Peer assessment in MOOCs: The relationship between peer reviewers’ ability and authors’ essay performance

In a relatively short period of time, massive open online courses (MOOCs) have become a considerable topic of research and debate, and the number of available MOOCs is rapidly growing. Along with issues of formal recognition and accreditation, this growth in the number of MOOCs being developed increases the relevance of assessment quality. Within the context of a typical xMOOC, the current study focuses on peer assessment of essay assignments. In the literature, two contradicting theoretical arguments can be found: that learners should be matched with same‐ability peers (homogeneously) versus that students should be matched with different‐ability peers (heterogeneously). Considering these arguments, the relationship between peer reviewers’ ability and authors’ essay performance is explored. Results indicate that peer reviewers’ ability is positively related to authors’ essay performance. Moreover, this relationship is only established for intermediate and high ability authors; essay performance of lower ability authors appeared not to be related to the ability of their reviewing peers. Results are discussed in relation to the matching of learners and instructional design of peer assessment in MOOCs.     

cMOOC与xMOOC的辨证分析及高等教育生态链整合

知识经济社会是一种全新的社会形态,社会的发展以知识的生产和创新为基础,知识呈现出数字化、网络化的形态。当前基于课程的大学教育对知识传授的速度越来越滞后于知识增长的速度,也无法适应网络化知识产生、传播和应用的方式。高等教育从单纯面授模式转向在线模式或混合模式已成为不可逆转的趋势。MOOCs作为在线教育发展大潮中的一种探索形式,主要发展出基于联通主义学习理论的cMOOC和基于行为主义学习理论的xMOOC。从MOOCs的理念及其对高等教育变革的视角来看,cMOOC提出了适合数字时代基于网络的分布式认知过程的学习理论和教学模式;xMOOC借助于互联网,引入商业模式,突破了百年来高等教育坚固的“知识产业链”,吸引品牌大学的介入,为在线教育的发展提供了可操作的运行模式。但是无论哪种MOOCs均是课程层面的尝试,是局部的探索,因此需要站在数字化知识经济时代人才培养转型的高度,从整体上认识和把握在线教育的发展规律,积极推进尚处起步阶段的MOOC研究与实践。     

How MOOC instructors view the pedagogy and purposes of massive open online courses

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have proliferated in recent years despite disagreement about the role of MOOCs in higher education and whether student outcomes are satisfactory. Taking a mixed-methods approach, the current study surveys professors who have taught MOOCs (n = 162) in order to better understand how MOOCs are perceived by instructors. Professors’ backgrounds and beliefs about the role of MOOCs in higher education and their perceptions of the experiences of students are discussed. In addition, professors’ satisfaction in teaching MOOCs is reported. The study finds that most MOOC professors are experienced faculty members with relatively little prior experience teaching online, and that they are divided about the purpose of MOOCs in the institutional landscape of higher education.     

Factors influencing the pursuit of personal learning goals in MOOCs

MOOCs are promising opportunities for lifelong learning, but as promising as these learning opportunities seem, many learners do not succeed in pursuing their personal learning goals. Barriers to learning are the main reason for not finishing the intended (parts of the) MOOCs. This study addressed the question whether the factors age, gender, educational level, and online learning experience affect barriers faced while learning in MOOCs. The results show that it is challenging to combine work and family life with lifelong (online) learning activities, especially for learners in their early adulthood and mid-life. However, more experience with online learning positively affects individuals’ ability to cope with these challenges. Also, learners with a lower educational level may experience a lack of knowledge or difficulties with the course content. These findings may serve as input to inform potentially vulnerable learners about these issues and support them in successfully achieving their personal learning goals.     

Exploring the influences of MOOC design features on student performance and persistence

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.     

