To date, student issues with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have only been explored in context-specific environments. Mainstream problems such as declining student motivation during a course, massive student dropout rates, accountability, user experience, etc., persist due to the permutations and combinations of these issues. Literature is replete with a deep understanding of such problems, but the causal relationships among these issues are less focused upon. We delve into these problems by studying the interrelations among student issues that cause such problems. Garnering insights from students (N = 149) and using Total Interpretive Structural Modelling with Polarity (TISM-P), the study has established direct and transitive relations among nine detrimental MOOC-related student issues. The results of the study depict clear positive, negative and transitive relationships between the student issues. Matrice d'Impacts croises-multipication applique' an classment (MICMAC) analysis was also used to assess the driving and dependence power of all issues that further allowed the model to trace out negative and positive pathways of influence. The model constructed in the study will provide a platform for future research to test these interconnections as independent factors affecting problems such as dropout rates, motivation, etc. Therefore, the TISM-P model could further be explored to understand the behaviour of such issues, which might have far-reaching consequences on major existing problems with MOOCs. © 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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