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…

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of three large language models (LLMs), GPT-4o, Llama 3.3 70B and Llama 3.1 8B, in redacting personally identifying information (PII) from forum data in massive open online courses (MOOCs). Design/methodology/approach: Forum posts from students enrolled in nine MOOCs were redacted by three…

This study explores the use of artificial intelligence to improve active retrieval and retention in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). We developed an AI-driven system that generates learning cards to facilitate active recall and utilize spaced repetition. The system was tested with a group of students and instructors, and the results showed…

The rise of massive open online courses (MOOCs) brings rich opportunities for understanding learners' experiences based on analyzing learner-generated content such as course reviews. Traditionally, the unstructured textual data is analyzed qualitatively via manual coding, thus failing to offer a timely understanding of the learner's experiences.…

Students benefit from a nonlinear learning path, also known as a nonsequential learning path, because it allows them to control the pace and sequence of their learning. However, the dynamics of a nonlinear learning path, particularly within an open learning environment like MOOCs, remain underexplored. The current study aims to map out various…

Background: Forums in massive open online courses (MOOCs) enable written exchanges on course content; hence, they can potentially facilitate learners' cognitive engagement. Given the myriad of MOOC forum messages, this engagement is commonly analysed automatically through the linguistic features of the messages. Assessing linguistic features of…

The aim of the present paper is to explore students' perceptions of MOOCs in relation to their learning strategies. Drawing upon cognitive appraisal theory and learning strategies framework, the study examines the perception of MOOCs as threats or challenges and assesses students' learning approaches through the prism of deep and surface learning…

When tutoring students it is useful to be able to predict whether they are succeeding as early as possible. This paper compares multiple methods for predicting from sequential interaction data whether a student is on a successful path. Predicting students' future performance and intervening has shown promise in improving learner outcomes and…

Self-regulated learning is a crucial skill that may enable massive numbers of learners to thrive in MOOCs, but MOOC learners differ in their self-regulated learning skills, as low self-regulated learners need support to regulate their learning process in MOOCs. Designing self-regulated learning scaffoldings builds upon an accurate appraisal of…

To design and script courses, practitioners often collaboratively use simple and tangible tools such as Post-it notes. In light of this, research and development were conducted to develop Eduscript Doctor, an analogic tool that would retain the inductive potential of Post-it notes while structuring the pedagogical scripting process. This…

The number of Massive Open Online Courses' (MOOCs) participants has been increasing over the years but its completion rate is extremely low. Social support/social interaction is one of the key factors that has a huge impact on students' learning motivation in both online and offline environments, but difficult to maintain in MOOCs due to its…

MOOC platforms provide a means of communication through forums, allowing learners to express their difficulties and challenges while studying various courses. Within these forums, some posts require urgent attention from instructors. Failing to respond promptly to these posts can contribute to higher dropout rates and lower course completion…

Promoting continuous learning behavior is a key challenge for online learning. The present paper empirically examines the effects of course network characteristics including course network size, course network diversity, and course strong ties on continuance behavior, considering the moderating impacts of social learning and social exposure.…

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are revolutionizing online education and have become a popular teaching platform. However, traditional MOOCs often overlook learners' individual needs and preferences when designing learning materials and activities, resulting in suboptimal learning experiences. To address this issue, this paper proposes an…