A Randomized Experiment Testing the Efficacy of a Scheduling Nudge in a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)

Autor/inn/en	Baker, Rachel; Evans, Brent; Dee, Thomas
Titel	A Randomized Experiment Testing the Efficacy of a Scheduling Nudge in a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)
Quelle	In: AERA Open, 2 (2016) 4, (18 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	Weitere Informationen
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2332-8584
Schlagwörter	Online Courses; Randomized Controlled Trials; Experimental Groups; Control Groups; Higher Education; Self Control; Academic Persistence; Learner Engagement; Scheduling + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Online course; Online-Kurs; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Selbstbeherrschung; Disposition
Abstract	An increasing number of students are taking classes offered online through open-access platforms; however, the vast majority of students who start these classes do not finish. The incongruence of student intentions and subsequent engagement suggests that self-control is a major contributor to this stark lack of persistence. This study presents the results of a large-scale field experiment (N = 18,043) that examines the effects of a self-directed scheduling nudge designed to promote student persistence in a massive open online course. We find that random assignment to treatment had no effects on near-term engagement and weakly significant negative effects on longer-term course engagement, persistence, and performance. Interestingly, these negative effects are highly concentrated in two groups of students: those who registered close to the first day of class and those with .edu e-mail addresses. We consider several explanations for these findings and conclude that theoretically motivated interventions may interact with the diverse motivations of individual students in possibly unintended ways. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01