What's In It for the Learners? Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment on Learnersourcing Questions in a MOOC

Abstract

Question generation as a form of learnersourcing is both a metacognitive learning activity for students that encourages the development of higher-order thinking skills and a method for producing question banks and assessments. To better understand the motivations for learners who engage in learnersourcing and its impacts on student learning, we conducted an experiment that measured the effects of Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) generation in an introductory data science MOOC. We compared two approaches to question generation: (i) as a required activity, and (ii) as an optional activity. In both cases, the learnersourcing activity was part of the student summative evaluation. We found that learners value creating questions more, and create higher quality questions when they choose to do so compared to when it is required. At the same time there is a significant reduction in instructor evaluation workload in large-scale courses when learners engage by choice due to self-selection. Thus, we propose choice-based learnersourcing as a new form of scalable personalized learning design for MOOCs in particular. In addition, we contribute an exploration of the factors that influence learner choice to create (or not create) an MCQ, which can help contextualize the propensity of learners to engage in such learnersourcing activities.