Predicting Success in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) Using Cohesion Network Analysis

Abstract

This study uses Cohesion Network Analysis (CNA) indices to identify student patterns related to course completion in a massive open online course (MOOC). This analysis examines a subsample of 320 students who completed at least one graded assignment and produced at least 50 words in discussion forums in a MOOC on educational data mining. The findings indicate that CNA indices predict with substantial accuracy (76%) whether students complete the MOOC, helping us to better understand student retention in this MOOC and to develop more actionable automated signals of student success.