Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) sind darauf ausgelegt, im tertiären Bildungsbereich den Wissenserwerb zu fördern, ohne dass die formalen Strukturen einer Ausbildungseinrichtung relevant sind. Dazu werden die Teilnehmer nicht persönlich von Dozenten betreut, sondern sind selbstgesteuert, oder werden durch kollaborative Lernmethoden aktiviert. Der Leistungszwang ist daher geringer, die Anzahl derjenigen, die Kurse abbrechen, jedoch ungleich höher. Durchschnittlich schließen maximal 10% der Teilnehmer ihren MOOC-Kurs ab.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) sind darauf ausgelegt, im tertiären Bildungsbereich den Wissenserwerb zu fördern, ohne dass die formalen Strukturen einer Ausbildungseinrichtung relevant sind. Dazu werden die Teilnehmer nicht persönlich von Dozenten betreut, sondern sind selbstgesteuert, oder werden durch kollaborative Lernmethoden aktiviert. Der Leistungszwang ist daher geringer, die Anzahl derjenigen, die Kurse abbrechen, jedoch ungleich höher. Durchschnittlich schließen maximal 10% der Teilnehmer ihren MOOC-Kurs ab.

O rápido desenvolvimento da tecnologia da informação traz oportunidades para área da educação, colocando a educação a distância e aprendizagem online como opções para o modelo tradicional, sobretudo os Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), os quais, no contexto do movimento de educação aberta, são apresentados como meio para aumentar o acesso e a qualidade da educação, proporcionando redução dos custos e da desigualdade educacional, sobretudo nos países em desenvolvimento. A revisão sistemática de 74 artigos evidenciou que as IES estão incorporando os MOOCs às suas práticas - em parte, produzindo seus próprios MOOCs, mas também os integrando a seus currículos, tanto para revisar conteúdo do Ensino Médio com alunos ingressantes no Ensino Superior quanto para melhorar seus cursos.Assim, considerando que as pesquisas que avaliam a incorporação dos MOOCs aos currículos das IES investigam, sobretudo, o desempenho e o nível de satisfação dos alunos, o objetivo principal desse estudo foi compreender como os MOOCs estão sendo incorporados aos cursos presenciais de graduação e qual o valor funcional percebido pelos alunos com relação a essa prática. Para tal, foi realizada uma revisão sistemática da literatura e um estudo de caso de caráter exploratório e descritivo, que integra os enfoques qualitativo e quantitativo. A unidade de análise do estudo de caso foi a disciplina de Fundamentos de Administração, lecionada no primeiro ano do curso bacharelado em Administração, e quatro fontes de evidências foram utilizadas: documentos sobre o MOOC, documentação sobre a disciplina que utilizou o MOOC, entrevistas com o Chefe de Departamento e os professores responsáveis pela disciplina e levantamento (survey) com 101 alunos. As evidências obtidas nas etapas de investigação documental e entrevistas foram analisadas baseando-se nas questões de pesquisas, enquanto o levantamento com os alunos valeu-se da técnica de análise estatística de modelagem de equações estruturais, utilizando o software R. Os resultados do estudo permitiram identificar que, assim como sugerido pela literatura, o MOOC foi utilizado como recurso online no método blended learning em uma disciplina introdutória e substituindo parte da carga horária presencial, possibilitando o aumento do número de alunos por professor, além de tornar a disciplina mais atrativa para o alunado. Além disso, que o MOOC foi usado como recurso online para apresentação do conteúdo, enquanto os exercícios de fixação, as avaliações e as atividades complementares foram desenvolvidos pelos professores. As hipóteses propostas no estudo foram validadas: valor funcional percebido tem efeito positivo (r=0,801) na intenção de recompra (R2=64,15%), a qualidade percebida com relação ao processo de blended learning e a qualidade percebida com relação ao MOOC têm efeitos positivos (r=0,22e r=0,2929, respectivamente) no valor funcional percebido pelo aluno (R2=20,46%); a preferência e autodisciplina para realização de cursos a distância têm efeito positivo na qualidade percebida com relação ao processo de blended learning (r=0,2636 e R2=6,95%) e com relação ao MOOC (r=0,347 e R2=12,04%). Conclui-se que o valor funcional percebido pelo aluno é favorável, com escore de 4,53 (escala de 7 pontos), e é influenciado pela qualidade percebida com relação ao MOOC e ao processo de blended learning. / The rapid development of information technology brings opportunities for education, putting distance education and online learning as options for the traditional model of education, especially the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which in the