Signaling Patterns in Highly Enrolled MOOCs: A Comparative Documentary Analysis of University and Industry Providers

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) offer prospective learners a wide range of options from university and industry providers, yet important course qualities may remain difficult to evaluate before enrolment. This study aims to comparatively examine the signalling patterns communicated through publicly available information on highly enrolled university- and industry-provided MOOCs. Using a qualitative comparative documentary research design guided by Signalling Theory, the study analyses ten highly enrolled MOOCs offered on Coursera. Four study-specific analytical categories were applied: provider reputation and prestige, instructor expertise, rigour signals, and credential and competence signals. Cases were purposively selected from Class Central's 100 Most Popular Online Courses (2025 Edition), with five university-provided and five industry-provided MOOCs selected to enable balanced comparison. The findings show that both provider groups communicate overlapping patterns of signalling, with credential and competence signals consistently present across cases. Nevertheless, the groups differ in their communication of credibility and competence: university-provided MOOCs more frequently highlight individual academic or professional expertise and disciplinary competence, while industry-provided MOOCs more often emphasise organisational authority and frame competence through applied technical skills and professional practice. The comparison further suggests that signalling is best understood as a configuration of observable signals, with carriers and framing varying according to provider context, rather than as a single measure of course quality. As the study examines only highly enrolled cases and relies exclusively on publicly available information, the findings describe signalling configurations associated with these MOOCs but do not establish causality regarding enrolment or reflect learner perceptions. This study contributes to MOOC and signalling research by demonstrating how comparative documentary analysis can identify provider-generated signalling patterns and reveal how organisational context shapes the communication of credibility and competence in online learning environments.