Literature review

Participant and facilitator interaction

Participant interaction cannot be ignored as a factor affecting the likelihood of completion. While this is only speculated by Cooch, Foster and Costello, (2014), statistic results are provided by Yousef et al (2014)  from a study of 205 learners and professors  where “Supporting the collaborative learning among Learners” scores highly amongst the criteria for “to empower learners in MOOCs.” Equally, De Barba, Kennedy and Ainley (2016) also conclude “the strongest predictor of performance was participation, followed by motivation.“ 

 Adamopoulos (2013) puts forward other predictors of course completion, the most significant one, in his opinion being Facilitator, or online professor presence:

“The findings of our analysis illustrate that Professor(s) is the most important factor in online course retention and has the largest positive effect on the probability of a student to successfully complete a course” 

However, with MOOCs being offered by universities as well as other, non-HE providers, it is uncertain whether these ‘professors’ are already known and appreciated by the MOOC participants or whether indeed, any supportive facilitator is vital to the final outcomes.

 Students’ gender or education did not, according to Adamopoulos, affect the chances of attrition or subsequent completion. This correlates with similar findings by Breslow and Colleagues (2013), quoted by Greene, Oswald and Pomerantz (2015) who, when studying student performance in an edX MOOC, concluded “there were no relations between age,gender, or prior degree attainment and achievement” but in fact disagrees with the authors’ own research, which suggests “Increases in age and level of schooling were associated with a decreased likelihood of dropout (i.e., greater likelihood of retention.)”

 The results of the above authors must be considered carefully because on their own admission they focused on only one MOOC, run a single time, with a sample of 3,875 participants who completed the MOOC and completed the authors’ survey.