Can learner characteristics predict their behaviour on MOOCs?

Abstract

Stereotyping is the first type of adaptation in education ever proposed. However, the early systems have never dealt with the numbers of learners that current MOOCs provide. Thus, the umbrella question that this work tackles is if learner characteristics can predict their overall, but also fine-grain behaviour. Earlier results point at differences related to gender or to age. We have also looked into more details into finer-grain analyzing the weekly behavior of females and males. Here, we further expand this, by showing how, depending on the way the comments are counted, significance can be found when comparing female and male commenting behavior, at the level of the week. Moreover, the topic of the course is an important factor in this behavior. These outcomes can help in informing future runs, in terms of potential personalised feedback for teachers and students.