Choice-based Personalization in MOOCs: Impact on Activity and Perceived Value

Personalization in education describes instruction that is tailored to learners’ interests, attributes, or background and can be applied in various ways, one of which is through choice. In choice-based personalization, learners choose topics or resources that fit them the most. Personalization may be especially important (and under-used) with diverse learners, such as in a MOOC context. We report the impact of choice-based personalization on activity level, learning gains, and satisfaction in a Climate Science MOOC. The MOOC’s learning assignments had learners choose resources on climate-related issues in either their geographic locale (Personalized group) or in given regions (Generic group). 219 learners completed at least one of the two assignments. Over the entire course, personalization increased learners’ activity (number of course events), self-reported understanding of local issues, and self-reported likelihood to change climate-related habits. We found no differences on assignment completion rate, assignment length, and self-reported time-on-task. These results show that benefits of personalization extend beyond the original task and affect learners’ overall experience. We discuss design and implications of choice-based personalization, as well as opportunities for choice-based personalization at scale.