The social dimension of participation and completion in MOOCs

The rapid and impressive development of MOOCs in less than half a decade has brought about contrasting arguments about the social dimension of MOOCs. This paper investigates how the socio-economic background of learners affects their own experience in the on-line course and their chances of course completion. We test whether learners from low SES have lower chances of completing the on-line course and whether participation in online discussion forums mediates the role of SES. Analyzing data from two MOOCs provided by Stanford University, we find that in both cases the hypothesis of a negative association between low SES background and course completion is supported. Moreover, we find that forum participation further reinforces the advantage of well-educated learners enrolled in one case, while does not have any significant effect for the other course. We conclude with some design implications for creators of on-line courses.