A Study On The Sustained Participation Behavior Of MOOC Learners

As a new type of online education mode,MOOC has the characteristics of openness,personalization and network,which provides an opportunity for the reform and innovation of educational models in the Internet era,and promotes the development of learning for all and lifelong learning.One of the main problems with MOOC is that the passing rates of exam are low.So,it is of great significance to improve the survival and development of MOOC by studying how to promote the sustained participation of MOOC learners from the perspective of researching and practicing."MOOC learners" and "sustained participation behavior" are the researching fields of this thesis,and the author obtained the first-hand information through hands-on practice,interviews,questionnaires and other methods,by using qualitative research methods,such as the grounded theory research and modality analysis,and some quantitative analysis including SPSS statistical data analysis and AMOS structural equation analysis,to study the sustained participation behavior for MOOC learners.Several major jobs are presented in this thesis as follows:Firstly,the connotation and characteristics of MOOC are summarized on the basis of literatures research,and the relevant works on the motivation of MOOC learners are reviewed systematically.Secondly,the evolution mechanisms of the motivation of MOOC learners' sustained participation behavior are studied.It is found that the motivation formation of MOOC learners'participation behavior can be divided into three stages,namely,initial motivation,lingering motivation and persistence motivation.The long-term stability and maintenance of learners'participation behavior depends on the psychological needs and the ability achievement.Thirdly,the Expectation Confirmation model is expanded by introducing intrinsic motivation,perceived playfulness,self-efficacy,contributing factors,etc.The influencing factors of MOOC learners' participation are also analyzed and finally,the research model is verified.Fourthly,the continuous and non-continuous participants are compared in the aspects of obstacle factor analysis,modality analysis and case analysis.Finally,some promotion strategies of MOOC learners' participation behavior are proposed,for instance,hybrid learning strategies based on online or offline MOOC,peer-assisted learning strategies and the training for primary and secondary school teachers based on MOOC.The main innovations in this thesis include:revealed the motivation evolution mechanism caused during the behavior formation of the sustained participation of the MOOC learners',and expanded the content on the motivation theory of the MOOC learners' sustained participation;constructed a theory model which can explain and predict the MOOC learners' sustained participation behavior,and analyzed the influencing factors of MOOC learners' participation behavior to provide a valuable reference for the further development of MOOC.Moreover,the cases presented in this thesis are useful for the MOOC researchers and practitioners.