Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) Evaluation Methods: Protocol for a Systematic Review.

Area of Science:

• Educational Technology
• Online Learning Research
• Systematic Review Methodology

Background:

• Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are increasingly popular but suffer from low completion rates.
• Effective evaluation methods are crucial for understanding MOOC impact but are not well-established.
• There is a need to systematically review existing MOOC evaluation methodologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a protocol for a systematic review focused on MOOC evaluation methods.
• To guide the research process using the PRISMA-P guidelines and a PICO framework.
• To answer the question: "What methods have been used to evaluate MOOCs?"

Main Methods:

• Adherence to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols (PRISMA-P).
• Development of a Population, Intervention, Comparator, and Outcome (PICO) framework for search strategy.
• Systematic review process encompassing literature search, article selection, data extraction, quality appraisal, analysis, and synthesis.

Main Results:

• The systematic review is currently in the data analysis phase.
• Data searches and abstraction were completed in October and November 2018.
• The review is anticipated to be completed by March 2019.

Conclusions:

• The systematic review will summarize current MOOC evaluation methods.
• It will highlight the strengths and limitations of various evaluation approaches.
• The study aims to identify literature gaps and suggest future research directions in MOOC evaluation.