What factors make it more likely that a student will successfully complete a MOOC? This is the question three Duke researchers asked when they looked at the 33,378 students who accessed the Coursera course Introductory Human Physiology during its Fall 2013 session.

The researchers, Deborah Engle, Chris Mankoff, and Jennifer Carbrey, sought to use the large amount of data generated by a pre-course survey (completed by around 15,000 students) to better understand MOOC students and the characteristics that lead to their success. They found that students who successfully completed the course were more likely to be fluent in English, have graduate degrees, and post two or more times on the course discussion forum. In addition, students with a natural sciences background or some prior experience in physiology were more likely to pass the course.

The researchers conclude that more information about MOOC students will help instructors figure out how to modify courses to increase retention and improve performance.

An article on their findings, “Coursera’s Introductory Human Physiology Course: Factors that Characterize Successful Completion of a MOOC”, was recently published in the International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning.

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