Learning Participation and Performance Among Social and Academic Learners in a Nursing Massive Open Online Course:...

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are increasingly used in nursing education, attracting learners with diverse participation modes. Social learners (self-directed) enroll voluntarily based on personal interests, while academic learners (institution-directed) are mandated by nursing schools, with performance linked to grades. Existing literature shows that academic learners outperform social learners in MOOCs, but evidence is scarce on whether this performance gap stems from distinct participation patterns shaped by institutional requirements.

We sought to compare participation typologies between social and academic learners using latent class analysis (LCA) and assess their association with learning outcomes.

A retrospective analysis was conducted of 8222 students enrolled in a rehabilitation nursing MOOC from 2021 to 2022. Learners were classified by topic test participation frequency via LCA, and their distributions and scores were statistically compared.

The cohort comprised 7683 (93.4%) academic and 539 (6.6%) social learners. LCA identified 3 participation types: participation-declining (93/8222, 1.1%), high-participation (6959/8222, 84.6%), and lowest-participation (1170/8222, 14.2%). The distributions of participation types differed significantly between groups (χ²=2745.1; df=2; P<.001). Most social learners belonged to the lowest-participation group (482/539, 89.4%), whereas most academic learners belonged to the high-participation group (6923/7683, 90.1%). Among high-participation learners, academic learners significantly outperformed social learners (all P<.05; r=0.06-0.10). No significant between-group differences were observed for the other participation types (all P>.05).

Distinct participation patterns were associated with the performance advantage of academic learners. Our findings highlight the importance of sustained participation, suggesting that MOOC instructors should provide enhanced support for voluntary learners.