edde 802 - assignment 4

7/21/2019 EDDE 802 - Assignment 4

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Running Head: MOTIVATION IN MOOCS RESEARCH STRATEGIES

Planning Research Strategies for Learner Motivation in MOOCs

Apostolos Koutropoulos

Athabasca University

Professor: Dr. George Siemens

EDDE 8! "" Assignment #

April $8% !$&


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PLANNING RESEARCH STRATEGIES FOR LEARNER MOTIVATION IN MOOCS2

Planning 'esearch Strategies for (earner )otivation in )**+s

,eginning in !$! -hen +oursera leaers proclaime that a ne- innovation -oul

emocrati/e eucation 01ohnson% !$!2% coverage of stories on the sub3ect of )assive *pen

*nline +ourses 0)**+s2 have been more prominent in high profile acaemic ne-s sites% such

as the Chronicle of Higher Education%Educause% anInside Higher Education. +overage in

meia outlets has focuse on the tren of having thousans of stuents sign4up for a )**+% but

only a small fraction of them 5completing6 the course. 7his tren of high enrollment offset by

fractional completion has continue to efine )**+ iscussions. 7he ropout issue is frame

from a eficit moel% in other -ors 5ho- many people -e lost in the course.6

o-ever a more appropriate -ay of framing )**+ completion rates is focusing on ho-

many people complete the course. As )c9amara 0!$&2 sai at the !$& (earning Analytics

an Kno-lege conference% $; participants -ho complete an open online course is greater than

/ero participants completing the course if the course i not e


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7he conceptual frame-or= for this research proposal consists of the follo-ing elements:

rom an ontological perspective the term that best escribes the researcherBs position is 5subtle

realism.6 ammersley coine subtle realism -hen he -rote that there is a reality inepenent of

our o-n =no-lege of it% yet -e can only =no- reality from our o-n personal perspective in it

0as cite in Angen% !2. ?hen e


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participants have grauate egrees as -ell. ?hile acaemia is prominently represente amongst

the ran=s of c)**+ participants% c)**+s also attract -or=ing professionals% as -as

iscovere by e ?aar et al 0!$$2. ,ecause c)**+s% an the learners they attract% are stuie

as a close group ethnographic approaches are chosen because they are best suite to stuying

such close social groups. ?hile the specific learner populations o vary from c)**+ to

c)**+% the course format oes potentially allo- for a greater sense of community% it enables

the forming of a net-or= of learners. 7his can be characteri/e as a close group for the uration

of the course% espite the open nature of the course.

Ethnographic research can prouce both emic an etic perspectives of the community that

is being stuie. ?hile traitional ethnography see=s to e


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)eaning arises out of social situations an is hanle through interpretive processes

0+ohen et al% !$$2. Simply as=ing learners -hat motivates them in c)**+ -ill not necessarily

uncover their true motivations as learners. A researcher nees to interpret those finings through

a variety of sources. 7his is -here the methoological omnivorousness is an asset.

(e+ompte an Preissle 0as cite in +ohen et al% !$$2 suggest that ethnographic

approaches are concerne more -ith escription rather than preiction% inuction rather than

euction% generation of theory rather than verification of theory% construction rather than

enumeration% an sub3ectivities rather than ob3ective =no-lege 0p. !!$2. ,ecause the researcher

-oul not be able to obtain generali/ations about -hat motivates learners in c)**+s by

stuying one or t-o c)**+s% the ethnographic approach to stuying learner motivation is

appropriate. 7hrough the ethnographic stuy of three c)**+% thic= escriptions can help

researchers generate theory% -hich can then be teste in subse>uent research.

