This research focuses on the role of MOOCs, many relevant studies have well-documented student behaviours towards MOOCs, but few ones have discussed the impact of MOOCs from the perspectives of higher education administration and teachers' perception. Therefore, to fill the research gap, this research aims to develop a complete understanding of MOOCs in contemporary higher education (HE) regarding the perspective of higher education institutions (HEIs) in which we only focus universities, teachers and students, respectively. Concerning the perspective of HEIs, in the first essay, this research has adopted the theory of resource based views (RBV) and explored the essential intangible resources for HEIs to produce MOOCs as an innovative project in the competitive marketplace. Regarding teachers' perspective, the second essay is the first empirical attempt to incorporate the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and Playbour (PL) as an incorporated research model to explore teachers' perception and behavioural intention (BI) to adopt MOOCs. Besides, this research has also considered Hofstede's cultural dimension theory to explore how teachers with different cultural backgrounds perceive MOOCs and discuss how the role of culture has affected the process of working with MOOCs. Additionally, concerning students' perspective, the third essay has adopted the technology acceptance model (TAM) and TPB as an incorporated model to comprehensively explore students' perception and BI addressing students' technical experience and psychosocial determinants. Furthermore, this research has also utilized Hofstede's cultural dimension theory to detect how students with different cultural backgrounds perceive MOOCs. Several quantitative methods are employed in this research. First, for the Chapter of HEIs, variables are identified through extant literature reviews focusing on HEIs management and secondary data from different university Webpages. Second, for the Chapters on teachers and students, well-designed questionnaires are used to collect data for teachers and students, respectively, with a five-point Likert scale. Hence, this research has used different techniques for the analysis: Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), Ordinary least squares regression (OLS), Tobit regression, Structural equation modelling (SEM) and Multigroup analysis (MGA). Besides, the main findings of this research can be divided into three perspectives associated with HEIs, teachers and students. Addressing HEIs, two determinants are identified to impact HEIs to produce MOOCs, which are size and proximity. The findings suggest that the universities with large size are superior to initiate new projects and universities located far away from political center are more motivated to produce MOOCs. Concerning teachers' side, (Attitude) ATT, Subjective Norms (SN) and Perceived Behavioural Control (PBC) are found as essential determinants impacting teachers to work with MOOCs. Besides, PL is confirmed as a significant mediator in the research model. Regarding the students' side, Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) are considered as techinical experience and proven as positive variables affecting students' ATT. Besides, SN and PBC are also confirmed as significant variables to impact students' BI towards MOOCs. Additionally, the potential difference caused by culture has been detected in the perspectives of teachers and students respectively. Concerning the teachers' side, Chinese teachers are more influenced by PBC while Spanish teachers are more likely affected by SN. Concerning the students' side, Spanish students are more likely influenced by PEOU while Chinese students are more susceptible to PU regarding ATT. Addressing BI, Spanish students are more likely affected by ATT while PBC more likely influences Chinese students The main findings of this research suggest higher education administrators should invest more essential resources and make full use of extant ones to support MOOCs' projects and replenish their disadvantages in the marketplace. Moreover, teachers' perceptions are significantly associated with the BI towards MOOCs. Additionally, students' technical experience is essential for forming positive perceptions toward MOOCs and further impacts the BI. This research has important implications for both theory and practice. The research contributes to the theory development as it is essential to understand crucial resources that HEIs should be invested based on RBV and the individual adoption towards MOOCs based on the TAM and TPB. In addition to the theoretical contributions, this research also plays a vital role in offering comprehensive managerial recommendations for policymakers of HEIs.
Essays on the role of moocs in the context of contemporary higher education
Wang , K. (Author). 20 Oct 2022
Student thesis: Doctoral thesis
Student thesis: Doctoral thesis