An Analysis of MOOC Discussion Forum Interactions from the Most Active Users

Jian Syuan Wong, Bart Pursel, Anna Divinsky, Bernard J. Jansen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

62 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Many massive open online courses (MOOCs) offer mainly videobased lectures, which limits the opportunity for interactions and communications among students and instructors. Thus, the discussion forums of MOOC become indispensable in providing a platform for facilitating interactions and communications. In this research, discussion forum users who continually and actively participate in the forum discussions throughout the course are identified. We then employ different measures for evaluating whether those active users have more influence on overall forum activities. We further analyze forum votes, both positive and negative, on posts and comments to verify if active users make positive contributions to the course conversations. Based the result of analysis, users who constantly participate in forum discussions are identified as statistically more influential users, and these users also produce a positive effect on the discussions. Implications for MOOC student engagement and retention are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSocial Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling, and Prediction - 8th International Conference, SBP 2015, Proceedings
EditorsKevin Xu, Nitin Agarwal, Nathaniel Osgood
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages452-457
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9783319162676
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015
Externally publishedYes
Event8th International Conference on Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling, and Prediction, SBP 2015 - Washington, United States
Duration: 31 Mar 20153 Apr 2015

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume9021
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference8th International Conference on Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling, and Prediction, SBP 2015
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityWashington
Period31/03/153/04/15

Keywords

  • Distance education
  • Learning forum
  • MOOC
  • Online learning

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