The Journal of Medical Education and Development

Introduction: The aim of this study was to develop a massive open online courses instructional design models based on connectivism theory in the higher education.
Method: This is a qualitative content analysis study. In order to the SPELL OUT THIS ?? MOOCs books and articles were collected and the unit of analysis was determined. A total of 189 articles and book extracts from different databases were extracted.  62 units of study were selected based on purposeful sampling and compliance with the criteria of study. Criteria for selecting papers in this study were as follows; a) experimental studies and review articles that focus on massive open online courses, b) published in the period between 2006 and 2016 and c) related to the research subject. Then the semantic units’ coding continued to reach saturation point. Finally, the main categories of sub-categories were segregated and the conceptual instructional model for MOOCs was designed based on the research findings.
Results: After the coding process, the code based on the similarity or affinity with each other were classified. Finally, eight main categories and 22 sub-categories of qualitative data were extracted. The main layers of this model includes; a) philosophical and pedagogical umbrella, b)orientation, c) analysis, d) content, e) networking, f) motivation, g) demonstration, h)evaluation and i) management which is supported by the principles of connective theory.
Conclusion: MOOCs instructional design model presented in this study, exist in micro and macro levels. This MOOCs design model is for higher education levels. It also has other application in different situations.