UNDERSTANDING AND DESIGNING PEER LEARNING FOR MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSES

Abstract

We learn more effectively and engagingly when we are learning with peers. Despite the presence of peer learning features and activities in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), few students use and engage with them actively. This thesis attempts to understand this phenomenon and apply the insights to design a user interface that could improve peer learning engagement in MOOCs. Part I of this thesis reports a mixed-method study on MOOC students’ expectations and motivations behind their existing peer learning behavior and usages. We identified three points of frictions and proposed multiple implications to reduce them. Part II of this thesis reports the design of an asynchronous discussion interface that targets the challenges in Part I, specifically on the building of common ground by facilitating references that are more complex to make. Our evaluation showed that making these references with our interface were less cumbersome and take less time and effort.