(Dis)organization and Success in an Economics MOOC

Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo

American Economic Review, 2014, vol. 104, issue 5, 514-18

Abstract: Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) present the potential to deliver high quality education to a large number of students. But they suffer from low completion rates. This paper identifies disorganization as a factor behind failure to complete a MOOC. Students who enroll one day late are 17 percentage points less likely to earn a certificate than students who enroll exactly on time. This reflects selection, but it does seem to be related to demographic characteristics, motivation to complete the course, or ability. This suggests that building in even more structure in the MOOC could be a factor in improving performance.

JEL-codes: I21 I23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.104.5.514
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

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