What Makes a Good MOOC: A Field Study of Factors Impacting Student Motivation to Learn

ABSTRACT

Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) research indicates that lack of student motivation to learn generally plays a significant role in student attrition and dropouts. Aside from this, very little is known specifically about student motivation to learn in MOOCs. The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the ways in which content, navigation, learning and support, accessibility, interactivity, visual design, and self-assessment and learnability impact the student motivation to learn in a MOOC. Understanding these relationships will provide MOOC educators and administrators with valuable understanding of the factors impacting student motivation to learn. Furthermore, the study analyzes the motivational factors of learners and identifies learners into different categories. The data for the study were collected from the Coursera course “iMOOC101: Mastering American e-Learning.” The study findings indicate that content, accessibility, and interactivity significantly impact student motivation to learn, whereas navigation and learning and support marginally impact student motivation to learn. However, visual design and self-assessment and learnability were not found to be significant in student motivation to learn.