Learners Expectations and Motivations using Content Analysis in a MOOC

The phenomenon of massive open online courses (MOOCs) has transformed the online educational delivery of courses around the world. There are several literature on MOOC publicity in the press, but little has been mentioned and discussed about the learner expectation and motivation. This paper investigates MOOC learner expectations and motivation from different perspectives. What they are hoping to achieve and how they prefer to learn. Firstly, we review existing literature bringing findings that correlate with learner expectations and motivation. We provide discussion from previously analysed research to review the relationship in expectation leading to motivation. Secondly, using the initial pilot investigation, we provide preliminary analysis of data from computing for teachers MOOC, run by the University of Warwick, UK hosted using Moodle platform. The first pilot study of CfT MOOC registered over 500 participants in 2013/2014. The CfT MOOC is of two main strands, programming and computing concepts delivered within the two modes of “traditional peer to peer support” which is free and “tutor supported” mode with real-time mostly by Google hangout and it is a paid mode. The focus in this paper is mainly on the activities and expectations of CfT MOOC participants. This paper explores the perspective of the learners’ expectations and motivations to participate. The method we applied to retrieve the information was to use a survey about learner’s knowledge, expectation and plans during the course in a text content. These preliminary content-based results were analysed to obtain the level of experience and desires of the participants. Finally, we discuss our preliminary findings on the expectations of the learners, and motivations of the learners measured using a qualitative content analysis analysed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS). The learners’ expectations were classified into four categories according to their related theme. In the long run the research findings can be anticipated to inform further intervention by incorporating adaptivity as an effective model of MOOCs design. Introduction Motivation is revealed, as a factor of encouraging more participants in an online course because learners are given options to study in their area of interest. MOOC learners have shown different motivation beyond solely “utilitarian or learning goals” (Wang, 2014, Siemens, 2006). In a course where learners are not given options to navigate as the wish, these courses suffer motivation and lead to high dropout rate (Anderson, 2013, Carr, 2012, de Waard, 2011,Knox, 2012,Pappano, 2012). Majority of learners register for MOOC based on subjects they find interesting and familiar with. In this study of CfT MOOC, several participants already have their interest and expectations. A survey is conducted to acquire full understanding of the reasons for registering in the MOOC. Results show many expectations and motivation, which were the basis for these research findings evaluated using a content-based analysis. Content analysis of data reduction is known as a key element of any qualitative analysis, hence the method respect the quality of the qualitative data (Cohen et al., 2007). Weber (1990) pointed out that content analysis is “a process by which the many words of texts are classified into much fewer categories”. According to Flick (1998) the goal of content-based analysis is to reduce the material in different ways. The categories are normally obtained from “theoretical construct or areas of interest” planned ahead of the analysis. It is a “pre-ordinate categorization” rather than created from the actual data from respondents. However, these can be modified with reference to the empirical data according to Cohen et al., (2007). This paper firstly, reviews literature relating to learners expectations and motivations in MOOCs. Secondly, preliminary data from the Computing for Teachers (CfT) MOOC pilot on learners’ motivations and aspirations is then presented, discussion on the methods applied for the analysis. CfT Developed at the University of Warwick was run in two parallel modes “peer-supported” and “tutor-supported” modes. Finally, the expectation and motivation is measured using survey questions based on demographic were analysed to acquire the knowledge level of the participants. The survey empirical data was captured using online Google tool to collate the data for analysis using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) Preview version of this paper. Content and pagination may change prior to final publication. EdMedia 2015 Montreal, Quebec, Canada, June 22-24, 2015