The Experience of Students Using Mooc’s: Motivation, Attitude, Efficiency

Author Name(s): Marina M. Solobutina*, Natalya N. Kalatskaya
Author Email: solomarina29@gmail.com

Abstract

The results of studying the features of students’ learning activity, by means of electronic educational resources are presented in the article. 778 students of Kazan (Volga region) Federal University took part in the research. This sample included students from all institutions and fields of education. The sample of the study was divided into two groups. The first group included 399 students, with experience in working with electronic educational resources (EER). The second group consisted of 379 students, who did not have any experience in working with EER. All studied indicators were divided into the following categories: social portrait, learning activity, professional competences, satisfaction with the quality of education, professional development. Questioning and frequency analysis were the methods of the research, used in the work. As a result of the investigation, we obtained significant data. They showed the main distinguishing characteristics of student learning activities, when using electronic educational resources, the specific aspects of educational motivation and the students’ attitude to the use of technologies in the educational process.

Introduction

Higher education in Russia has undergone significant changes in the past decade. And first of all it concerns the methodology of learning. Along with traditional forms of full-time education, more and more spaces in the educational system of universities are occupied by electronic resources, created both on the basis of university courses and on the grounds of open education. In educational researches, the potential of electronic educational resources in appraisal the quality of educational services is of great interest.

Based on the literature reviews, devoted to MOOCs, it is possible to single out various approaches in studying the features of electronic educational resources [8]. The group of researches is devoted to a comparative analysis of the results of traditional learning and education, with the application of electronic courses, as well as the opportunities for combining different forms of learning, their complementarity and interchangeability [2]. These investigations are conducted within the framework of learning theories. It is obvious, that the technological achievements of science affect all spheres of modern world. The possibilities of implementation of technical innovations into the educational process change not only the teachers’ instrumental view of the use of various teaching aids, the changes affect the conceptual vision within the theory, methodology and ethics of education [10, 11]. A lot of researches are devoted to the discussion of specific pedagogical practices, using open online courses [17]. Also, the great interest of researchers is caused by the impact of tendency of education technological development to training of teachers, their professional development and the competence of creation and application of online courses in pedagogical activity [18].

Another approach is connected with studies of the effectiveness of technology implementation in training, with a focus on structuring of electronic courses, content and form of presentation of teaching materials [3]. Patterns of students’ behavior are widely studied, when attending online courses, in order to improve the design of courses [14]. In the survey of existing researches of electronic education, Lee & Choi propose the main modern educational technologies, used in the process of electronic courses creation [7]. In the article of Longstaff, the possibilities of MOOCs in increasing the effectiveness of training are discussed; the goals of course developers with the real experience of training users are compared [9]. Recent researches focus not on the problem of using electronic resources as an alternative to traditional higher learning. The transformation of educational courses takes place within the online educational space: the transition from “traditional” online courses to open education as such [13].

The third approach in the study of electronic educational resources concentrates on the personality of the student. The field of interest of researchers in this area is quite broad: the social portrait of the student, which uses MOOCs, taking into account the psychological characteristics of the personality in the process of courses’ designing, motivation for students’ learning [5], factors for improving of students’ performance, and so on.

Much attention is paid to the difficulties and barriers, faced by students in the process of electronic courses taking. Muilenburg & Berge found eight factors, limiting student learning with MOOCs [12]. These include administrative sources, relationships, academic skills, technical skills, academic motivation, time and support of training, cost and access to the Internet, technical problems. The authors took into account the age of students, gender, ethnicity, type of educational organization, training skills, features of combining traditional classes and online courses. Shapiro and others analyzed the experience of students training with MOOCs, based on such indicators as students’ motivation, their attitude to electronic educational resources, and barriers in the use of online courses [16].

Within the framework of this approach, a great interest of researchers is caused by the question of the influence of students’ motivation on the effectiveness of open online courses taking, namely whether the mode of study influences the motivation of learning [1]. There are a series of studies, where motivation is considered as a relatively stable personal characteristic of a student, and as a paramount in determining the learning outcomes. An alternative point of view is based on the importance of the design of educational space, in the matter of increasing the motivation for learning. In the work of Hartnett, St. George & Dron the application of self-determination theory in understanding the motivational aspects of students’ learning with MOOCs, is discussed [4]. Hoskins & Van Hooff in their study turned to an issue of socio-psychological portrait of students, who preferred to use online courses in the educational process. The authors identified the factors, affecting the students’ achievements in training [6].

Conclusion

Summing up our research, we can make the following conclusions. Initially, more successful students, motivated for learning activities and high results, along with other teaching aids, use EER in the learning process. Students, who have experience in working with electronic educational resources are most often satisfied with the learning environment, they do well in studies, take part in public life of the university. At the lessons they show their leadership qualities, they are able to defend their point of view, have the skills to work with literary sources. Intellectual activity of students of the first group is distinguished by creative approach and generation of new ideas, a systematic approach to the use of interdisciplinary knowledge. An interesting fact was also revealed, which is difficult to explain in the framework of this study, and requires further study. Students, having experience in working with electronic educational resources, mainly live in a dorm, and the most students, who do not use EER in educational activities, live with parents.

The fact, that the students of the first group are satisfied with the conditions of study during academic and extra-curricular time, for sports and leisure, is also interesting for further study. They are also satisfied with the quality of teaching at the university; they are satisfied with the quality of teaching disciplines in the specialty, consultations. While the students of the second group are not satisfied with the conditions, in which classes are held.

Acknowledgements

The work is performed according to the Russian Government Program of Competitive Growth of Kazan Federal University.

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