A framework to increase learning through activation in a self-study online teamwork introduction course

Abstract

The popularity of online courses and MOOCs is continuously increasing, but the challenge of high dropout rates still remains. Based on the reviewed literature, the lack of active learning is one of the main drivers of high dropout rates. The goal of this thesis was to design a framework to increase learning through activation in online courses. The design was implemented on an artefact in the form of a self-study online teamwork introduction course hosted on the Moodle learning platform. The artefact course was evaluated through an online controlled experiment, where two versions of the course were created, both of which had active and text summaries, placed in opposite sections from one another in each version. The results showed that participants were generally more successful in the exam sections in which they had an active summary in comparison with their counterparts who had a text summary. This was further echoed by qualitative data gathered from the participant survey answers and expert evaluations, where activation was deemed to help with knowledge retention, as well as make the course more interesting and engaging. While the results depict a successful course, with a small sample and no dropouts, the behaviour is not typical for online courses, and even less so for MOOCs, so this calls for further research.