Manoosh Mehrabi - Department of e-Learning in Medical Sciences, Virtual School, Center of Excellence for e-Learning in Medical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Ali Reza Safarpour - Gastroenterohepatology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Abbas Keshtkar - Department of Health Sciences Education Development, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Introduction: Massive open online course (MOOC) is an online course that is open, meaning there are no barriers to entry, and entails no special educational costs or features. Recently, MOOCs have received increasing popularity throughout the world. Regardless of the subject taught and the university providing the course, the dropout rate of MOOCs is one of the most important challenges ahead. The objective of this systematic review is to estimate the global rate of MOOCs dropout and factors affecting this frequency. Methods: This systematic review will search MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics), Embase (Embase.com), ASSIA, CINAHL, Education Research, BEI, and Eric databases systematically according to predefined criteria without language restrictions to retrieve prospective and retrospective observational studies conducted between the ۱st of January ۲۰۰۰ and ۳۰th of December ۲۰۲۱, evaluating the frequency of leaving MOOCs throughout the world. Discordances between the two different authors through the processes of screening, selection, quality assessment, and data extraction will be settled via discussion and if the issue cannot be resolved, a third expert advice will be requested. For all studies, forest plots will be shown to represent the separate and pooled frequency along with their ۹۵% confidence intervals. To examine statistical heterogeneity, the Q-statistic test and the I۲statistic will be utilized. To investigate potential reporting bias and non-significant study effects, funnel plots will be employed. Tests, such as Begg’s and Egger’s will also be carried out. The time trends for MOOCs dropout rate will be calculated using a cumulative meta-analysis. Conclusion: As dropout rate is one of the most challenges that universities may encounter, this systematic review will help universities extend their view, save their resources, or maybe design their MOOCs differently. This protocol is registered in Open Science Framework (OSF), available at: https://osf.io/jgyqx/

MOOCs, Dropout rate, Systematic Review Protocol