Facilitating MOOCs learning through weekly meet-up: a case study in Taiwan

Abstract

Online learners need various supports to survive, and it is especially true in the context of MOOCs. Yet, studies documenting the learning progress as a function of learner support are at its inception. Based on self-determination theory and via weekly study group, we devised a series of support strategies to promote the autonomy, relatedness, and competency of MOOCs learners. We evaluated how those support strategies influenced MOOCs learners' retention rate and their self-regulation behaviors such as goal setting, time management, and help seeking. While this study is still on going, initial results showed that participants had higher intrinsic motivation than extrinsic motivation. Furthermore, participants expressed that the weekly meet-up had been very helpful to keep them going, especially when they wanted to give up. Interestingly, participants' learning strategies rarely changed even new strategies had been shared in group. Implications for researchers, designers and MOOCs learners are discussed.