The Community of Inquiry makes use of cookies. By continuing, you consent to this use. More information.
Exploring the influences of MOOC design features on student performance and persistence
Xing, Wanli

Published4 December 2018
JournalDistance Education
Volume 40, Issue 1, Pages 98-113
CountryUnited States, North America

ABSTRACT
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) face persistent challenges related to student performance, including high rates of attrition and low student achievement scores. Previous studies that have examined the performance of students in MOOCs have done so using qualitative analysis and the quantitative analysis of small samples. This study is the first to examine general course features of MOOCs on a large scale and to quantify the influences of these course features on student performance. Informed by the theory of web-based online instruction, this study used two-stage K-means clustering to analyze more than 200 MOOCs that had enrolled about 300,000 students, identifying three patterns of course features among the MOOCs. A MANOVA test and follow-up statistical tests revealed that these patterns of course features influenced the MOOCs’ dropout rates and student achievement scores to statistically different degrees. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords MOOC · course feature · student dropout · student performance · large-scale data analytics

CoI focusTeaching presence
MethodologyQuantitative
PopulationMOOC
Data analysisContent analysis, MANOVA
ContributionEmpirical
Sample size200 MOOCs; 300,000 students
Study aim"... to examine general course features of MOOCs on a large scale and to quantify the influences of these course features on student performance."
Finding"... patterns of course features influenced the MOOCs’ dropout rates and student achievement scores to statistically different degrees."
LanguageEnglish
ISSN0158-7919
RefereedYes
DOI10.1080/01587919.2018.1553560
URLhttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01587919.2018.1553560
ExportBibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar


Viewed by 0 distinct readers




COMMUNITY NOTES

The evaluations below represent the judgements of our readers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the CoI editors.

POST A COMMENT
SIMILAR RECORDS

A case study of teaching presence in virtual problem-based learning groups
Kamin, Carol S.; O'Sullivan, Patricia; Deterding, Robin R.; Younger, Monica; Wade, Ted
Interest in conducting problem-based learning (PBL) on-line has increased to meet student and physician schedules. Little research describes skills needed to facilitate PBL on-line. In this paper we studied teaching ...
Match: teaching presence; content analysis; united states

Dual Perspectives on the Contribution of On-Site Facilitators to Teaching Presence in a Blended Learning Environment
de la Varre, Claire; Keane, Julie; Irvin, Matthew J.
This study examines online instructors’ views of on-site facilitators’ practices and activities that help high school students taking online courses. A qualitative analysis of end-of-course interview data with ...
Match: teaching presence; content analysis; united states

Effects of online presence on learning performance in a blog-based online course
Yang, Jie Chi; Quadir, Benazir; Chen, Nian-Shing; Miao, Qiang
This study investigated how learners' perceived online presence contributed to their learning performance while participating in a blog-based university course. Although the literature evidently highlights that there is ...
Match: performance; teaching presence

Teaching presence and regulation in an electronic portfolio
Torras, M. Eulalia; Mayordomo, Rosa
Teaching presence provides conceptual coherence to construct, operationalise and interpret the regulation of online learning environments. Electronic portfolios contribute to the regulatory process moving from an ...
Match: teaching presence; content analysis

Does "teaching presence" exist in online MBA courses?
Arbaugh, J. B.; Hwang, Alvin
This paper assesses the construct validity of the dimensions of teaching presence, one of three types of presence articulated in Garrison, Anderson, and Archer's [Garrison, D.R., Anderson, T., and Archer, W. (2000). ...
Match: teaching presence; united states

A Follow-up Investigation of Teaching Presence in the SUNY Learning Network
Shea, Peter J.; Pickett, Alexandra M.; Pelz, William E.
This paper is a follow-up study to a preliminary investigation of teaching presence in the State University of New York Learning Network (SLN). In the present studywe review ongoing issues of pedagogy and faculty ...
Match: teaching presence; united states

A study of teaching presence and student sense of learning community in fully online and web-enhanced college courses
Shea, Peter; Li, Chun Sau; Pickett, Alexandra
This paper focuses on two components of a model for online teaching and learning—“teaching presence” and “community”. It is suggested that previous research points to the critical role that community plays in ...
Match: teaching presence; united states

Online instructional effort measured through the lens of teaching presence in the community of inquiry framework: A re-examination of measures and approach
Shea, Peter; Hayes, Suzanne; Vickers, Jason
With more than 4 million students enrolled in online courses in the US alone (Allen & Seaman, 2010), it is now time to inquire into the nature of instructional effort in online environments. Reflecting the community of ...
Match: teaching presence; united states

Facilitating critical thinking in asynchronous online discussion: comparison between peer- and instructor-redirection
Oh, Eunjung Grace; Huang, Wen-Hao David; Hedayati Mehdiabadi, Amir; Ju, Boreum
The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare learners’ critical thinking and interaction during an asynchronous online discussion when peer- or instructor-facilitation was provided. Current literature on online ...
Match: teaching presence; content analysis; united states

Teaching and social presences supporting basic needs satisfaction in online learning environments: How can presences and basic needs happily meet online?
Turk, Murat; Heddy, Benjamin C.; Danielson, Robert W.
This study examined the hypothesized relationships between perceived teaching presence and social presence accounting for social-contextual factors in online learning environments and online students’ basic ...
Match: teaching presence; united states
The Community of Inquiry is a project of Athabasca University, Mount Royal University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and the Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, as well as researchers and members of the CoI community.