MOOC社会交互对持续参与意愿的影响研究——体验价值的中介作用

中国慕课数量和规模已居世界第一,进入了质的提升阶段。如何让学生“学得更好”、激发学习兴趣和潜能是当前慕课研究的重要任务。创新引入体验价值理论,构建了“社会交互—体验价值—持续参与意愿”的影响路径模型,采用问卷调查研究方法,使用SPSS和AMOS软件进行数据分析和结构方程模型检验。研究发现,一是MOOC社会交互的正向价值进一步被印证;二是功能体验价值、情感体验价值和社会体验机制对持续学习意愿有影响;三是体验价值在社会交互与持续学习意愿的关系中不同程度地发挥显著的中介作用。研究结论为改善MOOC平台社会交互设计以及提升交互质量和学习者持续学习意愿有指导价值。     

让MOOCs更有意义:在谎言、悖论和可能性的迷宫中沉思

大规模开放网络课程(MOOCs)是一种以开放访问和大规模参与为目的的在线课程。MOOCs作为一种新的教育技术,包括cMOOCs和xMOOCs两种,前者以联通主义理论为基础,强调知识创新与生成;后者以行为主义理论为基础,关注知识重复。两者在教学理念上差异很大,用同一术语表述很容易使人混淆。同以往各种形式的信息技术一样,MOOCs在本质上是一系列操作符号的工具,同时也是基于互联网的低成本教育材料分发和共享的工具,因此在对待MOOCs变革传统高等教育这一问题上应该理性。目前媒体、商业集团和高校机构对xMOOCs的关注处于一种狂热状态,缺乏系统而理性的学术研究,主要体现出四个谎言和悖论:一是学校品牌是教学质量的象征,而实际上它们的声誉是由其研究赢得的,并非教学质量,xMOOCs的低完成率为传统高校所不齿;二是多数xMOOCs机构对成功通过课程考试的学生只提供证书,不生成学分,对比传统学校教育,意味着对学生学业的认证取决于招生而不是课程学习;三是xMOOCs是一种新的教学法并支持个性化学习,而实际上他们采用的是一种过时的行为主义教学法;四是xMOOCs一方面期望和推崇"让知识成为人类共同财产"的理想,却又一方面在积极探索能够盈利的商业模式。MOOCs在炒作背后应该回归理性的发展轨迹,其对传统教育的真正变革应该是将xMOOCs置于全世界公众的视野中,迫使这些机构重视教学和教学法,并将教学作为其核心使命。     

Effects of flipped classrooms integrated with MOOCs and game-based learning on the learning motivation and outcomes of students from different backgrounds

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to investigate the effect of flipped classrooms integrated with massive open online courses (MOOCs) and game-based learning on the learning motivation and learning outcomes of students from different backgrounds (in terms of gender, grade, self-confidence indicators in mathematics, and roles played in the game-based learning process). Surveys and a semi-structured open questionnaire were used for data collection, including a basic information questionnaire (to understand the participants’ backgrounds), a questionnaire on learning motivation (the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, MSLQ), a test of learning achievements in mathematics, and a semi-structured open-ended questionnaire (to understand the learners’ feelings). Quantitative analysis results showed that flipped classrooms integrated with MOOCs and game-based learning can enhance students’ learning motivation and outcomes. Specifically, compared with students with high self-confidence in learning mathematics, students with low and medium levels of self-confidence showed significantly greater improvement in overall learning motivation. Significantly more enhancements were found for the expectation component of “soldiers” (students with relatively lower learning achievements) than for “generals” (students with higher learning achievements). Furthermore, students in the eighth grade showed significantly greater progress in academic performance than did students in the seventh grade.     