Ethnographic research is conucte in a naturalistic setting. 7o stuy learner motivation

in c)**+s the researcher may either create his o-n c)**+ for the purposes of e


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7he main hurles for the researcher in this approach are t-o: irst -ill be fining a

c)**+ that -ill run uring the time4frame that the researcher has set asie for the stuy.

c)**+s can be seen as artisanal course offerings an their euivalent of the person in the bac= of the classroom observing -hat is happening

in the c)**+@ *r -ill the researcher be a participant4researcher% -here not only oes the

researcher collect ata from the c)**+ occurrences% but he also participates as a member of

that eucational microcosm. ?hile the os of 5going native6 may be lo-% ue to the nature of

the c)**+ -hich oes not e


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than before e


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PLANNING RESEARCH STRATEGIES FOR LEARNER MOTIVATION IN MOOCS

of theory that is groune in the analysis of ata from an actual c)**+ rather than a hypothesis

generate from potentially anecotal evience% such as the researcherBs prior e


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PLANNING RESEARCH STRATEGIES FOR LEARNER MOTIVATION IN MOOCS!

Ethnography

n an ethnographic approach to researching learner motivation in c)**+s the researcher

-ill be using observations of the community% surveys% intervie-s% ocuments an artefacts% an

fiel notes as part of his ata collection strategy. *ne of the first ecisions that the researcher

nees to ma=e is to pic= a sampling metho. Sampling in ethnography% accoring to Koro4

(3ungberg et al 0!;2% is close% -ithin the culture or the community. n c)**+s the potential

si/e of the community is an aspect of the meium that might become a problem. c)**+s have

many participants -ho sign up but only a fe- actively participate.

Some stuies sho- that only aroun $H of those -ho sign up are 5active members6 of

the c)**+. or instance% e?aar et al -rote about participation in )obi)**+% an that in

that )**+ only ! out of the &&F registere participants -ere 5memorably active6 0!$$2.

entifying active members in a c)**+ community is easy in that the researcher can observe

-ho is actively posting an interacting -ith others. t -ill be important for the researcher%

through continuous analysis of the ata% to etermine -ho is still actively participating% -ho is

not% an to etermine the reasons for the continue motivation to participate in the course.

Due to the potential si/e of the c)**+% if there are too many participants% the sampling

strategy -ill be t-o4fol. 7here -ill be a typical case sampling strategy employe to sample

ata from those -ho are actively engage in the course. Engagement% in this instance% is the =ey

characteristic of a 5typical6 learner -ho -ill be participating for most of the course. 7here -ill

also be eviant sampling -hereby the eviant cases -ill be learners that starte the course% an

-ere visible for parts of the course% but at some point stoppe participating visibly. n this

approach the researcher e


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PLANNING RESEARCH STRATEGIES FOR LEARNER MOTIVATION IN MOOCS"#

7hese registrants -ho signe up for the course but onBt participate in the community arenBt

vie-e as members of that community for the purposes of this research.

Surveys.*ne versatile ata collection instrument that -ill be use in this research pro3ect

is the survey. Surveys allo- researchers to gather ata at particular points in time. or this

research pro3ect surveys -ill be istribute at various points in the course. An introuctory

survey -ill serve as a -ay to capture the incoming characteristics an attitues of learners -ho

have signe up to participate in the c)**+. 7his entry survey can serve as a means to trac= an

iniviualBs participation in the course an provie some more bac=groun to the learners an

their characteristics. 7hese -oul allo- for a more in4epth unerstaning of learnerBs actions in

the course. An e


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PLANNING RESEARCH STRATEGIES FOR LEARNER MOTIVATION IN MOOCS""

researcher is less clear on -hat he is loo=ing for% an therefore collects all an ecies on the

significance later 0as cite in +ohen et al% !$$2.

7he researcher -ill be a complete researcher% -hich in GolBs terms means that the

researcher only observes the community an oes not participate in it 0as cite in +ohen et al%

!$$2. n the c)**+ setting is easy for the researcher to blen into the bac=groun. Due to the

lac= of physical presence in an online environment the learners -ill only =no- that a researcher

is observing the c)**+ interactions ue to the isclosure at the beginning of the course. f the

researcher is only an observer% an is not visible in the everyay occurrences an events of the

course% the participants -ill most li=ely not give the researcher an his ata collection a secon

thought. 7he online environment allo-s for observation -ithout intrusion or isruption cause

by the researcherBs movements aroun the observe environment.