context of the open education are presented as a means to increase access and quality of education, proportionate educational costs and inequality, especially in developing countries. The systematic review of 74 articles showed that HEIs are incorporating MOOCs into their practices. In part, by producing their own MOOCs, but also integrating them into their curricula, both to revise high school content with incoming higher education students and to improve their courses. Thus, considering that research evaluating the incorporation of MOOCs into The main objectives of this study were to understand how the MOOCs are being incorporated into undergraduate courses and what functional value students perceive in relation to this practice. For such, a systematic review of the literature and an exploratory and descriptive case study were carried out, integrating the qualitative and quantitative approaches. The unit of analysis of the case study was the Fundamentals of Administration discipline taught in the first year of the baccalaureate course in Administration and four sources of evidence were used: documents about the MOOC, documentation about the discipline that used the MOOC, interviews with teachers responsible for discipline and survey with the students. The evidence obtained in the documentary analysis and interviews were analyzed based on the research questions while the student lifting was based on the technique of statistical analysis modeling of structural equations using software R. The results of the study allowed to identify, that as suggested by the literature, the MOOC was used as an online resource in the blendedlearning method in an introductory discipline and replacing part of the classroom workload, making it possible to increase the number of students per teacher, in addition to making the course more attractive for the student. The MOOC was used as an online resource for content presentation, while the attachment exercises, assessments, and complementary activities were developed by teachers. The hypotheses proposed in the study were validated: perceived functional value has a positive effect (r = 0.801) on the intention to buy back (R2 = 64.15%), the quality perceived in relation to the blended learning process and perceived quality in relation to the MOOC have positive effects (r = 0.22 and r = 0.2929, respectively) on the functional value perceived by the student (R2 = 20.46%); (r = 0.2636 and R2 = 6.95%) and in relation to the MOOC (r = 0.347 and R 2 = 12), the preference and self-discipline for distance courses have a positive effect on the perceived quality of the blended learning process , 04%).It is concluded that the functional value perceived by the student is favorable, obtaining a score of 4.53 on a 7-point scale, and that this is influenced by the perceived quality in relation to the MOOC and in relation to the process of blended learning.

O rápido desenvolvimento da tecnologia da informação traz oportunidades para área da educação, colocando a educação a distância e aprendizagem online como opções para o modelo tradicional, sobretudo os Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), os quais, no contexto do movimento de educação aberta, são apresentados como meio para aumentar o acesso e a qualidade da educação, proporcionando redução dos custos e da desigualdade educacional, sobretudo nos países em desenvolvimento. A revisão sistemática de 74 artigos evidenciou que as IES estão incorporando os MOOCs às suas práticas - em parte, produzindo seus próprios MOOCs, mas também os integrando a seus currículos, tanto para revisar conteúdo do Ensino Médio com alunos ingressantes no Ensino Superior quanto para melhorar seus cursos.Assim, considerando que as pesquisas que avaliam a incorporação dos MOOCs aos currículos das IES investigam, sobretudo, o desempenho e o nível de satisfação dos alunos, o objetivo principal desse estudo foi compreender como os MOOCs estão sendo incorporados aos cursos presenciais de graduação e qual o valor funcional percebido pelos alunos com relação a essa prática. Para tal, foi realizada uma revisão sistemática da literatura e um estudo de caso de caráter exploratório e descritivo, que integra os enfoques qualitativo e quantitativo. A unidade de análise do estudo de caso foi a disciplina de Fundamentos de Administração, lecionada no primeiro ano do curso bacharelado em Administração, e quatro fontes de evidências foram utilizadas: documentos sobre o MOOC, documentação sobre a disciplina que utilizou o MOOC, entrevistas com o Chefe de Departamento e os professores responsáveis pela disciplina e levantamento (survey) com 101 alunos. As evidências obtidas nas etapas de investigação documental e entrevistas