Information Technology in Studies, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Eur J Dent Educ. 2019 Aug;23(3):278-285. doi: 10.1111/eje.12428. Epub 2019 Feb 22.
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been often described as a major innovation Higher Education, but their application in the teaching of clinical disciplines is still very limited, while there is a lack of scientific evaluations in this domain. The aim of this study was to investigate learners' behaviours and correlate patterns of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) with performance and achievement during a MOOC in Implant Dentistry.
The clickstream data of learners from the first run of the MOOC Implant dentistry by The University of Hong Kong were modelled and quantified based on Zimmerman's SRL model. The data were quantitatively analysed by means of k-means clustering for evidence of five SRL behavioural indicators of student activity. The clusters identified were then correlated with student engagement and learning performance.
A total of 7608 individuals enrolled, 5014 engaged (active learners 65.90%), 1277 of them (25.47%) completed the course and 1232 purchased a certificate. Two major groups of learners emerged: Attentive (n = 1433) who were more likely to follow the prescribed pathway in the MOOC and Auditors (n = 3581) who accessed content selectively. There was significantly higher engagement, achievement and completion rates among Attentive than Auditors. Both groups included subcategories (Browser, Digger, Test-driven, Sampler, Persistent) which might reflect different SRL strategies.
A MOOC in a clinical discipline can achieve high enrolment and completion rates as compared to current benchmarks. There appears to be a wide diversity of learning behaviours among learners, with two however dominant patterns. Learners with a linear learning pathway achieved significantly higher grades and completion rates than those who accessed content irregularly and selectively. Such differences however might be influenced by the demographic and professional background of the learner, as well as their motivation to attending the MOOC. Certain learning behaviours, in particular how learners access content in relation to assessments might be closer related to SRL.
大规模开放在线课程（MOOCs）常被描述为高等教育的重大创新，但它们在临床学科教学中的应用仍然非常有限，而在这一领域缺乏科学评估。本研究旨在调查学习者的行为，并将自我调节学习（SRL）模式与植入牙科 MOOC 中的表现和成绩相关联。
基于 Zimmerman 的 SRL 模型，对香港大学第一期植入牙科 MOOC 的学习者点击流数据进行建模和量化。通过 k-均值聚类对数据进行定量分析，以发现学生活动的五个 SRL 行为指标的证据。然后将识别出的聚类与学生参与度和学习表现相关联。
共有 7608 人注册，5014 人参与（活跃学习者占 65.90%），其中 1277 人（25.47%）完成课程，1232 人购买证书。出现了两类主要的学习者：专注型（n=1433），他们更有可能遵循 MOOC 中的规定路径，以及审计型（n=3581），他们有选择地访问内容。专注型学习者的参与度、成绩和完成率明显高于审计型学习者。这两组学习者都包括不同的亚类（浏览器、探究者、测试驱动者、抽样者、坚持者），这可能反映了不同的 SRL 策略。
与当前基准相比，临床学科的 MOOC 可以实现高注册率和完成率。学习者的学习行为似乎存在很大的多样性，其中两种模式占主导地位。采用线性学习路径的学习者的成绩和完成率明显高于那些不规则和选择性访问内容的学习者。然而，这种差异可能受到学习者的人口统计学和专业背景以及他们参加 MOOC 的动机的影响。某些学习行为，特别是学习者与评估相关的内容访问方式，可能与 SRL 更为密切相关。