Docu!ents " #rtefacts.7hroughout the uration of a c)**+ participants sometimes

create various artefacts. Euence of the c)**+. A more recent e


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PLANNING RESEARCH STRATEGIES FOR LEARNER MOTIVATION IN MOOCS"2

thic=er escription of the environment in -hich learners are participating an they coul offer

unerlying motivations of continue learner participation in c)**+s.

$ntervie%s.ntervie-s% accoring to +ohen et al% are a fleuestion an ans-er sessions 0!$$2. ntervie-s are an important tool for ata collection in this

ethnographic research because% -hen couple -ith surveys% they allo- the researcher to go

eeper into the responses that informants have provie in surveys% an to provie ata that

further euiry that the

researcher -ill nee e


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Grounded Theory

n a groune theory approach to researching learner motivation in c)**+s the researcher -ill

be using observations of the community% surveys% intervie-s% social net-or= ata% ata analytics%

an fiel notes as part of his ata collection strategy. 1ust as is the case in ethnography% the

community is finite. 7he community of learners in the c)**+ may be in a state of flu< as more

participants may 3oin as the course progresses. Despite this the participants in the community are

still countable.

*ne of the ata collection challenges -ill be to reach those other participants -ho signe

up for the c)**+ but are non4visible participants. 7hose participants -ho are usually invisible

to the community can be ientifie an inclue as part of the research. n the above

ethnographic approach the researcher frames members of the community as actively

participating in some aspect of the course. n that approach the learner motivations iscovere

-ill only be of those -ho are actively an visibly participating. n the groune theory approach

the aim is not 3ust reach out to the typical cases% but to also reach out to those -ho signe4up but

are never visible. 7his sampling approach may yiel more etaile escriptions of -hat

motivates learners to =eep participating in the course.

7hus% in aition to the typical case sampling% -hich -ill be employe in ethnographic

approach as -ell% there -ill also be a eviant case sampling. 7ypical4cases -ill be learners -ho

participate in all or part of the course. Deviant case is efine here as those -ho signe up but

are not visibly participating in the course. ?ithin the overall sample group of non4participants

the researcher -ill be using a convenience sample ue to the fact that participants an their

attributes are not generally =no-n before the researcher starts reaching out to them.


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Surveys.1ust li=e the ethnographic research approach% in groune theory research

surveys are a versatile ata collection instrument to be use. An introuctory survey -ill serve as

a -ay to capture the incoming characteristics an attitues of learners -ho have signe up to

participate in the c)**+. 7his entry survey% in aition to connecting certain attitues an

information for specific iniviuals can serve as a means to trac= an iniviualBs participation in

the course. 7hrough survey ata collection information about a participantBs blogs% 7-itter%

aceboo=% an other social meia ientities can be collecte for the purposes of unerstaning

-hat interactions can be attribute to particular iniviuals.

An e


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Gol efines as a member of the group -ho reveals his role as an observer% an -hose

involvement -ith the group may give him some insier =no-lege 0as cite in +ohen et al%

!$$2. 7his insier =no-lege coul be invaluable as the researcher -or=s to-ar unerstaning

the unerlying motivations of learners.

$ntervie%s.As -ith the ethnographic research above% intervie-s in this groune theory

research proposal are a great source of ata for all the same reasons as iscusse above in the

ethnography section. n groune theory specifically intervie-s can be tailore to-ar learners

-ho -ere active in the course% partly active% an not active. aving three ifferent types of

intervie-s -oul allo- ata collection that is relevant to each registrant type. or active learners

the researcher can complete semi4structure intervie-s% 3ust as he -oul in the ethnographic

approach. As the researcher starts to intervie- informants -ho -ere not as active% or i not

participate at all in a visible manner% the intervie-s can begin as more structure intervie-s in

orer to collect more ata from those informants. Data from active participants -ill be plentiful

given other ata researchers can collect from them uring the course. Since ata from non4

visible members of the course -ill not be as abunant% the researcher -oul nee to ensure that

through intervie-s a certain baseline of ata is collecte.

