Background: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) can engage large numbers of learners. Understanding motivations for enrolling and elements that engage learners may help meet learner needs. This study explored motivations, intentions, recruitment methods and course acceptability of learners enrolled in 'The Science of Weight Loss: Dispelling diet…

Existing studies on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) examine learners' engagement processes but have not explored links between them and motivations to enroll. In our previous work, we identified intrinsic, professional, and prosocial motivations for taking MOOCs. In this study, we used process mining to compare the course engagement patterns…

To date, student issues with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have only been explored in context-specific environments. Mainstream problems such as declining student motivation during a course, massive student dropout rates, accountability, user experience, etc., persist due to the permutations and combinations of these issues. Literature is…

The study aims to investigate the level of motivation and entrepreneurial competencies of students using online distance courses in entrepreneurial learning. Based on the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) program, an experimental group of respondents took the course "How to Start Your Own Business" (March-May 2022), and their results…

The rise of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has democratised education, yet student dropout remains a persistent challenge. This research tackles this issue by analysing 1,273 publications on MOOC dropout rates (2020-2023) from the Scopus database using VOSviewer, a bibliometric analysis tool. By mapping the intellectual landscape, the study…

The aim of this study is to gain insight into the interplay between attitudes, motivation, learning engagement, and perceived learning outcomes in massive open online courses (MOOCs). An online survey was administered to 232 MOOC learners. This study provided comprehensive explanations for individual differences in learning engagement and…

Due to its outstanding advantages of openness, unrestraint and low cost, MOOCs have been growing rapidly in recent years. However, this new self-directed online learning model faces the challenge of the low course completion rate. Based on self-determination theory, this paper combines learners' intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation, and…

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have the potential to positively disrupt higher education in South Africa, but at present, only a few institutions in South Africa offer MOOCs. The aim of the study is to investigate why South African citizens would enrol in MOOCs to further their education. The purpose of the study is to understand the various…

The field of online professional development is in ongoing growth, and motivation has been identified as a critical factor in online courses. Somewhat different from the common courses delivered through MOOCs, this study investigates learning processes in compulsory courses. The study aims to understand the motivational factors influential on the…

This study investigates the level of readiness for massive open online courses (MOOCs) of students in Oman. It compares the readiness of ordinary students in the Omani higher education institutions (HEIs) and those outside HEIs who took a MOOC from the larger Omani society and tests for the differences between their levels of readiness.…

A massive open online course (MOOC) is a powerful tool for expanding educational opportunities, but one of the major challenges facing MOOCs is the high dropout rate. Low completion rates indicate issues with student engagement and motivation. Gamification, the incorporation of game elements in non-game contexts, has shown promise in increasing…

Purpose: Even though the pandemic years resulted in a significant increase in massive open online courses (MOOCs), there are still countries where penetration is low. The rejection of MOOCs can inhibit individual and societal advancements. The purpose of this study is to explore what is behind the resistance to MOOCs in these regions. Using the…

MOOC attrition rates have become a research hotspot in open and online education, requiring researchers to pinpoint psychological, technological, pedagogical, and technical factors that could mitigate this problem. For this aim, the current study applied a tri-phenomenon approach to explore language learners' perceptions of support coupled with…

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) experienced a resurgence in popularity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this work, we studied participants in an astrobiology MOOC offered on Coursera since April 2019. Using a modified version of the Science Motivation Questionnaire II, we examined the primary motivational factors of the participants, how those…

Self-directed learning (SDL) is necessary for successful learning in MOOCs. Motivation is one of the critical elements of SDL. This mixed-method study examined the design and delivery of MOOCs to motivate learners for SDL. The data collection methods included semi-structured interviews with 22 MOOC instructors, a document review of 22 MOOCs, and…