EAPSI: Investigating the Convergence between Engagement Patterns, User Perceptions, and Course Outcomes in Science Massive Open Online Courses

大规模开放式在线课程（MOOC）为将教育机会扩展到各种人群提供了机会。然而，MOOC提供的机会也可能加剧目前存在的教育差距，因为它只吸引目标与课程设计一致的有动力的学生。随着数字化教学的日益普及，越来越需要了解教师和学生对在线学习环境的理解。本研究旨在通过调查学习者如何使用和感知MOOC，揭示如何更好地支持数字环境中的学习者。调查将通过使用数据和对日本学生的采访进行。鉴于大多数关于MOOC的研究都是在北美进行的，本研究将解决海外需要更多证据的问题，以突出MOOC在提供课程的机构边界之外以相同方式进行解释的程度。本研究将特别关注单平台MOOC，它更接近传统的教育方法，而不是多平台连接主义体验。本研究将使用聚类分析和序列模式挖掘，以找到使用模式的特点，强，弱学生的工作，定义的书面工作在论坛和作业参与的质量。研究人员将与每位课程讲师进行持续的讨论，以确保学生工作的评分与讲师的质量分类（高，中，低）保持一致。教师和学生的半结构化访谈将告知教师的期望和学生的感知之间是否一致的使用模式的新兴类别。从新兴模式和访谈中，本研究将与北美MOOC的现有实证结果进行跨文化比较。如果发现相同的使用模式，那么这项研究表明MOOC的主题是一致的。如果这项研究得出了不同的结果，那么这些发现就为MOOC和在线课程提供了替代方法。该奖项是东亚和太平洋夏季研究所（East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes）项目下的一个奖项，由NSF和日本科学促进会（Japan Society for the Promotion of Science）共同资助，旨在支持美国研究生的夏季研究。

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) open up an opportunity to extend educational access to a diverse range of people. However, the opportunity presented by MOOCs may also exacerbate currently existing educational gaps by engaging only motivated students whose goals align with the course design. With digital instruction becoming increasingly popular, there is an increasing need to understand both instructors' and students' interpretation of the online learning environment. This study aims to uncover ways to better support learners in digital environments through an investigation of how learners use and perceive MOOCs. The investigation will be informed by usage data and interviews with Japanese students. Given that most studies on MOOCs have been conducted in North America, this study will address the need for more evidence overseas in order to highlight the extent that MOOCs are interpreted in the same manner beyond the borders of the institution delivering the course.This study will look specifically at single-platform MOOCs, which more closely resemble traditional approaches to education rather than multi-platform connectivist experiences. This study will use both cluster analysis and sequential pattern mining to find usage patterns that characterize the work of strong and weak students, as defined by the quality of written work in forum and assignment participation. The researcher will be engaged in ongoing discussions with each course instructor to ensure that ratings of students' work align with instructor categorizations of quality (high, moderate, or low). Semi-structured interviews with both the instructors and the students will inform the whether the emergent categories of usage patterns after consistent between both instructor expectations and student perceptions. From the emerging patterns and interviews, this study will draw a cross-cultural comparison to existing empirical results on North American MOOCs. If the same usage patterns are found, then this study suggests a consistent theme for MOOCs. If this study yields different results, then the findings suggest alternative approaches to MOOCs and online courses.This award, under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program, supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.