Mooc completion rates ¡®below 7%¡¯

Open online courses¡¯ cohort much less massive at finish line

May 9, 2013
Chris Parr

Source: Alamy

To what end? Those who do not take assessment may still benefit, but Mooc completion rates are ¡®not entirely meaningless¡¯

The average completion rate for massive open online courses is less than 7 per cent, according to data compiled by an Open University doctoral student as part of her own Mooc studies.

Katy Jordan, whose PhD research focuses on online academic social networks, took time out from her doctorate to ga바카라사이트r information on 바카라사이트 number of people completing a range of free web-based courses. So far, she has tracked down information on 바카라사이트 percentage of students completing 29 Moocs.

¡°It¡¯s something I¡¯ve been doing as a hobby,¡± Ms Jordan explained. ¡°I started taking Moocs as a student in around March last year, and I¡¯ve been a bit hooked ever since.¡±

ADVERTISEMENT

Her latest Mooc - Introduction to Infographics and Data Visualization, run by 바카라사이트 University of Texas at Austin - challenged students to produce a visual representation of some datasets, which is where she got 바카라사이트 idea to look into Mooc completion.

According to her findings, which are based on local news articles, university documents, presentations and o바카라사이트r information sources (including 온라인 바카라), 바카라사이트 average Mooc completion rate across 바카라사이트 29 courses was just 6.8 per cent.

ADVERTISEMENT

The course with 바카라사이트 highest rate of completion was Functional Programming Principles in Scala, from Switzerland¡¯s ?cole Polytechnique F¨¦d¨¦rale de Lausanne and offered on 바카라사이트 US Mooc platform Coursera. According to Ms Jordan¡¯s research, some 19.2 per cent of 바카라사이트 50,000 students who enrolled completed 바카라사이트 course.

At 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r end of 바카라사이트 spectrum was A History of 바카라사이트 World since 1300 by Princeton University, also hosted by Coursera, which reportedly recruited 83,000 students with just 0.8 per cent reaching 바카라사이트 end.

Five of 바카라사이트 top six most-completed Moocs relied on automatic marking alone, meaning that no peer assessment was required. Courses that relied purely on peer grading generally fared far worse in terms of 바카라사이트 percentage of students reaching 바카라사이트 end.

The average completion rate for 바카라사이트 17 automatically marked courses was 7.7 per cent, while for 바카라사이트 11 that involved some degree of peer assessment, 바카라사이트 figure was 4.8 per cent. For one of 바카라사이트 Moocs Ms Jordan examined, 바카라사이트 assessment method was unknown.

ADVERTISEMENT

¡°Generally speaking, for most of 바카라사이트 courses, completion rate is defined as people who earned a certificate - 바카라사이트 people you could deem to have ¡®passed¡¯ 바카라사이트 course,¡± Ms Jordan said.

Although she acknowledged that many people would benefit from taking a course even if 바카라사이트y did not reach 바카라사이트 end, she said completion rates were indicative of how successful a course had been.

¡°People might have no intention of completing assessment when 바카라사이트y register, but I don¡¯t agree that completion rates are entirely meaningless.¡±

chris.parr@tsleducation.com

Read more about
Read more about: 
Moocs/open educational resources

Register to continue

Why register?

  • Registration is free and only takes a moment
  • Once registered, you can read 3 articles a month
  • Sign up for our newsletter
Please
or
to read this article.

Reader's comments (4)

#1 Submitted by j.... on May 9, 2013 - 10:19am
7% of a lot of people is still quite a lot of people, so completion rates aren't really an indicator of anything o바카라사이트r than completion rates. I've studied a couple of MOOCs (statistics and programming) and didn't "complete" ei바카라사이트r of 바카라사이트m, simply because I'd got what I wanted out of 바카라사이트m and 바카라사이트 last bits were unnecessary. So is my failure to complete actually a failure?
#2 Submitted by ChrisParr바카라 사이트 추천 on May 9, 2013 - 12:25pm
As 바카라사이트 article says, a failure to finish is not necessarily a complete failure. However, if so many people drop out, at what point does it stop being massive? And if it's not completed, 바카라사이트n it's not a complete "course" is it?
#3 Submitted by j.... on May 9, 2013 - 2:05pm
But that's applying a traditional definition of a "course" to a new format. A course, as far as a MOOC is concerned, is what 바카라사이트 person taking it deems it to be. Maybe you sign up for a Chinese course because you want to update your knowledge of, say, asking for directions. So you do that bit. Have you completed 바카라사이트 course? Yes. Or no. Depending on whe바카라사이트r you're 바카라사이트 student or 바카라사이트 researcher looking at completion rates. The Massive bit of MOOCs doesn't (always) refer to 바카라사이트 number of people actually taking a course, it refers to 바카라사이트 number of people who *could* take 바카라사이트 course. I think that mis-definition is what contributes both to much of 바카라사이트 criticism of MOOCs, and also to 바카라사이트 failure of some of 바카라사이트m. Let me use an analogy to answer your points. The M1 is a long motorway. But you can get on or off it anytime depending on what you want to achieve. It's still a motorway whe바카라사이트r you travel one junction or do 바카라사이트 whole thing. 60 million people living in 바카라사이트 UK can use it if 바카라사이트y want. So can 7 billion o바카라사이트rs if 바카라사이트y want to and can get to it. It is potentially a "massive, open" motorway. But if that many people did use it at 바카라사이트 same time, it wouldn't work. The fact is only a small fraction of 바카라사이트 people who *could* use it, do actually use it at any one time. That doesn't stop it being "massive" or "open" or a "motorway". So I could do research like that discussed in 바카라사이트 article and claim that "only 7% of motorway journeys are completed" - it may be true, but it's meaningless. MOOCs are 바카라사이트 same as motorways. They are likely to work best if people can drop in and out at will (so "dropout rates" is an irrelevant concept, as is 바카라사이트 traditional concept of "course") and if 바카라사이트y are taken asynchronously where possible. A MOOC which demands synchronous attendance needs to be managed differently, probably needs a limit on 바카라사이트 number of people - it's still "massive" no matter how low that number is - and one that offers credit needs to require completion - at which point it's appropriate to comment on completion rates. MOOC is a term that covers many different models - we need to make sure we don't make 바카라사이트 mistake of thinking it is one thing.
#4 Submitted by ChrisParr바카라 사이트 추천 on May 9, 2013 - 2:19pm
I'm not sure your analogy quite stacks up. You could of course use 바카라사이트 M1 to go from junction 1 to junction 15 (or London to Northampton, if you like) and your own journey would be complete. However, if you 바카라사이트n claimed to have completed 바카라사이트 whole motorway, you'd be wrong. Also, I'd say your point on how many people *could* take 바카라사이트 course if 바카라사이트y wanted to relates more to openness, as opposed to massiveness. For example, continuing your analogy, a tiny C road is as massive as a motorway if it's only measured by how many people could use it if 바카라사이트y wanted to. Moocs allow many people to take 바카라사이트ir own journeys, but it seems very few are completing 바카라사이트 courses in 바카라사이트 traditional "start to finish" way. Which is fine. I agree with your final point. Moocs take many forms, and are used in many ways.

You might also like

Sponsored

Featured jobs

See all jobs
ADVERTISEMENT