Initial experiences with small group discussions in MOOCs

Lim, Seongtaek; Coetzee, Derrick; Hartmann, Bjoern; Fox, Armando; Hearst, Marti A.

doi:10.1145/2556325.2567854

Cited by 18 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Without the need to switch contexts to the discussion forum, learners may be more likely to ask questions or help others. Synchronous discussions embedded in lectures-asking students to work through a problem in small groups, then polling the room for potential answers, and finally explaining the right solution [Crouch and Mazur 2001;Smith et al 2009]-is one approach that has seen positive effects in classrooms and has been adapted successfully to MOOCs [Lim et al 2014]. More deeply incorporating social features into the presentation of instructional content could be leveraged to better support learning.…”

Section: Data-driven Design Choices For Open Online Learning Environmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivation as a Lens to Understand Online Learners

Kizilcec

Schneider

2015

ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact.

199

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Open online learning environments attract an audience with diverse motivations who interact with structured courses in several ways. To systematically describe the motivations of these learners, we developed the Online Learning Enrollment Intentions (OLEI) scale, a 13-item questionnaire derived from open-ended responses to capture learners' authentic perspectives. Although motivations varied across courses, we found that each motivation predicted key behavioral outcomes for learners (N = 71, 475 across 14 courses). From learners' motivational and behavioral patterns, we infer a variety of needs that they seek to gratify by engaging with the courses, such as meeting new people and learning English. To meet these needs, we propose multiple design directions, including virtual social spaces outside any particular course, improved support for local groups of learners, and modularization to promote accessibility and organization of course content. Motivations thus provide a lens for understanding online learners and designing online courses to better support their needs. ACM Reference Format:René F. Kizilcec and Emily Schneider. 2015. Motivation as a lens to understand online learners: Toward data-driven design with the OLEI scale.

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Section: Data-driven Design Choices For Open Online Learning Environmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivation as a Lens to Understand Online Learners

Kizilcec

Schneider

2015

ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact.

199

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“…We surveyed sixteen learners in a programming-related MOOC [33] after an early "shake-out" deployment of the system to get subjective responses to the tool. 14 of 16 agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "I liked discussing questions in a small group and would like to do so again".…”

Section: Evidence Of Positive Reception In a Moocmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structuring Interactions for Large-Scale Synchronous Peer Learning

Coetzee

Lim

Fox

et al. 2015

Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work &Amp; Social Computing

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This research investigates how to introduce synchronous interactive peer learning into an online setting appropriate both for crowdworkers (learning new tasks) and students in massive online courses (learning course material). We present an interaction framework in which groups of learners are formed on demand and then proceed through a sequence of activities that include synchronous group discussion about learnergenerated responses. Via controlled experiments with crowdworkers, we show that discussing challenging problems leads to better outcomes than working individually, and incentivizing people to help one another yields still better results. We then show that providing a mini-lesson in which workers consider the principles underlying the tested concept and justify their answers leads to further improvements. Combining the mini-lesson with the discussion of the multiple-choice question leads to significant improvements on that question. We also find positive subjective responses to the peer interactions, suggesting that discussions can improve morale in remote work or learning settings.

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“…MOOCs offer educational opportunities for people who otherwise could not afford a formal education (Dillahunt, Wang, & Teasley, 2014). Unfortunately, MOOCs are also known for their high attrition rates (Ho et al, 2014;Lim, Coetzee, Hartmann, Fox, & Hearst, 2014;Malan, 2013). According to Liyanagunawardena, Adams, and Williams (2013), most MOOCs have a completion rate of less than 10%.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Demographics and Students’ Motivation as Predictors of Completion of a Massive Open Online Course

Zhang

Bonafini

Lockee

et al. 2019

IRRODL

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This paper investigates the degree to which different variables affect the completion of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). Data on those variables, such as age, gender, English proficiency, education level, and motivation for course enrollment were first collected through a pre-course survey. Next, course completion records were collected via the Coursera database. Finally, multiple binomial logistic regression models were used to identify factors related to MOOC completion. Although students were grouped according to their preferences, working in groups did not affect students’ likelihood for MOOC completion. Also, other variables such as age, the institution hosting the MOOC, academic program alignment with students’ needs, and students’ intention to complete the course all affected their probability of MOOC completion. This study contributes to the literature by indicating the factors that influence the probability of MOOC completion. Results show that older participants (age > 50 years old) have higher probability of completing the MOOC. Students’ MOOC completion also increases when the MOOC provides experiences that add to students’ current academic backgrounds and when they are hosted by institutions with a strong academic reputation. Based on these factors, this study contributes to research methods in MOOCs by proposing a model that is aligned with the most important factors predicting completion as recommended by the current MOOC literature. For the next phase of assigning learners to work in groups, findings from this study also suggest that MOOC instructors should provide assistance for group work and monitor students’ collaborative processes.

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Initial experiences with small group discussions in MOOCs

Cited by 18 publications

References 8 publications

Motivation as a Lens to Understand Online Learners

Motivation as a Lens to Understand Online Learners

Structuring Interactions for Large-Scale Synchronous Peer Learning

Exploring Demographics and Students’ Motivation as Predictors of Completion of a Massive Open Online Course

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