Social 'et%or( Data.Participants in c)**+s e


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&ield 'otes.n this groune theory approach to e


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Ethnography

Data analysis in the ethnographic approach -ill inclue primarily content analysis.

+ontent analysis% as efine by +ohen et al 0!$$2 is the systematic set of proceures for the

rigorous analysis% e


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PLANNING RESEARCH STRATEGIES FOR LEARNER MOTIVATION IN MOOCS"

Grounded Theory

7he groune theory approach -ill inclue the ata analysis methos of the ethnographic

approach% namely content analysis an escriptive statistics% an it -ill incorporate t-o

aitional types of analysis: social net-or= analysis% an the analysis of analytics collecte

uring the course.

Social 'et%or( #nalysis.Social 9et-or= Analysis 0S9A2 is a strategy for investigating

social structures 0*tte I 'ousseau% !!2. n social net-or= analysis the researcher -ill euent surveys an intervie-

>uestions -ith research participants. 7he main area of concern -ith S9A is that it% by efinition%

re>uires that the learners be active in the course an interacting -ith fello- learners. f a learner

is invisible% in other -ors the learner oes not visibly participate in the course an interact -ith

fello- learners% there -onBt be a -ay to unerstan -hat the invisible learners are up to in the

course using this metho of ata analysis.

#nalytics.*ne of the -ays to remey the lac= of ata for the 5invisible6 learner in the

course -ill be to use analytics collecte uring course. ?hen learners sign4up for a c)**+

there usually is some -ay to account for them at the beginning. n )obi)**+ !$$ for

e

*),u%%)0i%)).


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PLANNING RESEARCH STRATEGIES FOR LEARNER MOTIVATION IN MOOCS"!

learners signe up for notifications though a system calle g'SShopper&. n 'hi/omatic (earning

!$# learners signe up for the course on a platform calle Peer!Peer University 0P!PU2F% an

later on 3oine groups on aceboo=% on GoogleJ% an participate on 7-itter using the hashtag

rhi/o$#. ,oth through the use of tools such as 7AGS% an through the available analytics

collecte on the various platforms the researcher can potentially trac= an analy/e the paths

ta=en by those invisible participants in the course. 7hese -oul be iniviuals -ho may be

follo-ing along the course% but onBt interact -ith other participants.

7he specific analysis of the ata -ill epen on -hat the platforms use for the course

are able to collect. f a system is use that re>uires users to create accounts then analytics

information such as user4logon an clic=4through streams can be potentially capture. 7hen%

analy/ing this ata the researcher can etermine at least t-o types of other-ise invisible

registrants. 7hose -ho signe up for the course an never interacte -ith it again% an those

-ho signe4up for it an clic=% or other-ise interact% on at least one resource from that course.

Using this ata the researcher can reach out to registrants for the course -ith specific surveys an

intervie- >uestionnaires that best fit their pattern of engagement -ith the course materials.

Discussion

7his section -ill aress the implications of the ata collection an analysis strategies

iscusse above. n particular both practical issues such as the availability of resources% timing%

5 T1e 1)%e&age *), CC?"" and .)u,(e (ign;u&: 1//&:..""%))..a

6 T1e )@.ia' R1i)%a/i. Lea,ning 2#"4 .)u,(e 1)%e&age )n P2P:

1//&(:&2&u),gen.)u,(e(2,1i)%a/i.;'ea,ning;/1e;.)%%uni/


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PLANNING RESEARCH STRATEGIES FOR LEARNER MOTIVATION IN MOOCS2#

cost% an tools to be useL as -ell as research implications such as valiity% reliability of sources%

an ethical implications.

