Social Engagement versus Learning Engagement -- An Exploratory Study of FutureLearn Learners

Abstract: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) continue to see increasing enrolment, but only a small percent of enrolees completes the MOOCs. Whilst a lot of research has focused on predicting completion, there is little research analysing the ostensible contradiction between the MOOC's popularity and the apparent disengagement of learners. Specifically, it is important to analyse engagement not just in learning, but also from a social perspective. This is especially crucial, as MOOCs offer a growing amount of activities, which can be classified as social interactions. Thus, this study is particularly concerned with how learners interact with peers, along with their study progression in MOOCs. Additionally, unlike most existing studies that are mainly focused on learning outcomes, this study adopts a fine-grained temporal approach to exploring how learners progress within a MOOC. The study was conducted on the less explored FutureLearn platform, which employs a social constructivist approach and promotes collaborative learning. The preliminary results suggest potential interesting fine-grained predictive models for learner behaviour, involving weekly monitoring of social, non-social behaviour of active students (further classified as completers and non-completers).