foram analisadas baseando-se nas questões de pesquisas, enquanto o levantamento com os alunos valeu-se da técnica de análise estatística de modelagem de equações estruturais, utilizando o software R. Os resultados do estudo permitiram identificar que, assim como sugerido pela literatura, o MOOC foi utilizado como recurso online no método blended learning em uma disciplina introdutória e substituindo parte da carga horária presencial, possibilitando o aumento do número de alunos por professor, além de tornar a disciplina mais atrativa para o alunado. Além disso, que o MOOC foi usado como recurso online para apresentação do conteúdo, enquanto os exercícios de fixação, as avaliações e as atividades complementares foram desenvolvidos pelos professores. As hipóteses propostas no estudo foram validadas: valor funcional percebido tem efeito positivo (r=0,801) na intenção de recompra (R2=64,15%), a qualidade percebida com relação ao processo de blended learning e a qualidade percebida com relação ao MOOC têm efeitos positivos (r=0,22e r=0,2929, respectivamente) no valor funcional percebido pelo aluno (R2=20,46%); a preferência e autodisciplina para realização de cursos a distância têm efeito positivo na qualidade percebida com relação ao processo de blended learning (r=0,2636 e R2=6,95%) e com relação ao MOOC (r=0,347 e R2=12,04%). Conclui-se que o valor funcional percebido pelo aluno é favorável, com escore de 4,53 (escala de 7 pontos), e é influenciado pela qualidade percebida com relação ao MOOC e ao processo de blended learning. / The rapid development of information technology brings opportunities for education, putting distance education and online learning as options for the traditional model of education, especially the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which in the context of the open education are presented as a means to increase access and quality of education, proportionate educational costs and inequality, especially in developing countries. The systematic review of 74 articles showed that HEIs are incorporating MOOCs into their practices. In part, by producing their own MOOCs, but also integrating them into their curricula, both to revise high school content with incoming higher education students and to improve their courses. Thus, considering that research evaluating the incorporation of MOOCs into The main objectives of this study were to understand how the MOOCs are being incorporated into undergraduate courses and what functional value students perceive in relation to this practice. For such, a systematic review of the literature and an exploratory and descriptive case study were carried out, integrating the qualitative and quantitative approaches. The unit of analysis of the case study was the Fundamentals of Administration discipline taught in the first year of the baccalaureate course in Administration and four sources of evidence were used: documents about the MOOC, documentation about the discipline that used the MOOC, interviews with teachers responsible for discipline and survey with the students. The evidence obtained in the documentary analysis and interviews were analyzed based on the research questions while the student lifting was based on the technique of statistical analysis modeling of structural equations using software R. The results of the study allowed to identify, that as suggested by the literature, the MOOC was used as an online resource in the blendedlearning method in an introductory discipline and replacing part of the classroom workload, making it possible to increase the number of students per teacher, in addition to making the course more attractive for the student. The MOOC was used as an online resource for content presentation, while the attachment exercises, assessments, and complementary activities were developed by teachers. The hypotheses proposed in the study were validated: perceived functional value has a positive effect (r = 0.801) on the intention to buy back (R2 = 64.15%), the quality perceived in relation to the blended learning process and perceived quality in relation to the MOOC have positive effects (r = 0.22 and r = 0.2929, respectively) on the functional value perceived by the student (R2 = 20.46%); (r = 0.2636 and R2 = 6.95%) and in relation to the MOOC (r = 0.347 and R 2 = 12), the preference and self-discipline for distance courses have a positive effect on the perceived quality of the blended learning process , 04%).It is concluded that the functional value perceived by the student is favorable, obtaining a score of 4.53 on a 7-point scale, and that this is influenced by the perceived quality in relation to the MOOC and in relation to the process of blended learning.

