Fake learners spent significantly less time on each type of instructional resource than true learners in the MITx 8.MReVx MOOC.¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr2·q3
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i? Fake learners spent significantly less time on reading, watching, and homework resources than true learners (Mann-Whitney U, p < 0.01). → Alexandron 2019
Evidence¶
Alexandron 2019¶
Alexandron, G., Yoo, L. Y., Ruipérez-Valiente, J. A., Lee, S., & Pritchard, D. E. (2019). Are MOOC Learning Analytics Results Trustworthy? With Fake Learners, They Might Not Be! International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 29, 484–506. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40593-019-00183-1
q3 · i? · associational · r2
In the MITx 8.MReVx Summer 2014 MOOC, the authors compared time on resources for 72 fake vs 406 true certificate earners using a two-sided Mann-Whitney U test, reporting "fake learners spent significantly less time on each type of the instructional resources" with p < 0.01. Medians: watching 0.3 vs 1.6 hours, reading 7.2 vs 15.9 hours, homework 7.7 vs 16.0 hours.
"fake learners spent significantly less time on each type of the instructional resources. This is confirmed with a two-sided Mann-Whitney U test ( nfake = 72, ntrue = 406, p.value < 0.01)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Fake learners attempted a smaller proportion of assessment items than true learners, with the smallest gap on homework items. — related
- Removing fake learners changed the Tetrad causal graph: the links watching → quizScore and reading → IRT disappeared. — related
- In the Champaign et al. replication, removing fake learners moved three correlations (Ability vs. Homework Time, Ability vs. Reading Time, Weekly Improvement vs. Homework Time) in the positive direction, but no correlation changed qualitatively. — related
- Fake learners solved exercises significantly faster than true learners and showed higher weekly improvement, but did not differ significantly on grade, ability, or CFA. — related
- A simulated doubling of fake learners (from ~15% to ~26%) significantly increased the bias in Analysis 1A, making 'Doers who are neither Watchers nor Readers' by far the most successful group.
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
fake-learners-less-time-on-instructional-resources |
title |
Fake learners spent significantly less time on each type of instructional resource than true learners in the MITx 8.MReVx MOOC. |
description |
Fake learners spent significantly less time on each type of instructional resource than true learners in the MITx 8.MReVx MOOC. |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2019 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-28 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — alexandron-2019 |
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