Literature review

Completion: Definition and caveat

Many educators and researchers accept the definition by Jordan (2015a) that ‘completion’ means the number who passed a course and/or obtained a certificate. The number is usually taken from the number who initially enrolled, although this is arguably misleading since it is often the case that participants sign up and never return to engage with the content. Thus, figures can be skewed, and completion may be higher or lower than the mean of 12.5% (Jordan, 2015b) depending on the point where the calculation is made.

 Additionally, when considering in the reasons for low completion rates and how to improve them, it is worth remembering from pedagogical point of view, that Littlejohn and Hood (2018)  offer a cautionary note, pointing out that:

 “ …completion, or at least engaging with all of the content and participating in learning activities, is not necessarily indicative of learning or of the learner’s ability to participate in a MOOC.”