探索MOOCs与现实课堂结合的教学模式——系统科学与圣塔菲网络课程的个案研究

从世界前沿的发展来看,MOOCs有三个值得关注的趋势：即把线上线下（020）的课程创新与体验有机结合起来;研究学科的特点和差异;注重方法的探索及方法论的创新。如何将三者有效整合,是当前推动MOOCs研究与实践深化发展所面临的一个重要课题。基于此．特意把圣塔菲研究所开设的两门MOOCs课程作为个案进行研究,基于跨学科的方法论视角、以师生对话的形式,展现了在网络课程新时空中教师和学生各自的体验、不同背景学习者之间的优势互补,揭示了信息时代建立教学相长、能者为师之新型师生关系和跨学科师生团队的重要性。特别是复杂性研究中所使用的建模工具NetLogo,此类“新工具”在网络课程新时空中开展跨学科研究和研究性学习的独特作用。Moocs是一个复杂的社会系统工程,复杂性研究、尤其是自组织理论等新思维及其方法论在MooCs研究乃至教育理论与实践创新发展中的价值和意义日益凸显,若以此指导MooCs与现实课堂的双向互动、协同创新,对实现教育信息化进程中的“深度融合”具有重要意义。     

Southern agency and digital education: an ethnography of open online learning in Dili,Timor-Leste

ABSTRACT

This ethnography, based on fieldwork in Dili, Timor-Leste between 2015 and 2017, adopts an orthodox sociological theorising of agency to investigate the ways in which people in Dili negotiate the numerous interacting structural barriers to digital education. Having identified a lack of attention to learner agency in the literature on the promotion and adoption of MOOCs and OER in the Global South (King, Pegrum, and Forsey [2018]. ‘MOOCs and OER in the Global South: Problems and Potential’. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 19 (5): 2–20. doi:10.19173/irrodl.v19i5.3742), the paper addresses Connell’s [(2008). Southern Theory: The Global Dynamics of Knowledge in Social Science. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin] influential criticism of the imbalances in global knowledge production, and explores the parallels in technologically enhanced learning. A new concept- Southern agency- is developed through the stories of three Timorese students and their engagement with digital education, focussing on the influences of local infrastructure, family, literacies and the colonial legacy. The paper highlights the need for more extensive research into local practices of learning with technologies and advocates Southern agency as a heuristic device to gain valuable insights into the lived experience of Southern learners.     

基于MOOCs的翻转课堂在电大远程教育中的应用

基于MOOCs的翻转课堂非常适合应用于电大远程教育。其模式需分三步实现:一是课前进行基于MOOCs的视频制作,二是学生在网络平台自主学习、在线讨论和教师网络课堂答疑,三是对学习进行多元化评价。实施基于MOOCs的翻转课堂,应提高学生自主学习能力和合作学习能力,教师应成为学习引导者和学习策略制定者,且必须精通现教技术。     

Individual Learning Vs. Interactive Learning: A Cognitive Diagnostic Analysis of MOOC Students’ Learning Behaviors

ABSTRACT

Researchers have been interested in classifying massive open online course (MOOC) students based on their learning behaviors. However, less attention has been paid to the cognitive attributes associated with various learning behaviors. In this study, we propose a conceptual model that links MOOC students’ observable learning behaviors to their latent attributes (i.e., individual learning versus interactive learning). Using students’ behavior data from a MOOC, we performed a cognitive diagnostic analysis to identify the students’ learning profiles and to determine how these profiles related to their course achievement. We found that a large portion of the students performed individual learning whereas only a very small portion of them overtly performed interactive learning. In addition, the students who performed interactive learning were more likely to pass the course with distinction than the students who did not show this attribute. The results of this study have important implications for improving students’ learning in MOOCs. Further, the study provides a good demonstration of how to use clickstream process data for psychometric analysis.     

Who is taking MOOCs for teachers’ professional development on the use of ICT? A cross-sectional study from Spain

ABSTRACT

Research on the use of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for teacher professional development (TPD) and the characteristics of their participants is scarce. This article presents a case of a MOOC initiative supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education aiming at teachers’ professional development on the use of ICT for teaching and learning. The analysis is focused on (a) the sociodemographic and school characteristics of the teachers participating in MOOCs; (b) their experience and beliefs about lifelong learning; and (c) the relevance of MOOCs for their work. By contrasting the characteristics of the participants in this initiative with the characteristics of the whole population of teachers in Spain, and a sample of Spanish participants in MOOCs not aimed at TPD, the article sheds light on the specificities of the teachers who use this way of TPD. The results have implications for the design of programmes aimed to develop MOOCs for TPD.     

