Massive open online courses:

analysis of participants motivation in the choice of MOOCS

Abstract

Massive Open Online Curses (MOOC) present the possibility of massive continuing education for thousands of people around the world. They are open educational resources, self-directed, generally offered by distance education institutions and often without any tutorial mediation. In this article, our objective is analyze the profile of egressed students participating in MOOC offered by Universidade Federal do Reconcavo da Bahia (UFRB), in order to evaluate the influencers reasons in the course choice. From a methodological point of view, the investigation is an exploratory and descriptive study with a quantitative approach, complemented by a qualitative analysis. As data collection procedure, an online survey was carried on with a non-intentional sample of 486 participants of six different MOOC offered by UFRB. The sample presented an averaged 34.5 years; mostly women (70%); at the higher level (98.4%); with 68% employment relationship and 27.8% students. We found the following most influence factors in their MOOC’s choice: a) friends indication (79.2%); b) desire for getting or improvement of knowledge (99%); c) improvement of professional performance (83.3%); d) improvement in the curriculum (91.8%); e) fulfill undergraduate complementary activities (51.4%); f) experience with the distance education (72.6%); g) obtaining the certificate (57.2% ); h) institution credibility (96.3%). Furthermore, the courses have been evaluated as excellent/good by 90.9% of respondents, and 99% would suggestion them to a family member or friend. We conclude the MOOC’s production should consider these factors in their educational design, in order to promote the effectiveness of continuing education in this massive, free and open format.