EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH IN TWO COHORTS OF LEARNING : A CASE
STUDY OF ELDA
D ANIEL F. O. O NAH , J ANE E. S INCLAIR
Department of Computer Science, The Univeristy of Warwick
O BJECTIVES & M OTIVATION
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have
proliferated internationally. Despite the high profile of MOOCs, many people who enrol do not
complete their course, leading to a widely publicized high dropout rate. This research introduces a novel MOOC learning platform known
as eLDa, which implements a new approach to
MOOC structure and incorporates several theorybased features specifically aimed at addressing
problems associated with high attrition. In particular, the framework supports users in establishing their own learning objectives and establishing
individual learning paths.
R ESEARCH Q UESTIONS
• Given the choice of self-directed or
instructor-directed study, what are the
patterns of use within the system?
• Does students’ capacity for self-regulated
learning relate to their success in achieving
their goals or to their choice of mode?
• Does a student’s capacity for self-regulated
learning change during the duration of the
course?
• Are students more likely to achieve their
learning goals in eLDa than to complete the
course in its previous format?
R ESEARCH M ETHODOLOGY
P ILOT S TUDY
The overarching methodology is derived from the
design science paradigm which centres on the development and evaluation of an innovative artifact to investigate a specific problem or problem domain. In this case, the eLDa platform and
trial course constitute the artefact constructed using design science principles.eLDa incorporates
a variety of acknowledged MOOC good practice
features to support learners and mitigate against
learner dropout.
The system went live on 7th May 2015 and a pilot
study was conducted.Data from the pilot study
has informed the development of the system, for
example in the provision of peer to peer communication.The figures 6 & 7 shows active learners
and their event log activities in real-time.
C OURSE A RCHITECTURE
A prototype learning platform, known as eLDa,
has been developed and is running live to investigate the research approach. It has been developed to incorporate and analyse the effects
of novel features to improve motivation, provide
support and foster self-regulation.The choice of
Wordpress used in designing this platform was
because we wanted to design a course to combine
self-mode learning and instructor-led mode so as
to capture our novel feature of self-directed learning.Wordpress provided the flexibility for designing the concepts of prerequisites needed to answer
some of our research questions.
Figure 1: Screenshot of eLDa course interface
Figure 2: Module session progress
Figure 3: elDa Module flowchart architecture
N OVEL F EATURES
Figure 6: Analytics of learners engagement
Figure 7: eLDa real-time analytics
Figure 5: eLDa Server & Database Architecture
The platform is implemented in Wordpress with
some plugins to support new features allowing
users to navigate as they wish to pursue their
own learning objectives or follow an instructional
path provided by the course developer to achieve
overall course goals. Thus the platform supports
two modes of learning: a self-study mode and
the instructor system-led mode in which a recommended order of lessons covers the full course
curriculum.
Figure 4: eLDa novel features
R EFERENCES
C URRENT S TATE OF T HE R ESEARCH
C ONTACT I NFORMATION
[1] D.F.O. Onah and J.E. Sinclair. Massive open online courses
an adaptive learning framework.
In INTED2015 Proceedings, 9th International Technology, Education and Development Conference,
pages 1258–1266. IATED, 2 - 4 March, 2015 2015.
The course was officially launched on the 1st
September 2015 after the pilot study, with the
launch of a computing course for teachers.The
course was delivered in three strands: (1) computing concepts (2) Python programming & (3) how
Web http://eldamooc.org/
Email d.f.o.onah@warwick.ac.uk
Phone +44(0)24 7657 3801, +447553578571
to teach computing. Data is being collected from
the event log, pre & post surveys, pre & post selfregulated surveys, and finaly, semi-structured interviews. These will be used to investigate and
answer the research questions stated above.