Developmental Math Pilot: Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), Psychology Concepts,and Group Work

Researchers observed their students’ frequent choices to use technology and the students' weak developmental math course completion rates. These observations piqued researchers' interest to find a new approach to improve students’ math learning—utilizing disruptive innovation. The purpose of this study was to understand students’ perceptions about learning developmental math with a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and face-to-face group activities interwoven with psychology of learning concepts. Research findings suggest that MOOCs used in developmental math coursework can improve math success, and group work within face-to-face classrooms can increase connectivity to learning. A MOOC was merged with face-to-face psychology of learning group projects, and students described increased connectivity to their learning. For example, Haley exclaimed, “So definitely learned how to learn all over again this semester and I’m doing awesome … It’s like I’m breezing through!”     

The relationship between students’ perceptions of portfolio assessment practice and their approaches to learning

This study focuses on students’ learning approaches in the context of a competency‐based program on Applied Sciences, with portfolio assessment as its core mode of assessment. The study examines students’ perceptions of these assessment practices and the relationships to their learning approaches. Additionally, differences in perceptions and learning approaches between first‐year students and second‐year students, who already have one year of experience with the portfolio assessment practice, are investigated. A total of 110 students completed two questionnaires at the end of the academic year: the Revised SPQ (Study process questionnaire) was used to measure their approaches to learning and the AEQ (Assessment experience questionnaire) was used to measure their perceptions of the assessment practice. The results indicate that, when implementing portfolio assessment, feedback is essential. Moreover, it seems not to be the assessment design, but rather how it is implemented, and how students’ learning is stimulated through the assessment, that influences the quality of learning.     

Understanding students’ engagement in MOOCs: An integration of self-determination theory and theory of relationship quality

Although Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) attract millions of people to enroll in their courses, the completion rate for most courses is very low. A majority of MOOCs students are not fully engaged in MOOCs, thus leading them to quit in the early stage of the courses. Therefore, it is important to investigate students’ engagement in MOOCs. Drawing on self-determination theory and the theory of relationship quality, this study proposes a model that conceptualizes the MOOCs engagement as consisting of psychological engagement and behavioral engagement and explores the antecedents of students’ engagement in MOOCs. The research model is tested using data collected from 374 students of Chinese University MOOC. The results show that fulfillment of three basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness have significant positive effects on intrinsic motivation, increasing students’ psychological engagement in MOOCs. Relationship quality significantly predicts students’ psychological engagement, and psychological engagement promotes behavioral engagement in MOOCs. Implications for research and practice as well as limitations of this study are discussed finally.     

基于MOOCs的多元同心学习分析模型构建

随着MOOCs在国内外迅猛发展,其高退学率低通过率导致教学效果不尽人意的问题,逐渐成为研究者关注的焦点。学习分析为解决该难题提供了一系列的研究方法和技术支持。为此,以学习分析促进MOOCs的个性化教育为核心,从学习过程、学习环境、教育环境、数据挖掘、应用支持服务、受益者等多元化视角出发,构建基于MOOCs的多元同心学习分析模型。并在已有研究的基础上归纳出支持该学习分析模型的关键技术。最终,以学习者特征识别、学习者在线学习行为分析、学习者交互分析三类典型应用来演示多元同心学习分析模型在MOOCs中的具体应用．以期为学习分析在M00Cs中的具体实施提供指导。     

慕课在高职ESP知识体系构建中的目标定位与设置模式

基于慕课给全国高校课程设置带来的挑战和机遇,进行了慕课与具体学科相结合的混合教学模式的调查;报告了隶属于知识传承类课程的因师资水平不足和学生学习能力匮乏遭遇发展瓶颈的高职ESP知识体系构建的现状。在对慕课在高职ESP知识体系构建中的目标做出明确定位后,对结合慕课的以学科知识为依托、语言课程为主的面对面教学为主、线上教学为辅的“半翻转式混合教学”模式进行了研究,为困境中的高职ES P教学提供了有效出路。