Ethnography

7he follo-ing section provies a brief iscussion of the various elements of research as

they apply an impact the ethnographic approach of euestion of learner

motivation in c)**+s.

#vailaility of Resources.*ne of the =ey resources for this pro3ect -ill be a c)**+

that is offere by a convener that is someone than the researcher. ?ithout a c)**+ to provie

the topic% an initial see for the community to form% this pro3ect cannot move for-ar. n

aition to having a c)**+ offere there -ill nee to be enough registrants for the )**+ in

orer to provie a large enough community for its members to engage -ith one another% an to

allo- for the attrition that usually occurs in c)**+s. rom personal observations the

researcher has observe that c)**+s attract any-here from & to & registere learners. Some

e


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PLANNING RESEARCH STRATEGIES FOR LEARNER MOTIVATION IN MOOCS2"

researcher nees to be fleuire to reach out to non4visible members of the

community.

Cost Considerations.Due to the free nature of c)**+s% attening the course an

observing learners in their learning environment -ill be cost4free for the researcher. 7he only

eualitative analysis soft-are such as Atlas.ti 0M;; for ! years2 or 9Nivo

0M; for $! months2. *ther soft-are that the researcher -ill use as part of his repertoire of tools

to collect ata% are tools such as Google Docs% Survey)on=ey% an Evernote that the researcher

has access to alreay.

Trust%orthiness of $nfor!ants " Reliaility.Oualitative research% such as this

ethnographic research% accoring to ,roc=4Utne% aims at being holistic an strives to recor

multiple interpretations of the event or events that are unfoling 0as cite in +ohen et al% !$$2.

As such% one participantBs vie-s or interpretations -ill most li=ely not represent the -hole group.

7he status% or position% of the researcher shoul not bias informants participating in this research%

but potential biases -ill be accounte for as part of this research pro3ect.

*ne of the potential issues eue. *nly those -ho are eager

to ta=e part in the research might respon to the call to be informants in the research% an

therefore this might bias the sample. ?hile thic= escriptions might be generate% they might not

be as complete as -hen more c)**+ participants volunteer to be informants.


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Another potential issue euestions -ith regar to

-hat the informants share% or ho- those responses may be interprete by the researcher% the

informants -ill also provie isambiguation of their comments.

*nce certain conclusions have been reache from the analysis of the ata% informants -ill

be >uerie to verify the emic perspectives are accurate. 7here is confience that informants -ill

be truthful in their interactions -ith the researcher because they are ta=ing part in the course% an

in the research% of their o-n free -ill. *ne of the >uestions for valiity is cross4cultural valiityL

to -hat e


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?ith that in min% it is better to err on the sie of caution an have the researcher to

isclose his role in the course as a researcher so that all participants are fully a-are that they are

being observe. t -oul also be courteous to the convener of the course to inform them of the

role of the researcher. ?hile there is a concern that =no-lege of active research in the course

might change some learnerBs behaviors% there are potentially bigger ris=s from a eceptive

researcher not isclosing his role in the course.

Soft%are to e used.n this ethnographic research 9Nivo -ill be use to analy/e

>ualitative ata. Evernote -ill be use to collect fiel notes% an Google Docs -ill be use to

collect observation ata. 7AGS -ill be use to collect all 7-itter messages -ith the course

hashtag. 7he researcher -ill nee to etermine -hich soft-are -ill be best for harvesting ata

from other social meia platforms that the course -ill use such as aceboo= an GoogleJ.

Survey)on=ey -ill be use to esign% istribute% an collect survey responses.

Grounded Theory

7he follo-ing section provies a brief iscussion of the various elements of research as

they apply to% an impact% the groune theory approach of euestion of learner

motivation in c)**+s.

#vailaility of Resources.n this groune theory approach% 3ust as -ith the

ethnographic approach% one of the =ey resources -ill be a c)**+ that is offere by a convener

that is someone than the researcher. ?ithout a c)**+ to provie the topic% initial space% an

see of ieas% for the community to form this pro3ect cannot move for-ar. n aition to having

a c)**+ offere there -ill nee to be enough registrants for the )**+ in orer to provie a

large enough community for its members to engage -ith one another% an to allo- for the


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attrition that usually occurs in c)**+s% -ithout that attrition becoming an issue for ata

collection.

