Interaction and Student Dropout in Massive Open Online Courses

TL;DR

This paper investigates the high dropout rates in MOOCs, analyzing how interaction features influence student retention and identifying key reasons for course attrition.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of the impact of interaction capabilities on student dropout rates in MOOCs, highlighting factors affecting course completion.

Findings

Interaction features are linked to student retention.

High dropout rates are influenced by lack of engagement.

Interaction capabilities can reduce dropout rates.

Abstract

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) are seen as a next step in distance online learning. In the MOOC vision, large numbers of students can access the course content over the Internet and complete courses at their own pace while interacting with their peers and instructors online. Despite the initial enthusiasm about MOOCs, large number of students were observed dropping out of the online courses. In this paper, we pinpoint the reasons behind the high student dropout rate and discuss how the interaction capabilities of MOOCs contributed towards the low completion rate.