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Attrition in MOOC: Lessons Learned from Drop-Out Students

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Authors
Guetl, Christian
Hernandez Rizzardini, R.
Chang, V.
Morales, M.
Date
2014
Type
Book Chapter

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Citation
Guetl, C. and Hernandez Rizzardini, R. and Chang, V. and Morales, M. 2014. Attrition in MOOC: Lessons Learned from Drop-Out Students, in L. Uden, J. Sinclair, Y. Toa, and D. Liberona (ed), Learning Technology for Education in Cloud: MOOC and Big Data. Zurich: Springer.
Source Title
Learning Technology for Education in Cloud. MOOC and Big Data: Communications in Computer and Information Science
Source Conference
Third International Workshop of Learning Technology for Education in Cloud
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School
School of Information Systems
Remarks

Paper presented at Third International Workshop, LTEC 2014, Santiago, Chile, September 2-5, 2014.

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Abstract

Despite the popularity of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), recent studies have found that completion rates are low with some reported to be significantly lower than 10%. The low retention and completion rates are major concerns for educators and institutions. This paper investigates motivations for enrolling in a MOOC on the topic of ‘e-learning’ and discusses reasons for the attrition rates during the course. A survey of 134 students who had not completed the MOOC reveals that only 22% of the students had intended to complete the MOOC but was unable to due to various factors including academic and personal reasons. A big majority of the students indicated that changes in their job, insufficient time, difficulty with the subject matter and unchallenging activities are some of the reasons for the drop-out.