This dissertation provides initial empirical evidence for Expectancy Value Theory for Help Sources and generates design recommendations for online courses based on the newfound understanding between theory and student behavior. My high-level research goals are pursued in the context of help seeking in the presence of reputation systems in MOOC discussion forums. Educational technology can be intentionally designed and introduced in such a way as to maintain the benefits of existing technology while reducing negative impact on learning-relevant behaviors. I do this through the lens of student expectancy and values for the help source, and costs of pursuing that help. Within this thesis I present three online survey experiments, one is intended to provide empirical evidence for the connection between Expectancy Value Theory for Help Sources and student help seeking outcomes. The remaining two survey experiments are designed to further investigate the results of a system for help exchange through the lens of Expectancy Value Theory for Help Sources. The first survey supports the existence of beliefs for help sources, although careful design of value manipulations is necessary to isolate value beliefs from expectancy beliefs for the help source. In a field experiment investigating the design of a help exchange system, I explore the connection between common reputation system features and Expectancy Value Theory for Help Sources. This provides support for the theory outside of a controlled laboratory setting. This Quick Helper MOOC Experiment and the supporting Quick Helper Theory Survey Experiment show that voting within a reputation system context decreases the number of peers invited to be helpers possibly through an increase in evaluation anxiety. Help giver badges ca reduce this evaluation anxiety and mitigate the negative impact of voting. I performed a final field experiment in a small private online course to examine these issues in a more naturalistic setting outside of the Quick Helper help exchange system. I explored learning expectancy-emphasizing email prompts and voting in the course discussion forum, and how these manipulations impacted larger, more nuanced dependent variables such as help seeking and learning. Results from this experiment are not as strong as the more tightly controlled survey experiments and Quick Helper MOOC field experiment, but we still see support in the general direction of our original hypotheses. From these experiments I generate a series of design recommendations for instructors of online courses implementing discussion forums: (1) reputation systems can have a positive effect on student engagement in discussion forums, but there may be a negative effect on help seeking and other vulnerable learning-relevant behaviors, (2) The negative impact of evaluation anxiety from voting can be mitigated through the use of either help giver badges or using only upvoting instead of up/downvoting which may reduce evaluation anxiety, and (4) Email prompts with dilute implementation have questionable impact on student contributions in discussion forums.

Investigating howgroups communicate, build knowledge and expertise, reach consensus or collaboratively solve complex problems, became one of the main foci of contemporary research in learning and social sciences. Emerging models of communication and empowerment of networks as a form of social organization further reshaped practice and pedagogy of online education, bringing research on learning networks into the mainstream of educational and social science research. In such conditions, massive open online courses (MOOCs) emerged as one of the promising approaches to facilitating learning in networked settings and shifting education towards more open and lifelong learning. Nevertheless, this most recent educational turn highlights the importance of understanding social and technological (i.e., material) factors as mutually interdependent, challenging the existing forms of pedagogy and practice of assessment for learning in online environments. On the other hand, the main focus of the contemporary research on networked learning is primarily oriented towards retrospective analysis of learning networks and informing design of future tasks and recommendations for learning. Although providing invaluable insights for understanding learning in networked settings, the nature of commonly applied approaches does not necessarily allow for providing means for understanding learning as it unfolds. In that sense, learning analytics, as a multidisciplinary research field, presents a complementary research strand to the contemporary research on learning networks. Providing theory-driven and analytics-based methods that would allow for comprehensive assessment of complex learning skills, learning analytics positions itself either as the end point or a part of the pedagogy of learning in networked settings. The thesis contributes to the development of learning analytics-based research in studying learning networks that emerge fromthe context of learning with MOOCs. Being rooted in the well-established evidence-centered design assessment framework, the thesis develops a conceptual analytics-based model that provides means for understanding learning networks from both individual and network levels. The proposed model provides a theory-driven conceptualization of the main constructs, along with their mutual relationships, necessary for studying learning networks. Specifically, to provide comprehensive understanding of learning networks, it is necessary to account for structure of learner interactions, discourse generated in the learning process, and dynamics of structural and discourse properties. These three elements – structure, discourse, and dynamics – should be observed as mutually dependent, taking into account learners’ personal interests, motivation, behavior, and contextual factors that determine the environment in which a specific learning network develops. The thesis also offers an operationalization of the constructs identified in the model with the aim at providing learning analytics-methods for the implementation of assessment for learning. In so doing, I offered a redefinition of the existing educational framework that defines learner engagement in order to account for specific aspects of learning networks emerging from learning with MOOCs. Finally, throughout the empirical work presented in five peer-reviewed studies, the thesis provides an evaluation of the proposed model and introduces novel learning analytics methods that provide different perspectives for understanding learning networks. The empirical work also provides significant theoretical and methodological contributions for research and practice in the context of learning networks emerging from learning with MOOCs.

