Massive Open Online Courses for Engineering Education: Systematic Literature Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46328/ijte.6787Keywords:
MOOCs, Engineering Education, Blended Learning, Virtual laboratories, Instructional designAbstract
This systematic literature review synthesizes recent empirical research on the implementation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in engineering education published between 2020 and 2024. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, ten high-quality studies indexed in ERIC and Scopus were systematically identified, appraised, and analyzed. The review addresses four research questions concerning research methodologies, instructional models, learning outcomes, learner populations, and implementation challenges. The findings indicate that MOOCs are most effective when embedded within integrated pedagogical systems rather than implemented as standalone online courses. Three complementary instructional approaches blended learning, virtual laboratories, and immersive or metaverse-based environments emerge as key mechanisms for supporting higher-order cognitive processes, practical engineering competencies, learner self-efficacy, engagement, and persistence. However, persistent challenges, including high dropout rates, limited hands-on experiences, and contextual constraints, highlight the importance of alignment between instructional design, learner characteristics, and technological infrastructure. The primary contribution of this study is the development of a theoretically grounded conceptual framework that integrates structural, experiential, and contextual dimensions of MOOC-based learning in engineering education. This framework advances current understanding beyond descriptive synthesis by providing an explanatory foundation for instructional design, institutional implementation, and future research on scalable and context-responsive engineering learning environments.
References
Alario-Hoyos, C., Pérez-Sanagustín, M., Delgado-Kloos, C., Parada G., H. A., & Muñoz-Organero, M. (2017). Delving into participants’ profiles and use of social tools in MOOCs. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 7(3), 260-266. https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2014.2311807
AlMunifi, A. A., & Aleryani, A. Y. (2023). Online courses in technology and engineering: To what extent do they tangibly enhance professional development? International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 18(11).
Bates, A. W. (2015). Teaching in a digital age: Guidelines for designing teaching and learning. Tony Bates Associates Ltd.
Bonk, C. J., Lee, M. M., Reeves, T. C., & Reynolds, T. H. (Eds.). (2015). MOOCs and open education around the world. Routledge.
Borrego, M., Douglas, E. P., & Amelink, C. T. (2013). Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed research methods in engineering education. Journal of Engineering Education, 98(1), 53-66. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2009.tb01005.x
Bozkurt, A., Akgün-Özbek, E., & Zawacki-Richter, O. (2017). Trends and patterns in massive open online courses: Review and content analysis of research on MOOCs (2008-2015). The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(5), 118-147. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v18i5.3080
Christensen, G., Steinmetz, A., Alcorn, B., Bennett, A., Woods, D., & Emanuel, E. J. (2013). The MOOC phenomenon: Who takes massive open online courses and why? Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2350964
De Jong, T., Linn, M. C., & Zacharia, Z. C. (2013). Physical and virtual laboratories in science and engineering education. Science, 340(6130), 305-308. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1230579
Deng, R., Benckendorff, P., & Gannaway, D. (2019). Progress and new directions for teaching and learning in MOOCs. Computers & Education, 129, 48-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.10.019
Dhawan, S. (2020). Online learning: A panacea in the time of COVID-19 crisis. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 49(1), 5-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047239520934018
Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(23), 8410-8415. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1319030111
Gamage, D., Fernando, S., & Perera, I. (2020). Exploring MOOC user behaviors beyond platforms. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 15(8), 161-179. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v15i08.12493
Guan, S., Zhao, H., Tan, S., & Xu, L. (2021). Conducting experiments with real-time cloud computing models: A virtual laboratory for massive open online courses on computer control systems [Focus on education]. IEEE Control Systems Magazine, 41(6), 97–107.
Hew, K. F., & Cheung, W. S. (2014). Students’ and instructors’ use of massive open online courses (MOOCs): Motivations and challenges. Educational Research Review, 12, 45-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2014.05.001
Jona, K., & Narayanan, N. H. (2018). MOOCs for engineering education. In A. Johri & B. M. Olds (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of engineering education research (pp. 581-598). Cambridge University Press.
Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2016). Higher education and the digital revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, social media, and the Cookie Monster. Business Horizons, 59(4), 441-450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2016.03.008
Khalil, H., & Ebner, M. (2014). MOOCs completion rates and possible methods to improve retention: A literature review. In Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2014 (pp. 1305-1313). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education.
Laurillard, D. (2013). Teaching as a design science: Building pedagogical patterns for learning and technology. Routledge.
Margaryan, A., Bianco, M., & Littlejohn, A. (2015). Instructional quality of massive open online courses (MOOCs). Computers & Education, 80, 77-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2014.08.005
Marques, J. C., Gomes, M. J., & Dias, P. (2014). Can MOOCs be an alternative to traditional engineering education? In Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (pp. 731-737). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/EDUCON.2014.6826166
Medina-Labrador, M., Garcia-Vargas, G. R., & Marroquin-Ciendua, F. (2023). Effects of bias, gamification and monetary compensation on MOOC dropouts. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 24(4), 40–49.
