund, Christian; Svensson, Lars
A MOOC is a trending concept in education that is disrupting traditional methods of
learning consumption. The emergence and use of MOOCs for professional teacher development is still uncommon, but on the verge of ...
Match: mooc; united states
Transforming education through open approaches. Introduction to selected papers
Gil-Jaurena, Inés
This special Open Praxis issue includes selected papers presented at the Open Education Consortium Global Conference, held in Delft (The Netherlands) on April 24-26, 2018.
Match: mooc
What can Europeana bring to Open Education?
Truyen, Fred; Colangelo, Clarissa; Taes, Sofie; Ubachs, George; Konings, Lizzie
Overview of papers on enhancement of European Higher Education as presented during the Online, Open and Flexible Higher Education Conference in Rome, October 2016
Europeana is Europe’s main culture portal, with now ...
Match: mooc
Open educational resources and MOOCs: The changing face of higher education
Miller, Howard; Jay, Jordan
Match: mooc
Open educational resources: Global report 2017
Three documents have been developed in the framework of the 2nd World OER Congress. The two documents: Open Educational Resources: From Commitment to Action and the Open Educational Resources: Global Report 2017 provide ...
Match: north america
More about MOOCs and developing countries
Trucano, Michael
Match: mooc
Implementation of Tel Aviv University MOOCs in academic curriculum: A pilot study
Soffer, Tal; Cohen, Anat; McGreal, Rory; Conrad, Dianne
The study presented in this paper examines the feasibility of using MOOCs as a learning environment in academic courses. This paper focuses on the students who participated in two MOOCs offered by Tel Aviv University ...
Match: mooc
Identifying interaction patterns and teacher-learner roles in connectivist massive open online courses
Bozkurt, Aras
The purpose of this doctoral dissertation is to identify interaction patterns and teacher-learner roles in connectivist massive open online courses (MOOCs). To accomplish this purpose, mixed method and the explanatory ...
Match: mooc
Using MOOCs at learning centers in Northern Sweden
Norberg, Anders; Händel, Åsa; Ödling, Per; McGreal, Rory; Conrad, Dianne
This paper describes the use of globally accessible Massive Open Online Courses, MOOCs, for addressing the needs of lifelong learners at community learning centers in Northern Sweden, by the forming “glonacal” or ...
Match: mooc