With the increasing pace of technological changes in the modern society, there has been a growing interest from educators, business leaders, and policymakers in teaching important higher-order skills which were identified as necessary for thriving in the present-day globalized economy. In this regard, one of the most widely discussed higher order skills is critical thinking, whose importance in shaping problem solving, decision making, and logical thinking has been recognized. Within the domain of distance and online education, the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model provides a pedagogical framework for understanding the critical dimensions of student learning and factors which impact the development of student critical thinking. The CoI model follows the social-constructivist perspective on learning in which learning is seen as happening in both individual minds of learners and through the discourse within the group of learners. Central to the CoI model is the construct of cognitive presence, which captures the student cognitive engagement and the development of critical thinking and deep thinking skills. However, the assessment of cognitive presence is challenging task, particularly given its latent nature and the inherent physical and time separation between students and instructors in distance education settings. One way to address this problem is to make use of the vast amounts of learning data being collected by learning systems. This thesis presents novel methods for understanding and assessing the levels of cognitive presence based on learning analytics techniques and the data collected by learning environments. We first outline a comprehensive model for cognitive presence assessment which builds on the well-established evidence-cantered design (ECD) assessment framework. The proposed assessment model provides a foundation of the thesis, showing how the developed analytical models and their components fit together and how they can be adjusted for new learning contexts. The thesis shows two distinct and complementary analytical methods for assessing students’ cognitive presence and its development. The first method is based on the automated classification of student discussion messages and captures learning as it is observed in the student dialogue. The second analytics method relies on the analysis of log data of students’ use of the learning platform and captures the individual dimension of the learning process. The developed analytics also extend current theoretical understanding of the cognitive presence construct through data-informed operationalization of cognitive presence with different quantitative measures extracted from the student use of online discussions. We also examine methodological challenges of assessing cognitive presence and other forms of cognitive engagement through the analysis of trace data. Finally, with the intent of enabling for the wider adoption of the CoI model for new online learning modalities, the last two chapters examine the use of developed analytics within the context of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Given the substantial differences between traditional online and MOOC contexts, we first evaluate the suitability of the CoI model for MOOC settings and then assess students’ cognitive presence using the data collected by the MOOC platform. We conclude the thesis with the discussion of practical application and impact of the present work and the directions for the future research.

Der Ansatz des Konnektivismus und die rasante Verbreitung von Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) haben eine anhaltende Debatte um die Chancen, Schwierigkeiten und Perspektiven offener Lernnetzwerke in der Hochschulbildung ausgelöst. Die Diskussion reicht dabei vom befürchteten Verlust des Einflusses der Dozierenden als Gewährleister einer kritischen und vielseitigen Auseinandersetzung mit Themen und Lerninhalten, über die lernerseitigen Voraussetzungen für eine erfolgreiche und gewinnbringende Beteiligung an konnektivistischen Kursangeboten, bis hin zur Frage, inwiefern offenes, vernetztes Lernen im institutionell verfestigten Rahmen der Hochschule überhaupt realisiert werden kann. Verlässliche Daten über konnektivistisch ausgerichtete MOOC-Angebote (sogenannte cMOOCs) mit vorrangig studentischer Beteiligung gibt es kaum, da diese im deutschsprachigen Raum bisher vor allem in non-formalen Settings bzw. im Weiterbildungsbereich angeboten und genutzt wurden. Dieser Beitrag stellt zentrale Ergebnisse der Durchführung und Evaluation eines cMOOC mit hauptsächlich studentischen Teilnehmenden vor, der im Sommersemester 2013 und Wintersemester 2013/14 in Kooperation zwischen drei deutschen Universitäten (Dresden, Chemnitz, Siegen) durchgeführt wurde. Der Fokus liegt auf der Frage, in welchem Ausmaß offenes, vernetztes Lernen im Rahmen eines Hochschulkurses ermöglicht werden kann und Lernergebnisse sich identifizieren lassen. Hierzu erfolgt eine Kombination quantitativer und qualitativer Evaluationsdaten.