Mishra, L., Gupta, T., & Shree, A. (2020). Online teaching-learning in higher education during lockdown period of COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 1, Article 100012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2020.100012
Onah, D. F., Sinclair, J., & Boyatt, R. (2014). Dropout rates of massive open online courses: Behavioural patterns. In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (pp. 5825-5834). IATED.
Pappano, L. (2012, November 2). The year of the MOOC. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/education/edlife/massive-open-online-courses-are-multiplying-at-a-rapid-pace.html
Pertuz, S., Reyes, O., San Cristobal, E., Meier, R., & Castro, M. (2023). MOOC-based flipped classroom for on-campus teaching in undergraduate engineering courses. IEEE Transactions on Education, 66(5), 468–478.
Peters, M. A., & Jandric, P. (2015). The digital university: A dialogue and manifesto. Policy Futures in Education, 13(2), 295-313. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478210314562663
Phan, N. T. T. (2023). Self-efficacy in a MOOC environment: A comparative study of engineering students in Taiwan and Vietnam. Knowledge Management & E-Learning, 15(1), 64–84.
Phan, N. T. T., & Chen, C. H. (2022). Taiwanese engineering students’ self-efficacy and academic performance in English-medium instruction contexts. Arab World English Journal, 13(3), 262–279.
https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol13no3.17
Potkonjak, V., Gardner, M., Callaghan, V., Mattila, P., Guetl, C., Petrović, V. M., & Jovanović, K. (2016). Virtual laboratories for education in science, technology, and engineering: A review. Computers & Education, 95, 309-327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.02.002
Prates, J. M., Melo, S. M., Valle, P. H. D., Garcia, R. E., & Maldonado, J. C. (2023). Integrating SPOCs in software testing education: Evidence in emergency remote courses. Informatics in Education, 22(1), 121–139.
Reich, J., & Ruipérez-Valiente, J. A. (2019). The MOOC pivot. Science, 363(6423), 130-131. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aav7958
Roldán-Álvarez, D., Cañas, J. M., Valladares, D., Arias-Perez, P., & Mahna, S. (2024). Unibotics: Open ROS-based online framework for practical learning of robotics in higher education. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 83(17), 52841–52866.
Ruiz, J. G., Mintzer, M. J., & Leipzig, R. M. (2006). The impact of e-learning in medical education. Academic Medicine, 81(3), 207-212. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-200603000-00002
Siemens, G., Gašević, D., & Dawson, S. (2015). Preparing for the digital university: A review of the history and current state of distance, blended, and online learning. Athabasca University.
Streveler, R. A., & Smith, K. A. (2006). Conducting rigorous research in engineering education. Journal of Engineering Education, 95(2), 103-105. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2006.tb00882.x
Veletsianos, G., & Shepherdson, P. (2016). A systematic analysis and synthesis of the empirical MOOC literature published in 2013-2015. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 17(2), 198-221. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v17i2.2448
Wengrowicz, N., Lavi, R., Kohen, H., & Dori, D. (2023). Modeling with real-time informative feedback: Implementing and evaluating a new massive open online course component. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 32(6), 884–897.
Yousef, A. M. F., Chatti, M. A., Schroeder, U., & Wosnitza, M. (2014). What drives a successful MOOC? An empirical examination of criteria to assure design quality of MOOCs. In Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE 14th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (pp. 44-48). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICALT.2014.23
Zawacki-Richter, O., Bozkurt, A., Alturki, U., & Aldraiweesh, A. (2018). What research says about MOOCs: An explorative content analysis. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 19(1), 242-259. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v19i1.3356
Zhang, K., Shao, Z., Lu, Y., Yu, Y., Sun, W., & Wang, Z. (2023). Introducing massive open metaverse course and its enabling technology. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 16(6), 1154–1164.
Zhu, M., Sari, A., & Lee, M. M. (2020). A comprehensive systematic review of MOOC research: Research techniques, topics, and trends from 2009 to 2019. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(4), 1685-1710. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09798-x
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 International Journal of Technology in Education
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Articles may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Authors alone are responsible for the contents of their articles. The journal owns the copyright of the articles. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of the research material.
The author(s) of a manuscript agree that if the manuscript is accepted for publication in the International Journal of Technology in Education (IJTE), the published article will be copyrighted using a Creative Commons “Attribution 4.0 International” license. This license allows others to freely copy, distribute, and display the copyrighted work, and derivative works based upon it, under certain specified conditions.
Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission to include any images or artwork for which they do not hold copyright in their articles, or to adapt any such images or artwork for inclusion in their articles. The copyright holder must be made explicitly aware that the image(s) or artwork will be made freely available online as part of the article under a Creative Commons “Attribution 4.0 International” license.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
