Artifact 2

ETR 521 Educational Statistics 1

Introduction and Reflection

The relationship between the length of MOOCs and perceived educational benefits of MOOC
participation

This paper was the final project of the course ETR521 which I took in Fall 2015. ETR521

course is an introduction to the theory and application of statistical methods used in social science.

This course introduces students to both descriptive and inferential statistics in quantitative

research. It helps students to select and apply appropriate statistical methods for their research.

As required in this course, I conducted an external research project for this class which entitled

The relationship between the length of MOOCs and perceived educational benefits of MOOC

participation. The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between the length

of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and perceived educational benefits of MOOC

learners participation. For this project, I used a secondary data that was collected by Dr. Reeves

from ETRA department at Northern Illinois University. Dr. Reeves study surveyed (n=16100)

participants worldwide to collect data about Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

participations from 2008 to 2014.

The independent variable for this study was the length of MOOCs, and the dependent variable

was perceived educational benefits. Since both variables in the present study are considered to be

categorical variables, Chi-square test of independence was used to test the following hypothesis:

H0= There is no relationship between the length of the massive open online course (MOOCs) and

perceived educational benefits of MOOC participation.

H1= There is a relationship between the length of the massive open online course (MOOCs) and

perceived educational benefits of MOOC participation.

As mentioned above, Chi-square test of independence was performed to test for a statistically

significant relationship between the length of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and

perceived educational benefits of MOOC participation. The result of the present study indicated

that there is a significant relationship between the length of MOOCs and perceived (X2 (3)= 11.16,

p= .002 < alpha=0.05.) Critical value= (7.81). Since the Pearson Chi-Square (X2 (3)= 11.16 is

more extreme compared to the chi-square critical value (7.81). As a result, the null hypothesis is

rejected.

Evidence of Mastery of Objectives 4, 5 and 6.

Objective 4: Select appropriate analyses for a given research question.

One of the main goals of ETR521 is to teach students to select an appropriate statistical test and

analysis for research. Taking this course allowed me to select an appropriate analysis for my

research questions. The purpose of my project was to investigate if there is a significant

relationship between the length of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and perceived

educational benefits of MOOC learners participation. Based on this purpose, a hypothesis was set

and to test this hypothesis, A Chi-square test of independence was performed to test for a

statistically significant relationship because it was appropriate for this research question. Thus,

this objective is met.

Objective 5: Apply appropriate technology to conduct analyses of educational data

ETR521 helped me to use SPSS which is one of the most popular statistical packages that

being used in the social science. In this course, I learned the required skills for analyzing and

interpreting data and how to use the features of SPSS. For example, I learned a different kind of
statistical test such as t-test and Chi-square and when to use each of these tests. For the purpose of

my project, I used Chi-square test of independence to test for a statistically significant relationship

between the length of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and perceived educational benefits

of MOOC participation.

Objective 6: Conduct a study pertaining to an educational research problem or phenomenon.

As the MOOCs become a trend in the last five years and taking into consideration the fact that

MOOCs in general is a new phenomenon, several issues that related to the use of this kind of

online course has emerged. For this reason, I was motivated to conduct a study that investigates

the relationship between the length of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and perceived

educational benefits of MOOC learners participation. The finding of this study may yield

information to policy makers, instructional technology developers, MOOCs designers, providers

of MOOCS, and universities interested in MOOCs to consider some factors that might influence

the length of MOOCs and its impact on students participation during the courses. On another level

of information, researchers can draw from contributions of this study knowledge regarding issues

such as the number of tasks assigned to students as well as clarity of course designs to meet an

MOOC length. Meaning that if MOOCs are designed to be short classes so that the number of

tasks can be aligned with the course length to eliminate the overwhelming burden on the students.

For all the above reasons, this objective is met.