Ti!e Considerations.7he course that -ill be observe as part of this groune theory

stuy -ill be a course that is not offere by the researcher himself. As -ith the ethnographic

stuy version of this research% the course -ill be offere by a thir party that is not irectly

involve -ith the research ta=ing place. Pragmatically this means that the timing of the course is

not in the hans of the researcher% an thus the researcher nees to be fle


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that -ill be use for analysis of analytics ata collecte. *ther soft-are that the researcher -ill

use as part of his repertoire of tools to collect ata% such as Gephi% Google Docs% Survey)on=ey%

an Evernote% the researcher alreay has access to or they are free for use.

Trust%orthiness of $nfor!ants " Reliaility.7his groun theory approach is seen by

the researcher as a type of mi


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some of the 7-itter ata might be incomplete an might only sho- part of the activity in the

course. Another potential issue -ith analytics is etermining -hat each technology use in the

course supports in terms of ata capture% an ho- this is useful to the researcher. 7he reliability

may vary from system to system% an ifferent systems may collect ifferent sorts of ata. Data

collecte in various systems -ill nee to be processe in orer to ma=e it comparable for

analysis. or content analysis the researcher -ill -or= -ith colleagues to etermine the inter4

rater reliability for the ifferent categories propose uring the >ualitative ata coing process.

)alidity.or intervie- ata one type of valiation that the researcher -ill employ is

responent valiation. 7ranscripts of intervie-s -ill be provie to the informants to ensure

accuracy. *nce transcripts are verifie as accurate% if there are any >uestions -ith regar to -hat

the informants share% or ho- those may be interprete by the researcher% the informants -ill be

as=e to isambiguate. As -ith the ethnographic research% one of the >uestions that is relevant is

cross4cultural valiity: to -hat e


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'eferences

Angen% ). 1. 0!2. Evaluating interpretive in>uiry: 'evie-ing the valiity ebate an openingthe ialogue. Qualitative Health Research% 1002% 84;&.

+ohen% (.% )anion% (.% an )orrison% K. 0!$$2.Research Methods in Education0thE2.(onon: 'outlege.

e?aar% .% Aba3ian% S.+.% Gallagher% ).S.% ogue% '.% Kes=in% 9.% Koutropoulos% A.%

'origue/% *. 0!$$2 Using m(earning an )**+s to unerstan chaos% emergence%

an compleuali/erB.

+tanford "ail(. 'etrieve from: http:""---.stanforaily.com"!$!"$"$;"anre-4ng4

champions4online4eucation4as4the4great4e>uali/er"

Kanu=a% . I Anerson% 7. 0!2. Ethical issues in >ualitative e4learning research.International ,ournal of Qualitative Methods% 0!2. !4;. 'etrieve from:https:""e3ournals.library.ualberta.ca"ineualitative research pro3ects.Educational Researcher% )0;2% F84F;;.

)ac=ness% 1. I ,ell% . 0!$&2. 'hi/o$#: A rhi/omatic learning c)**+ in sunlight an in shae.

!pen/rais% 0$2. !&48

)c9amara% D. 0!$&% )arch2. &etting a big picture from big data2 3se (our ordsQ Keynote

Presentation at (earning Analytics an Kno-lege !$& +onference. )arist +ollege:

Pough=eepsie% 9C.


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PLANNING RESEARCH STRATEGIES FOR LEARNER MOTIVATION IN MOOCS2!

*tte% E. I 'ousseau% '. 0!!2. Social net-or= analysis: a po-erful strategy% also for the

information sciences.,ournal of Information +cience% %0F2. ##$4#&

'eich% 1. 0!$#% December 82. )**+ completion an retention in the conte

edde 802 - assignment 4

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