Lloyd's MOOC Research

One reason Lloyd is offering this MOOC is to learn about MOOCs and the reasons people choose to participate in them. So, he is conducting a research study during this course - please consider participating in it. It won't take much of your time and the results will help him (and hopefully others) learn more about the MOOC student experience and design MOOCs more effectively. By agreeing to participate, you'll be asked to complete 3 short surveys: one at the beginning of the course, one around the middle, and one at the end. You also agree to let Lloyd use your other course statistics, such as how often you log in and how many activities you choose to complete. But, he will be sure to remove all personally identifying information. All he will do is report general summaries of information - no single individual will ever be named or identified. So, please consider it.

Below is the formal letter explaining the research project and asking for your informed consent.

To participate in the research project, please go to the Research Participation Form and click "I agree."

(You do not have to agree to participate in the research to participate in this MOOC, but you do have to at least declare your intent to participate or not in the research as one requirement to have access to the course.)

Thanks!

Informed Consent Cover Letter

February 9, 2015

Dear Participant:

I am a professor in the Department of Career and Information Studies at the University of Georgia. I invite you to participate in a research study entitled “Motivations for and Patterns of Participation in a Massive Open Online Course.” The purpose of this study is to explore people’s motivations for joining and participating in a massive open online course (MOOC).

Your participation will involve completing three surveys during the course: one at the beginning, one at the mid-point of the course, and one at the end. These surveys should only take about 20 minutes each to complete. Also included in the study is data related to your general course participation, such as the assignments you submit, the time you spend on course activities, etc. Your involvement in the study is voluntary, and you may choose not to participate or to stop at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. If you decide to stop or withdraw from the study, the information/data collected from or about you up to the point of your withdrawal will be kept as part of the study and may continue to be analyzed.

All information collected in this study will remain confidential. No individually-identifiable information about you, or provided by you during the research, will be shared with others without your written permission. All research data will be kept on a private drive that only the principal researcher will have access to. Identifying information of participants will be removed from any reports that are seen by anyone other than the principal researcher. The results of the research study may be published, but your name or any identifying information will not be used. In fact, the published results will be presented in summary form only.

The findings from this project may provide information on how to design MOOCs in such a way as to increase quality without jeopardizing access or increasing costs. There are no known risks or discomforts associated with this research.

If you have any questions about this research project, please feel free to contact me via email at lrieber@uga.edu. Questions or concerns about your rights as a research participant should be directed to The Chairperson, University of Georgia Institutional Review Board, 629 Boyd GSRC, Athens, Georgia 30602; telephone (706) 542-3199; email address irb@uga.edu.

By clicking on the “I agree” button you are agreeing to participate in the above described research project.

Thank you for your consideration! Please print a copy of this letter for your records.

Sincerely,
Lloyd P. Rieber, Ph.D.