Undergraduate students' engagement with MOOCs in Kazakhstan: variations by gender, year of study, and discipline

Abstract

Higher education (HE) has undergone a significant digital transformation, supported by Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which offer more flexible interactive learning opportunities, but their use and perceived value vary across institutional and national contexts. Given the importance of understanding students’ engagement in using these platforms to develop effective digital learning, this study examined patterns of MOOCs engagement among students ( n  = 682) through a survey at a regional university in Kazakhstan. Independent samples t-tests, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey's HSD post hoc test, and Pearson's chi-square tests were used to examine differences by gender, year of study, and discipline. The findings indicate that student engagement with MOOCs is occasional despite the recognized benefits, including flexibility, easy access and self-paced learning. Respondents reported using MOOCs primarily as supplementary resources for career-related learning and perceived professional and digital skills development. At the same time, engagement is constrained by technical issues, limited instructor feedback and interaction, and personal factors such as self-regulation. Preference for Kazakh language MOOCs is dominant among respondents (68.8%). Statistically significant differences in MOOCs use, purposes, and perceptions were observed across gender and year of study ( p  < 0.05), with more limited differences by discipline, while gender emerged as the most consistent differentiating factor. The study concludes that the effective integration of MOOCs into the HE system requires not only technical access but also stronger instructional support, greater interactivity, and availability of local-language content.