Der Ansatz des Konnektivismus und die rasante Verbreitung von Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) haben eine anhaltende Debatte um die Chancen, Schwierigkeiten und Perspektiven offener Lernnetzwerke in der Hochschulbildung ausgelöst. Die Diskussion reicht dabei vom befürchteten Verlust des Einflusses der Dozierenden als Gewährleister einer kritischen und vielseitigen Auseinandersetzung mit Themen und Lerninhalten, über die lernerseitigen Voraussetzungen für eine erfolgreiche und gewinnbringende Beteiligung an konnektivistischen Kursangeboten, bis hin zur Frage, inwiefern offenes, vernetztes Lernen im institutionell verfestigten Rahmen der Hochschule überhaupt realisiert werden kann. Verlässliche Daten über konnektivistisch ausgerichtete MOOC-Angebote (sogenannte cMOOCs) mit vorrangig studentischer Beteiligung gibt es kaum, da diese im deutschsprachigen Raum bisher vor allem in non-formalen Settings bzw. im Weiterbildungsbereich angeboten und genutzt wurden. Dieser Beitrag stellt zentrale Ergebnisse der Durchführung und Evaluation eines cMOOC mit hauptsächlich studentischen Teilnehmenden vor, der im Sommersemester 2013 und Wintersemester 2013/14 in Kooperation zwischen drei deutschen Universitäten (Dresden, Chemnitz, Siegen) durchgeführt wurde. Der Fokus liegt auf der Frage, in welchem Ausmaß offenes, vernetztes Lernen im Rahmen eines Hochschulkurses ermöglicht werden kann und Lernergebnisse sich identifizieren lassen. Hierzu erfolgt eine Kombination quantitativer und qualitativer Evaluationsdaten.

In recent years thousands of people worldwide have been using Massive open on- line courses (MOOCs) for various reasons, including career development and change, continuing education, lifelong learning, and training. MOOCs are free online courses that anyone can enroll in and are an affordable and flexible way to learn new skills, develop professionally, and provide quality educational experience across the globe. Having an exemplary user interface will make users prefer most MOOC platforms, which inspired this study to know which MOOC platform has usability and better user experience by using the survey evaluation. The main objective of this study is to measure the usability components(effectiveness, efficiency, and overall user satisfaction level) to determine which MOOC platform, Coursera or Udemy, has a better user experience using the heuristic principles. A quantitative research method has been used in this paper, which focuses on sta- tistical, mathematical, and numerical analysis of data collected through surveys, questionnaires, and polls. In this paper, a questionnaire to determine user satis- faction through surveys has been developed. Usability has been evaluated for each MOOC platform (Coursera and Udemy) by calculating usability components. Sta- tistical methods like variance and standard deviations has been calculated using the survey results. Responses from the survey evaluation are collected and are graphically represented in bar graphs and pie charts. Respondent’s timings and statistical method results are presented in a tabular form. The satisfaction level is calculated and represented in a Likert scale format. The usability of two MOOC platforms (Coursera and Udemy) was measured by cal- culating usability components. Better user experience among Coursera and Udemy is measured using usability heuristic principles. This study concludes that effec- tiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction level while performing eight tasks given to the user is similar in both MOOC platforms (Coursera and Udemy). From the survey evaluation, the users preferred Udemy over Coursera.