The relationship among motivation, self-monitoring, self-management, and learning strategies of MOOC learners

In massive open online learning courses (MOOCs) with a low instructor-student ratio, students are expected to have self-directed learning abilities. This study investigated the relationship among motivation, self-monitoring, self-management, and MOOC learners’ use of learning strategies. An online survey was embedded at the end of three MOOCs with large enrollments asking for learners’ voluntary participation in the study. The survey results from 470 participants indicated that motivation positively influenced self-monitoring, self-management, and learning strategies. In addition, self-monitoring and self-management did not affect the utilization of learning strategies. This underscores learners’ motivation and the need to encourage them to adopt appropriate learning strategies for successful learning. The results also revealed that self-monitoring positively affected self-management. The findings highlight the critical need to enhance self-monitoring skills to further promote self-management skills in MOOCs. In addition, self-monitoring and self-management did not encourage learners to use related learning strategies in this study. This study should be extended to investigate practical ways to encourage MOOC learners to adopt learning strategies.