1. Recommending Self-Regulated Learning Strategies Doesn’t Improve Performance in a Massive Open Online Courses René F. Kizilcec, Mar Pérez-Sanagustín, Jorge J. Maldonado Many committed learners struggle to achieve their goal of completing a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). What are effective strategies to complete a MOOC and how can online learners be empowered to apply those strategies? This work investigates self-regulated learning (SRL) in MOOCs and tests if encouraging the use of SRL strategies can improve course performance. MOTIVATION RELATED WORK Self-Regulated Learning Strategies Pintrich’s model of SRL [1], identifies three categories of SRL strategies that students should apply to regulate their own learning. SRL in Online Learning and MOOCs Evidence for better academic outcomes in online higher education settings among students who applied time management, metacognition, & effort regulation strategies. Time management, planning, and self- monitoring skills appear to be critical to succeed in MOOCs [4,5]. Prompting learners with SRL strategies has been found to improve their performance and increase achievement [2,3]. PILOT: STRATEGIES OF THE MOST SUCESSFUL RQ1. What SRL strategies do successful learners who earn a certificate use in a self-paced MOOC? Pilot study of 17 highly successful MOOC learners who earned a Coursera certificate and took an in-person exam. Identified 7 strategies that were considered to be effective in MOOCs. Time management and effort regulation stood out as the most important strategies to succeed. STUDY TIPS EXPERIMENT H1. Prompting learners with SRL strategies improves persistence and achievement in a self-paced MOOC. 741 learners in survey experiment at start of course MOOC on Education “Aula Constructivista” The main outcome measures were the percentage of lectures that learners’ watched (i.e., persistence) and the percentage of assessments that learners’ completed with a passing grade (i.e., achievement). No significant benefit from providing SRL study tips over the control task was found for these course outcomes. We systematically identified SRL strategies that would be effective in a particular MOOC. We delivered them as study tips using a persuasive and engaging format. Learners rated the tips as very helpful. However, the intervention did not improve course persistence or achievement. A single SRL prompt at the beginning of the course apparently provides insufficient support. We see more promise in embedding technological aids that adaptively support SRL throughout the course based on explanatory models. CONCLUSIONS This work was partially supported by the EU Project MOOC-Maker (14ENI2-26862) and the Fondecyt Project (11150231). Jorge Maldonado thanks the University of Cuenca, Ecuador for funding his doctoral studies at Pontificia Universidad Catolica of Chile. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS REFERENCES [1] P.R. Pintrich. 1999. The role of motivation in promoting & sustaining self-regulated learning. International journal of educational research 31, 6: 459–470. [2] R. Azevedo, D.C. Moos, J.A. Greene, F.I. Winters, & J.G. Cromley. 2008. Why is externally- facilitated regulated learning more effective than self-regulated learning with hypermedia? Educational Technology Research & Development 56, 1: 45–72. [3] M. Bannert & C. Mengelkamp. 2013. Scaffolding Hypermedia Learning Through Metacognitive Prompts. In International Handbook of Metacognition & Learning Technologies Springer International Handbooks of Education. 171–186. [4] R.F. Kizilcec & E. Schneider. 2015. Motivation as a Lens to Understand Online Learners: Toward Data-Driven Design with the OLEI Scale. Transactions on Computer-Human Interactions (TOCHI) 22, 2: 24. [5] S. Zheng, M.B. Rosson, P.C. Shih, & J.M. Carroll. 2015. Understanding Student Motivation, Behaviors & Perceptions in MOOCs. Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing - CSCW ’15: 1882–1895. PREVIEW OF FOLLOW-UP WORK RQ1. Which self-reported SRL strategies are most helpful to achieve personal goals? RQ2. How do self-reported SRL abilities manifest in course behavior? For most SRL strategies, higher self-reported reliance on that strategy was associated with increased reviewing of materials, based on transitions and time spent. We are investigating two additional research questions: RQ3. How do self-reported SRL abilities vary by individual learner characteristics? RQ4. Can variation in self-reported SRL abilities account for individual differences in outcomes? We evaluated the transition graph for interaction states defined by course materials (lectures, assessments) and progress (beginning, completing, reviewing). Relative size of a transition target is proportional to the prevalence of the interaction state. Arrow thickness is proportional to the corresponding transition probability; only showing arrows for transition probabilities > 1/8. 4,831 learners across 6 different MOOCs were surveyed about their background and SRL Survey data was combined with behavioral logs and achievement outcomes We tested for correlations between achieving personal course goals and SRL strategies: ¶ Goal attainment was evaluated for completing over 80% of assessments and lectures, respectively; * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.005.