Intention Creates Reality? Motivations of Online Course Completers Who Did Not Intend to Fully Participate (Poster 11)

• In Event: Thursday Poster Session 9:00 am
  In Poster Session: Motivational Beliefs, Context, and Consequences

Abstract

This study aimed to understand the goals of learners who took a Massive Open Online Course but did not intend to complete it, particularly those who ended up completing it in spite of their intention. We used a logistic regression model to predict course completion among 1,034 learners who did not intend to complete a course they took from Likert-style survey data and qualitatively coded open-ended data. We found that wanting to advance personal learning was associated with course completion, but academic and professional reasons were associated with lower completion rates. These results might inform course designers interested in engaging all learners. They might also serve researchers who want to understand the link between motivation and behavior in online contexts.

Author

• Ella Anghel, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev