Learner engagement within MOOCs: Scale adaptation and an exploration regarding gender

Abstract

With the COVID-19 outbreak, now more than ever, minimizing human interaction and social distancing are of great importance. Since anyone is obligated to study remotely, attention to distance learning systems, specifically to massive online open courses (MOOCs), has exponentially risen. The present study aimed to adapt and validate the MOOC Engagement Scale (MES), developed by Deng et al. (2020a), into Turkish based on data collected from 258 participants in Türkiye enrolled in various MOOC courses to enhance their skills for future career development. The results indicated that the MES has adequate evidence of internal consistency reliability (ranging between .68 and .90) and factorial, discriminant, and convergent validity. Confirmatory factor analysis results supported the four-factor structure of the MES (i.e., behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and social). The MANOVA results indicated a statistically significant difference in MOOC engagement between genders, where males scored higher than females. The findings provided evidence that the Turkish MES has promising validity and reliability properties; therefore, it can be used to measure learner engagement in MOOCs.

Keywords

• Distance learning
• Massive open online course
• Learner engagement
• MOOC engagement scale
• Scale adaptation
• Scale validation

KAÇD' lerde öğrenci katılımı: Ölçek uyarlaması ve cinsiyete ilişkin bir araştırma

Öz

COVID-19 salgını ile birlikte, insan etkileşiminin minimize edilmesi ve sosyal mesafenin korunması her zamankinden daha büyük bir önem taşımaktadır. Herkesin uzaktan eğitime yönlendirilmesi, özellikle kitlesel açık çevrimiçi derslere (KAÇD) olan ilgi katlanarak artmıştır. Bu çalışma, gelecekteki kariyer gelişimleri için çeşitli KAÇD kurslarına kaydolan Türkiye'den 258 katılımcıdan toplanan verilere dayanarak Deng ve arkadaşları (2020a) tarafından geliştirilen KAÇD Katılım Ölçeği'ni (KKÖ) Türkçeye uyarlamayı ve geçerliliğini doğrulamayı amaçlamıştır. Sonuçlar, KKÖ'nün iç tutarlılık güvenilirliğine (.68 ile .90 arasında) ve faktöriyel, ayırıcı ve yakınsak geçerliliğe yeterli kanıt sağladığını göstermiştir. Doğrulayıcı faktör analizi sonuçları, MES'in dört faktörlü yapısını (davranışsal, duygusal, bilişsel ve sosyal katılım) desteklemiştir. MANOVA sonuçları, cinsiyetler arasında KAÇD katılımında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir fark olduğunu, erkeklerin kadınlardan daha yüksek puan aldığını göstermiştir. Elde edilen bulgular, KAÇD'nin Türkçe versiyonunun umut verici geçerlilik ve güvenilirlik özelliklerine sahip olduğunu ve bu nedenle KAÇD'de öğrenenlerin katılımını ölçmek için kullanılabileceğini ortaya koymuştur.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Uzaktan eğitim
• Kitlesel açık çevrimiçi dersler
• öğrenen katılımı
• KAÇD katılım ölçeği
• ölçek uyarlama
• ölçek doğrulama

Kaynakça

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