Understanding Massive Open Online Course Learner Motivations: The Open Learning Enrollment Intentions Inventory

• In Event: 14.036 - Massive Open Online Course Students in Context: Equity, Motivation, and Performance

Abstract

Objectives

Students in MOOCs range from casual browsers to committed enthusiasts. Accounting for the multitude of motivations and goals of a diverse learner population is a central challenge for course designers and evaluators. We use the Open Learning Enrollment Intentions (OLEI) scale to systematically identify learners’ motivations and the relationship of these motivations to subsequent course behaviors. OLEI includes thirteen items, including relevance to academic pursuits, relevance to job or career change, and meeting new people.

Perspective(s)/theoretical framework

Research in typical classrooms and small-scale online courses reveals many factors influencing student motivation, including interesting and relevant content, external recognition, and social norms and expectations [Pintrich 2003]. But instruments that measure typical student motivations assume students are driven by achievement as defined by teachers and school systems. To analyze engagement with freely available broadcast and online media, communication scholars have develop an alternative framework for motivation, “uses and gratification,” which seeks to understand how technology gratifies users’ needs [Blumler and Katz 1974] We follow this model in developing a self-report measure for enrollment intentions, interpreting learners’ observed behavior as gratifying the needs expressed by their intentions, and using these insights to develop targeted design strategies.

Data sources and methods

Learners in 14 MOOCs offered by Stanford University through the Coursera and OpenEdX platforms on a variety of technical and non-technical topics provided 71,475 responses to the OLEI scale (average response rate: 23%). We used a bootstrapped linear regression analysis to investigate the relationship between enrollment intentions and ten dichotomous indicators of learner behavior. These outcomes were chosen reflect different “milestones” in a typical MOOC, such as attempting over 10/50/80% of assignments and authoring posts/comments on the discussion forum.

Results

Among the observed relationships between enrollment intentions and outcomes, two findings demonstrate a mismatch which should be addressed in future MOOC design. About half of learners reported enrolling to earn a certificate of completion, but these learners were no more likely to earn a certificate than those who enrolled without this intention. Nearly 1/3 of learners enrolled to improve their English skills, and this intention correlated with lower levels of course engagement. A third notable finding was that social rationales predicted higher levels of course engagement. Enrolling with friends increased learners’ likelihood of completing more lectures, assessments, and earning a certificate; enrolling to meet new people was predictive of posting more on the discussion forum.

Significance

While one of the central design affordances of online learning environments allowing for individually flexible pathways through course materials, learners who enroll with social intentions display high levels of course engagement. Our findings suggest that balancing individual flexibility with opportunities for social engagement is one of the central design challenges for online courses.


Jay G Blumler and Elihu Katz. 1974. The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives on gratifications research. Vol. 3. Sage publications Beverly Hills, CA.

Paul R Pintrich. 2003. A motivational science perspective on the role of student motivation in learning and teaching contexts. Journal of Educational Psychology 95, 4 (2003), 667.

Authors

• Emily Schneider, Stanford University

• Rene Kizilcec, Stanford University