INVESTIGATING STUDENTS’ RECEPTIVENESS TOWARDS MOOC AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH ANXIETY AND MOTIVATION AMONG STUDENTS AT TAYLOR’S UNIVERSITY

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate Students’ Receptiveness towards MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) and its relationship with Anxiety and Motivation among Malaysian students. 172 students undertaking TITAS (Tamadun Islam dan Tamadun Asia) via MOOC participated in this study. An online questionnaire included 5 items of receptiveness towards MOOC, 38 items of anxiety and 8 items of students’ motivation with 4-point Likert scale and Cronbach’s alpha of 0.879, 0.942 and 0.894 respectively was administered in the final week of the semester. Descriptive statistic showed that students were receptive to learning TITAS via MOOC. One-way between subject’s ANOVA showed that there was significant difference among students’ receptiveness towards learning TITAS via MOOC with regards to their current semester status in University where the second semester students exhibited the highest receptiveness towards MOOC. Pearson’s Correlation coefficient indicated that there was a high negative correlation between students’ anxiety and motivation as well as receptiveness towards learning TITAS via MOOC, and students’ motivation and receptiveness towards learning TITAS in MOOC were positively correlated. The research findings provided positive impact to lecturers who plan to convert from traditional teaching pedagogy to MOOC mode as Malaysian students were receptive and open to the idea of learning via MOOC. Besides, it also provided important information to University Administrator on the appropriate semester to offer modules in MOOC. Results from this study indicated that the timing to offer MOOC would be in second semester of their studies because students experienced lower anxiety and higher motivation, probably due to the fact that they have adapted to the university environment.