Benefits of Massive Open Online Course Participation: Deductive Thematic Analysis

Abstract

<jats:sec> <jats:title>Background</jats:title> <jats:p>Massive open online courses (MOOCs), as originally conceived, promised to provide educational access to anyone with an internet connection. However, the expansiveness of MOOC education has been found to be somewhat limited. Nonetheless, leading universities continue to offer MOOCs, including many in the health sciences, on a number of private platforms. Therefore, research on online education must include thorough understanding of the role of MOOCs. To date, studies on MOOC participants have focused mainly on learners’ assessment of the course. It is known that MOOCs are not reaching the universal audiences that were predicted, and much knowledge has been gained about learners’ perceptions of MOOCs. However, there is little scholarship on what learners themselves gain from participating in MOOCs.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Objective</jats:title> <jats:p>As MOOC development persists and expands, scholars and developers should be made aware of the role of MOOCs in education by examining what these courses do offer their participants. The objective of this qualitative synthesis of a set of MOOC evaluation studies was to explore outcomes for MOOC learners, that is, how the learners themselves benefit from participating in MOOCs.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods</jats:title> <jats:p>To explore MOOC learners’ outcomes, we conducted a qualitative synthesis in the form of a deductive thematic analysis, aggregating findings from 17 individual studies selected from an existing systematic review of MOOC evaluation methods. We structured our inquiry using the Kirkpatrick model, considering Kirkpatrick levels 2, 3, and 4 as potential themes in our analysis.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>Our analysis identified six types of Kirkpatrick outcomes in 17 studies. Five of these outcomes (learning/general knowledge, skills, attitudes, confidence, and commitment) fit into Kirkpatrick Level 2, while Kirkpatrick Level 3 outcomes concerning behavior/application were seen in four studies. Two additional themes were identified outside of the Kirkpatrick framework: culture and identity outcomes and affective/emotional outcomes. Kirkpatrick Level 4 was not represented among the outcomes we examined.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title> <jats:p>Our findings point to some gains from MOOCs. While we can expect MOOCs to persist, how learners benefit from the experience of participating in MOOCs remains unclear.</jats:p> </jats:sec>

Healthfulness Assessment of Recipes Shared on Pinterest: Natural Language Processing and Content Analysis

“…According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2018, about 28% of US adults used Pinterest [18]. Although evidence has shown that intervention tactics through tailored web-based platforms can help promote evidence-based nutrition education to the public [28,29], members of the academic community have urged for more research evaluating the mutual influence between social media users and information or content providers [30]. Our study provides the first glimpse into how recipe information is disseminated and viewed from 2 distinct perspectives: Pinterest posters (pinners) and users.…”

The Usefulness of a Massive Open Online Course about Postural and Technological Adaptations to Enhance Academic Performance and Empathy in Health Sciences Undergraduates

“…Usefulness of the MOOC to Improve the Academic Performance of Students Enrolled in the Degree in Occupational Therapy and the Degree in Physical Therapy Our research has shown an increase in the academic performance of participants who had realized the MOOC educational intervention with respect to the group who did not realize the MOOC. Previous studies have used the Kirkpatrick model to evaluate the qualitative synthesis of the effect of MOOCs students through deductive thematic analyses [4]. The Kirkpatrick model uses the following four levels: reaction, learning, behavior and results [4].…”

“…As McAuley put it, "a MOOC integrates the connectivity of social networking, the facilitation of an acknowledged expert in a field of study, and a collection of freely accessible online resources" [2]. MOOCs are considered very useful in increasing the educational levels of people who make use of them [3][4][5]. They use distance training that can include videos, exercises, presentations and assessments [3][4][5].…”

“…MOOCs are considered very useful in increasing the educational levels of people who make use of them [3][4][5]. They use distance training that can include videos, exercises, presentations and assessments [3][4][5].…”

“…Teaching through MOOCs offers benefits, such as great availability because they are online, free and accessible remotely. There is not much evidence of what students achieve through MOOCs [4]. Another problem regarding MOOCs is that there is no certainty as to the best type of tools to evaluate them [3].…”