Open-ended planning prompts at the start of a MOOC increase course completion by 29%¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r? · q3
Currency · no dated study recorded · checked against its sources 2026-10-18 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? In a natural field experiment in three HarvardX courses, students who received open-ended planning prompts at the beginning of a course completed the course at a 29% higher rate than students who did not. → Yeomans 2017

Evidence¶

Yeomans 2017¶

Yeomans, Michael and Reich, Justin. 2017. "Planning Prompts Increase and Forecast Course Completion in Massive Open Online Courses." Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). https://doi.org/10.1145/3027385.3027416

q3 · i? · causal · r?

Natural field experiment in three HarvardX courses in which some students received open-ended planning prompts at the beginning of a course. The article reports the prompts "increased course completion by 29%"; no standardized effect size is printed, so no magnitude is coded.

"In a natural field experiment in three HarvardX courses, some students received open-ended planning prompts at the beginning of a course. These prompts increased course completion by 29%, and payment for certificates by 40%."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The planning-prompt effect on MOOC completion is largest for students enrolled in traditional schools — related
• Planning prompts increase payment for certificates in MOOCs by 40% — related
• The content of MOOC students' plans forecasts completion, with time-focused plans predicting lower completion — related
• Pre-tests reduced adult learners' persistence in a MOOC, though they improved post-test scores among those who completed it — related
• Forming implementation intentions (if-then plans) improves goal attainment — a broader claim this one bears on
• Goal setting and strategic planning positively predict attainment of personal course goals in MOOCs — related