The role of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in engineering education: Faculty perspectives on its potential and suggested research directions

Massive Open Online Courses quickly infiltrated higher education, leaving little time for large-group discussions on their role in engineering education. We argue that a research agenda around the role of MOOCs in engineering education is necessary for fully leveraging them in our context. While four articles published between 2011-2015 outline future directions for MOOCs research, previous studies did not gather input from the community on the most pressing research needs, corresponding corresponding questions, or the research needs unique to engineering education. The purpose of this study is to present a research agenda around the role of MOOCs in engineering education that is informed by multidisciplinary perspectives (i.e., MOOCs, learning science, and engineering researchers and practitioners). Three NSF-funded workshops took place at engineering conferences throughout 2014 to facilitate the accomplishment of this goal. Thematic analysis of 65 workshop participants' survey responses led to an agenda that includes six research foci-namely, MOOCs participants; MOOCs course design; MOOCs technology development, delivery, and adoption; the role of MOOCs across education contexts; administrative concerns involving MOOCs; and MOOCs as a platform for largescale education research. Ten to fifteen corresponding research questions per foci are presented. Implications of this work within and beyond engineering education are also discussed.