MOOCs Learners' Satisfaction and Perceived Learning: An Assessment Tool

Adel Qahmash
ETR 501
Fall 2016

Purpose: The objective of this survey project is to assess Moocs learners perceived learning and
satisfaction within Saudi Arabian context.
Variables of Interest:
Interaction (student-student)
Interaction (student-instructor)
Perceived learning
Previous Moocs courses experiences
Learner's characteristics (gender, age, socio-economic, and educational background)
Learners motivation (Based on ARCS motivation model)
Hypotheses/Question
Hypotheses 1: Learners motivation will be positively related to learners perceived
learning and satisfaction
Hypotheses 2: student-student interaction will be positively related to learners perceived
learning and satisfaction
Hypotheses 3: student-instructor interaction will be positively related to learners
perceived learning and satisfaction
Hypotheses 4: Previous Moocs courses experiences will be positively related to learners
perceived learning and satisfaction
To what extent do learners characteristics (gender, age, socio-economic, and educational
background) relate to their perceived learning and satisfaction?
Settings
Rwaq.org, which is Saudi Moocs platform. Rwaq offers Moocs courses in a wide range
of areas such as Islamic studies, computer science, education, and many others.
Permission was obtained to distribute the survey to their participants.
Instrument
The items of the survey were adopted from multiple existing studies. Table 1 presents the
variables as well as the sources.
The adopted survey items slightly modified to fit the scoop of the survey project (see
Table 2).
Pilot study conducted to ensure reliability of the modified items. The overall Cornbach
value was .85. Due to the small sample size, some variables had low alpha values.
Since the spoken language is Saudi Arabia is Arabic, the survey was translated from
English language to Arabic.
Procedure

The final translated survey version was put in Qualtrics platform and then generated a
link the following link: https://niu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eksZXKwLXXVitpj
The link was sent to Rwaq.org. They emailed it to their participants and posted in to their
official twitter account.

Response rate
So far 193 completed the survey.
Table 1
Variable of interest, number of items, and item source
Construct

Number of Items

Source

Interaction (student-student)

Johnson, S. D., Aragon, S. R.,

Shaik, N., & Palma-Rivas, N.
(2000). Comparative analysis
of learner satisfaction and
learning outcomes in online
and face-to-face learning
environments. Journal of
interactive learning research,
11(1), 29.

Interaction(student-instructor) 5 items

Johnson, S. D., Aragon, S. R.,

Shaik, N., & Palma-Rivas, N.
(2000). Comparative analysis
of learner satisfaction and
learning outcomes in online
and face-to-face learning
environments. Journal of
interactive learning research,
11(1), 29.

Perceived learning

6 items

Hiltz, S.R. (1994). The

Virtual Classroom: Learning
without limits via computer
networks. NJ: Ablex
Publishing Corporation.

Learners motivation (ARCS

motivation model)

42 items

J. M. Keller, Development
and use of the ARCS model
of instructional design,
Journal of Instructional
Development, vol. 10, no. 3,

pp. 2-10, 1987.

J. M. Keller and T. W. Kopp,
An application of the ARCS
model of motivational
design, in Instructional
Theories in Action. Lessons
Illustrating Selected Theories
and Models, C. M. Reigeluth,
Ed., Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates, 1987,
pp. 289320.

Table 2
Survey instrument
Interaction (student-instructor)
Statement
Never
Rarely Occasionally Often
1. I was able to share learning
experiences with other students
2. I was able to communicate
with other students in Moocs
courses
3. Increased contact with fellow
students helped me more out of
Moocs courses.
4. A sense of community existed
with fellow students taking
Moocs courses.
Interaction (student-instructor)
Statement
Never
Rarely
Occasionally Often
1. The instructor encouraged me
to become actively involved in the
course discussions.
2. The instructor provided me
feedback on my work through
comments.
3. I was able to interact with the
instructor during the course
discussions.
4. The instructor treated me as an
individual.

Very often

Very often

5. The instructor informed me

about my progress periodically
Scale items: 0 = never, 1 = rarely, 2 = occasionally, 3 = often, and 4 = very often
Perceived learning
1. I learned to interrelate the
Strongly Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly
important issues in the course
Disagree
agree
material.
2. I gained a good understanding
of the basic concepts of the
material.
3. I learned to identify the central
issues of the course
4. I developed the ability to
communicate clearly about the
subject.
5. I improved my ability to
integrate facts and develop
generalizations from the course
material
6. I learned concepts and
principles in Moocs courses.
Scale items: 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, and 5 = strongly
agree
Learners motivation
Attention
Statement
1. There was something
interesting at the beginning of this
course that got my attention.
2. These materials are eyecatching.
3. The quality of the writing
helped to hold my attention.
4. This course is so abstract that it
was hard to keep my attention.
5. The pages of this course look
dry and unappealing.
6. The way the information is
arranged on the pages helped keep
my attention.
7. This course has things that
stimulated my curiosity.

Not true

Slightly
true

Moderately
true

Mostly
true

Very true

8. The amount of repetition in this

course caused me to get bored
sometimes
9. I learned some things that were
surprising or unexpected.
10. The variety of reading
passages, exercises, illustrations,
etc., helped keep my attention on
the course.
11. The style of writing is boring.
12. There are so many words on
each page that it is irritating.

Relevance
Statement
1 It is clear to me how the content
of this material is related to things
I already know.
2. There were stories, pictures, or
examples that showed me how
this material could be important to
some people.
3. Completing this course
successfully was important to me.
4. The content of this material is
relevant to my interests.
5. There are explanations or
examples of how people use the
knowledge in this course.
6. The content and style of writing
in this course convey the
impression that its content is
worth knowing.
7. This course was not relevant to
my needs because I already knew
most of it.
8. I could relate the content of this
course to things I have seen, done,
or thought about in my own life.
9. The content of this course will
be useful to me.

Not true

Slightly
true

Moderately
true

Mostly
true

Very true

Confidence
Statement

Not true

Slightly
true

Moderately
true

Mostly
true

Very true

Not true

Slightly
true

Moderately
true

Mostly
true

Very true

1. When I first looked at this

course, I had the impression that it
would be easy for me.
2. This material was more
difficult to understand than I
would like for it to be.
3. After reading the introductory
information, I felt confident that I
knew what I was supposed to
learn from this course.
4. Many of the pages had so much
information that it was hard to
pick out and remember the
important points.
5. As I worked on this course, I
was confident that I could learn
the content.
6. The exercises in this course
were too difficult.
7. After working on this course
for a while, I was confident that I
would be able to pass a test on it.
8. I could not really understand
quite a bit of the material in this
course.
9. The good organization of the
content helped me be confident
that I would learn this material.
Satisfaction
Statement
1. Completing the exercises in this
course gave me a satisfying
feeling of accomplishment.
2. I enjoyed this course so much
that I would like to know more
about this topic.
3. I really enjoyed studying this
course.

4. The wording of feedback after

the exercises, or of other
comments in this course, helped
me feel rewarded for my effort.
5. I felt good to successfully
complete this course.
6. It was a pleasure to work on
such a well-designed course.
Scale items: 1 = Not true, 2 = Slightly true, 3 = Moderately true, 4 = Mostly true, and 5 =
Very true
Demographic results