Understanding Online Learner Engagement and Course Completion: A Theoretical Review of Content Design Factors, Learner Behaviour Patterns, And Dropout Determinants

Abstract

According to research, online education platforms have signed up hundreds of millions of online learners with low course completion rates. The completion rates of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are consistently between 5% and 15%. In this paper we synthesize foundational and current literature on the factors that influence completion of online courses and combine these factors with the behavioral component of learner engagement, design of online course content, and the barriers to course dropout. Based on the above, we develop an integrated conceptual structure for the completion of online courses and set the groundwork for the appropriate use of K-means clustering and Spearman's rank correlation to the behavioral data of online course participants. In this paper we provide a research design that will lay the foundation for a subsequent primary study that will address the online education gaps identified herein