This study explores how participants of massive open online courses (MOOCs) perceive value creation within online learning environments. Drawing on the value creation framework (VCF), we developed and empirically validated a questionnaire, which was completed by 1227 learners enrolled in MOOCs offered by TU Delft. The aim was to provide deeper insight into participants’ experiences and the perceived impact of MOOCs on their personal and professional development. More specifically, this research explores the immediate, potential, applied, realized, and transformative value creation cycles. Our findings reveal significant insights into the multifaceted impacts of study behavior on learners’ perceptions. Participants reported benefits such as skill acquisition, professional development, and enhanced confidence while highlighting areas needing improvement, such as practical application opportunities and course relevance. This study highlights the importance of aligning MOOC content with learner needs and providing ongoing support to maximize the educational value that online courses can offer. These insights contribute to understanding educational value in the postdigital age, advocating for the development and support of MOOCs to foster continued personal and professional growth.

Gamification has emerged as a promising strategy to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes in computer science education. This study uses Wenger's Value Creation Framework to evaluate and design the gamification elements in the Answers platform, a Professional Learning Network (PLN) developed at TU Delft. Using a mixed-methods approach with 372 participants, this research examines the platform's impact on learning, motivation, and social interaction. Findings indicate that the platform significantly enhances academic engagement and applied value, as students actively use it for knowledge acquisition and problem-solving. However, social connectivity remains limited, as reflected in lower scores for relatedness and potential value. Qualitative insights reveal that students primarily engage with the platform for academic support rather than networking or peer collaboration. This study contributes to e-learning practice by offering design recommendations to integrate collaborative learning elements better and foster social interaction within gamified learning environments. Additionally, it advances theoretical discussions on gamified PLNs by illustrating how Wenger's framework can be operationalized to assess value creation in digital learning networks. The findings highlight the need for a more holistic approach to gamification that extends beyond point-based rewards to include community-driven engagement mechanisms. By addressing these gaps, this research provides actionable insights for educators, platform designers, and policymakers, supporting the development of more effective gamified learning environments that balance motivation, collaboration, and engagement in online education.

In the rapidly evolving domain of computer science education, fostering deep engagement and sustained motivation among students remains a challenge. This study introduces the Answers platform, a pioneering online learning environment developed at TU Delft. This research aims to reimagine the learning experience for Bachelor and Master of Science Students in computer science by integrating gamification elements grounded in Wenger's value creation framework. Our paper explores two critical research questions: the perception of learners towards gamified learning experiences and the impact of the Answers' system on value creation and motivation. We incorporated points, badges, and leaderboards in a semester-long intervention to enrich the learning landscape. The Value Creation Questionnaire (VCQ) results indicated that the platform effectively created potential and applied value, significantly enhancing students' learning practices and motivation. However, its impact on fostering social connections could have been more pronounced. The platform also moderately influenced students' ability to impact their world and shift perspectives. The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) revealed that students generally enjoyed using the platform but felt it did not significantly enhance feelings of connectedness. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by demonstrating the efficacy of gamification in computer science education and offering insights into the design of engaging online learning platforms. By bridging theoretical frameworks with practical application, the Answers platform exemplifies the potential of gamified environments to revolutionize educational practices in the digital age.

Cognitive theories of eating disorders implicate Attentional Bias (AB) towards food-related information in the development and maintenance of eating disorders. Empirical evidence for this proposal, however, has been inconsistent, and the measures used to examine AB to food-related stimuli typically showed poor reliability. The aim of the current study was twofold. Firstly, we aimed to examine the psychometric properties of a newly devised eye-tracking task for the assessment of AB in the context of eating disorders. Secondly, we examined the role of Eating Disorder-specific (ED-specific) rumination as a potential moderator of the association between attentional bias to food images and eating disorder symptoms. One hundred and three female students were recruited and completed an eye-tracking task comprising 21 matrices that each contained 8 low-calorie and 8 high-calorie food images. Each matrix was presented for 6 s. First fixation location, first fixation latency, and total dwell time were assessed for low and high-calorie food images and the dwell-time based AB measure showed good reliability based on Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's Omega, and split-half method. In addition, the results revealed that the ED-specific rumination plays the hypothesized moderating role. Specifically, while participants with high levels of ED-specific rumination exhibited a positive association between AB to high-calorie foods and eating disorder symptoms, this association was not present among participants with lower levels of ED-specific rumination. The employed free-viewing task seems a reliable measure of AB to food-related stimuli, and the moderation analysis emphasizes the critical role of ED-specific rumination for eating disorder symptoms. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.