Self-regulated learning with massive open online course (MOOC) for the fundamentals of data structure course: A descriptive analysis

Abstract

Data structure is a foundation subject for computer science students in Malaysian universities. To fully grasp the subject, students are required to do a lot of exercises. Many students, however, are lacking the motivation to either carry out the exercises or to actively participate in the teaching and learning process. As a result, they find it difficult to internalize the concepts and master the programming skills. Consequently, students tend to perceive data structure as a difficult subject. The objective of this paper is to present the implementation of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in teaching the subject of Fundamentals of Data Structures. It was anticipated that the MOOC would facilitate the students in self-regulated learning (SRL), thus increasing their motivation and participation. The MOOC has been used by the Diploma of Computer Science students in Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perak Branch from September to December 2019. The students’ perception on MOOC and its effect to six SRL attributes has been collected through an online survey at the end of academic semester. The result was very encouraging as it shows that the MOOC has contributed positively to the students’ SRL notably in the area the self-defined goal setting, self-efficacy, self-interest and self-strategies.