Understanding Student Disaffection in Large-Scale Online Learning

Abstract

Large-scale online learning is gaining widespread recognition and popularity. To understand student disaffection in such learning environments, this article used course review data from more than 2,390 students who completed, currently taking, or partially completed/dropped out from at least one of 8 highly-rated MOOCs. The five main reasons were: peer review activities, forum-related issues, unhappiness about the claims or perceived biases in the teachings, a dislike of reading academic papers, and assignment-related issues. These reasons yield complementary information that could help us understand student engagement in large scale online learning more comprehensively.