Abstract:

With the rapid growth of the Internet technology, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) provides unlimited opportunities to acquire new skills for numerous online learners the opportunity, expand their basic knowledge, and even obtain online degrees for free, which is able to fill the huge gap in the educational opportunities available for learners with diverse backgrounds. However, the current MOOC's extremely low learning completion rates and the increasing frequency of giving up learning in the middle are affecting the intention of continued use. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the effects of learners' academic self-efficacy and interactions with others on the intention to use MOOC in terms of learner characteristics, and to present structurally by exploring the mediating effects of student engagement as a way to overcome low learning conditions in MOOC and enhance them. Therefore, the research questions are set as follows. First, does interaction in MOOC affect student engagement and continuous use intention? Second, does academic self-efficacy in MOOC affect student engagement and continuous use intention? Third, does student engagement in MOOC mediate between the independent variables(interaction, academic self-efficacy) and the intent of continuing use? In order to verify the research questions, an online questionnaire survey was conducted with 405 learners who have studied MOOC courses, and SPSS and structural equation modeling with AMOS was employed to assess the model.

The study results the following implications. First, interaction, academic self-efficacy and student engagement had a significant effect on continuous use intention Second, interaction and academic self-efficacy were found to have a significant effect on student engagement in MOOC environment. Third, it was found that there is a mediating effect of student engagement between interaction, academic self-efficacy and continuous use intention in MOOC environment.

The implications suggested through the results of this study are as follows. In the MOOC learning environment, interactions, academic self-efficacy and student engagement are important. Empirical evidence is provided for the relationship between factors that directly or indirectly affect continuous use intention. In order to increase the continuous use intention of the learners in the MOOC learning environment, this study suggested that the courses should be designed to promote interaction, academic self-efficacy and student engagement. In order to promote student engagement and the intention to use MOOC, it is expected to suggest the importance of online interaction and academic self-efficacy and it is expected to be helpful in the operation and establishment of MOOC.

Keywords:

MOOC, Interaction, Academic self-efficacy, Student Engagement, Continuous use intention.