Uncovering MOOC Completion: A Comparative Study of Completion Rates from Different Perspectives

Abstract

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have received significant global attention but face substantial criticism due to their low completion rates on mainstream platforms. The purpose of this study is to compare MOOC completion rates based on three different perspectives using four MOOCs provided by Bilgeİş MOOC Portal. The completion rates based on traditional completion rates, active learners, and learner intentions revealed striking disparities in favor of the completion rates based on learner intentions. Specifically, completion rates based on learner intentions significantly exceeded both the traditional calculation and the active learner assessment for four MOOCs. This outcome underscores the critical importance of contextualizing MOOC completion data. By offering a more holistic perspective, this study contributes significantly to our understanding of the progress of MOOC success, particularly in developing countries. It is worth noting that, even when analyzed from different perspectives, regardless of culture and socio-economic factors, this study also underscored that MOOC dropout remains a prevalent issue in developing countries, lending support to the existing criticisms of completion rates. Nevertheless, it suggests that the issue may not be as severe as portrayed by studies relying solely on traditional completion metrics, as alternative viewpoints reveal completion rates that are notably higher.

Keywords

• Massive open online courses (MOOCs)
• completion rates
• alternative completion rates
• open and distance learning
• online learning