Massive open online learning for democracy in political science: Learners’ reactions to connectivist elements

Abstract

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), praised for their global scale and open-access elements, are commonly associated with several challenges. These include unequal access, limited interactivity, or insufficient learner background and skills. This article aims to understand how introducing online and offline connectivist elements influences MOOC learners’ engagement and motivation and self-perceived benefits from undertaking MOOCs. To do so, we present descriptive statistics and analyse results from focus groups of regionally and disciplinarily diverse learners of the Federica Web Learning – International Political Science Association (IPSA) MOOCs, who were introduced to connectivist elements in the IPSAMOOCs. We find that limited connectivist elements added to the IPSAMOOCs did not notably affect learner engagement and motivation. However, the IPSAMOOCs have considerable potential to impact engagement and motivation, if combined with offline activities. The findings contribute to studying the prospects of MOOCs as a potential avenue for accessible, global digital Political Science education, advancing the appreciation of democracy.

Keywords

• Political science MOOCs
• Connectivism
• Hybrid and cognitivist-behaviourist MOOCs
• Connectivist elements
• Democracy
• Online education