Responding to the lack of empirical studies on the effects of instructional design components on MOOCs, this study explores which instructional design components (e.g., course content, transactional interaction between student and content, structure/organization, assessment) influence learner control, sense of progress in the achievement of learning goals (sense of progress), and perceived effectiveness in a large-scale MOOC course called “Learning How to Learn” hosted in Coursera, a MOOC learning platform. Using an online survey distributed to learners who registered for the current Coursera English-language version of the course, we collected 1364 responses. Three separate hierarchical regression analyses revealed that all course design factors, transactional interaction between student and content ( β = . 111 , p 0.01; β = . 117 , p .01), structure ( β = . 432 , p 0.001; β = . 281 , p .001), and assessment ( β = . 108 , p 0.01; β = . 102 , p .05) were significant predictors of learner control and sense of progress. For perceived effectiveness, only transactional interaction ( β = . 073 , p 0.05) and structure ( β = . 416 , p 0.001) were significant while assessment was not statistically significant ( β = . 030 , p = . 373 ). These findings provided empirical evidence that instructional components are critical predictors of student learning in MOOCs, which have been conceptualized as important factors in prior studies. Future research should focus on identifying effective and efficient ways to facilitate assessments as part of the learning process while accommodating personalized learning needs. Interpretations of the findings, discussions, and limitations are also addressed in this paper.

The Influence of Instructional Design on Learner Control, Sense of Achievement, and Perceived Effectiveness in a Supersize MOOC Course

The open and massive characteristics of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) lead to a lack of instructor presence, which potentially hinders learners' commitment and learning processes. As a result, the effectiveness of MOOCs is contingent upon the extent to which learners direct their own learning. However, learners' self-directed learning and commitment are largely influenced by course design factors due to lack of direct learner-instructor interactions. In order to address the current gap in the literature with regard to how course design factors influence learning processes and outcomes, this study investigated the relationships between MOOC design factors, learner commitment, self-directed learning, and intentions for future learning, using survey responses collected from 664 learners who took a large-scale MOOC. We found that the transactional distance between learners and content was associated with students' self-directed learning. Course structure and organization predicted both students' self-directed learning and commitment to the MOOC. Importantly, self-directed learning mediated relationships between the course design factors and learners’ intentions for further learning. Based on our findings, we provide design strategies for effective learner-content interaction in large-scale self-paced MOOCs.

Exploring the structural relationships between course design factors, learner commitment, self-directed learning, and intentions for further learning in a self-paced MOOC

Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) research indicates that lack of student motivation to learn generally plays a significant role in student attrition and dropouts. Aside from this, very little is k...

What Makes a Good MOOC: A Field Study of Factors Impacting Student Motivation to Learn

This study integrated a systematic analysis of instructional design and a sentiment analysis of student reviews of 18 courses from the Class Central Top 20 MOOCs to analyze the potential connections between instructional design quality and student reviews. The analysis of instructional design quality was based on the ten-principle framework. The results indicated that: 1) the instructional design quality of the highly-rated courses was in the medium-to-upper range; 2) there was a positive correlation between the instructional design quality and MOOCs ranking; 3) student sentiment was much more positive for Humanities courses compared to other subjects; 4) the student sentiment and MOOCs ranking had no significant correlation, but there was a positive correlation between student sentiment and the instructional design quality; and 5) the design of learning activities related to “Collaboration”, “Differentiation” and “Collective knowledge” needed to be improved. The implications for practice and ideas for future research are outlined.

Analyzing instructional design quality and students' reviews of 18 courses out of the Class Central Top 20 MOOCs through systematic and sentiment analyses

A study of learner’s satisfaction from MOOCs through a mediation model

Grappling With the Good: Talking About Religion and Morality in Public Schools

This paper examines activity patterns, participant demographics, and levels of satisfaction in multiple MOOC offerings at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from August 2012—December 2013. Using the following guiding questions: “Who are MOOC participants, how do they participate, and were they able to get what they wanted out of the course?” we have uncovered unique patterns of engagement that correlate with certain demographic characteristics. Our analysis employed both qualitative and quantitative methods, and serves as a model for further studies seeking to uncover the significance of participant activity within MOOCs.

/pdf/massive-open-online-courses-moocs-participant-activity-379vp5gw99.pdf

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): Participant Activity, Demographics, and Satisfaction

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Grappling With the Good: Talking About Religion and Morality in Public Schools

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): Participant Activity, Demographics, and Satisfaction