The Analysis Of The Effect Of Social Interaction On Learning Engagement In MOOC Learning

The rapid growth of the Internet technology has dramatically changed the way users acquire information and knowledge,providing new opportunities for the development of online learning.Massive open online courses(MOOC)is one of the most popular elearning modes worldwide,which offered an unlimited number of online learners the opportunity to acquire new skills,expand their knowledge base,and even obtain online degrees at reduced,if not zero,cost.Despite the various advantages and possibilities of the recent MOOC movement in higher education,the MOOC is currently facing some challenges that possibly will pose threats to its long-term viability.The prominent problems are high drop rate of learners and low completion rates.However,social interaction in MOOC learning has a positive impact on learners' learning engagement,which is conducive to improving the stickiness of courses.Therefore,it is necessary to study how to improve learning engagement through social interaction,so as to improve the curriculum completion rate.In addition,empirical research that investigates the connection mechanism of social interaction on learning engagement still lags,and no research to our knowledge has investigated whether and how psychological needs satisfaction mediates the effect of social interaction on learning engagement.Drawing on self-determination theory(SDT)and social identity theory(SIT),this study proposes a model to reveal the underlying mechanism of how social interaction shapes learning engagement.The study uses survey data from 318 MOOC learners and structural equation modeling method to assess the proposed model.The results show that immersive experience and three psychological needs satisfaction(i.e.,competence need,relatedness need,and autonomy need)fully mediate the effect of social interaction on MOOC learning engagement.Social interaction can promote learners' learning engagement by facilitating their immersion experience and satisfying their psychological needs.Besides,Psychological needs satisfaction demonstrates different effectiveness on learning engagement.Specifically,competence need satisfaction is shown to be the strongest predictor of MOOC learning engagement,while autonomy need satisfaction has the weakest effectiveness.Further,the results demonstrate that peer learning group identification strengthens the effect of social interaction on immersion experience.The higher the degree of learners' identity of the MOOC learning group,the stronger the effect of social interaction on learners' immersion experience.This study is among the first to specifically focus on exploring the mechanism of how social interaction affect learning engagement in MOOC based on self-determination theory,which has important theoretical and managerial implications.The results of this study can not only deepen the understanding of individual interactive behaviors in the online learning environment,but also provide important theoretical contributions and implications for online learning platforms design and operation.For example,to develop more targeted and facilitating plans that are conducive to improve the stickiness of the course,and thus improve the completion rate of the course.