Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016;11(1):8.
doi: 10.1186/s41039-016-0033-5. Epub 2016 Apr 8.

Who will pass? Analyzing learner behaviors in MOOCs

Shu-Fen Tseng  1 , Yen-Wei Tsao  2 , Liang-Chih Yu  1 , Chien-Lung Chan  1 , K Robert Lai  3
Affiliations

Who will pass? Analyzing learner behaviors in MOOCs

Shu-Fen Tseng et al. Res Pract Technol Enhanc Learn. 2016.

Abstract

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have recently gained worldwide attention from educational institutes. MOOCs provide a new option for learning, yet measurable learning benefits of MOOCs still need to be investigated. Collecting data of three MOOCs at Yuan Ze University (YZU), this paper intended to classify learning behaviors among 1489 students on the MOOC platform at YZU. This study further examined learning outcomes in MOOCs by different types of learners. The Ward's hierarchical and k-means non-hierarchical clustering methods were employed to classify types of learners' behavior while they engaged in learning activities on the MOOC platform. Three types of MOOC learners were classified-active learner, passive learner, and bystander. Active learners who submitted assignments on time and frequently watched lecture videos showed a higher completion rate and a better grade in the course. MOOC learners who participated in online discussion forum reported a higher rate of passing the course and a better score than those inactive classmates. The finding of this study suggested that the first 2 weeks was a critical point of time to retain students in MOOCs. MOOC instructors need to carefully design course and detect risk behaviors of students in early of the classes to prevent students from dropping out of the course. The feature design of discussion forum is to provide peer interaction and facilitate online learning. Our results suggested that timely feedback by instructors or facilitators on discussion forum could enhance students' engagement in MOOCs.

Keywords: Learning analytics; Learning behavior; Learning engagement; MOOCs.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The average number of logging in MOOCs
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The average number of watching lecture videos
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The average number of assignment submission
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Anderson A, Huttenlocher D, Kleinberg J, Leskovec J. WWW '14 Proceedings of the 23rd international conference on world wide web. 2014. Engaging with massive online courses; pp. 687–698.
    1. Antonenko P, Toy S, Niederhauser DS. Using cluster analysis for data mining in educational technology research. Education Technology Research and Development. 2012;60:383–398. doi: 10.1007/s11423-012-9235-8. - DOI
    1. Blake D. What type of MOOC student are you? 2014.
    1. Boyd G, Kasraie N. Can MOOC fires bring light to shadow education? International Journal of Learning and Development. 2013;3(4):87–95. doi: 10.5296/ijld.v3i4.4111. - DOI
    1. Cassidy D, Breakwell N, Bailey J. Keeping them clicking: promoting student engagement in MOOC design. The All Ireland Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. 2014;6(2):1–15.

LinkOut - more resources