On the Acceptance and Effects of Recapping Self-Test Questions in MOOCs

摘要

Learners in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are reiterating over the provided course material especially self-tests - to consolidate their knowledge. This is a manual and often cumbersome process as MOOC platforms do not provide personalized revision opportunities. This paper introduces the design and concept of a flashcard-like recap tool based on spaced repetition learning techniques. The recap material is derived from existing self-test questions. The usage rates of the recap tool were observed in three courses and peaked before graded assignments, primarily before the final exam. When choosing the question quantity, learners preferred either the smallest option or wanted to revise all of the available questions, whereas the average number of questions per recap session increases over time. Recap tool users who completed a recap session showed smaller error rates than those who stopped a recap session abruptly, while learners who skipped questions performed worst. Course participants who used the recap tool throughout the course achieved on average more of the available points. Statistically highly significant differences were detected for all observed courses. An additional survey (N=79) gathered qualitative feedback and impressions from the learning community.