Inproceedings,

Meet Me in the Middle: Retention in a "MOOC-Based" Degree Program

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Proceedings of the Ninth ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale, page 82-92. ACM, (June 2022)
DOI: 10.1145/3491140.3528283

Abstract

"MOOC-based" degrees are degree programs often offered in partnership with MOOC providers that provide the flexibility and scale of MOOCs while also awarding accredited degrees. This positioning between MOOCs and degrees raises interesting questions regarding retention: MOOCs are famous for their low completion rates, but accredited degree programs often strive for high retention rates. This paper aims to answer the broad question: what does retention look like in a "MOOC-based" degree program? To answer this question, we analyze retention at two levels: first at the program level, then at the course level. We find that retention is far higher than in MOOCs, but notably lower than in traditional in-person programs, both when looking at the program as a whole and at individual courses. We provide discuss several hypotheses for this phenomenon, as well as implications for program evaluation and course design.

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