Sentiments expressed on massive open online course (MOOC) discussion forums significantly influence learning effectiveness and academic performance. The evolution of learning sentiments on MOOC discussion forums is a dynamic process; however, a gap exists in the current understanding of the interplay between evolving sentiments and their impact on…

Dialectical thinking is a way of discussing and analyzing things from different viewpoints to reach a solution. It is often taught in language courses by conducting argumentation activities. However, without providing effective strategies or tools, learners generally encounter difficulties in structuring their viewpoints during the argumentation…

The website Reddit has received scant attention from educational researchers despite the presence of numerous teaching-related subreddits that host thousands of threaded conversations. The purpose of this study was to provide an initial comparison of discussions occurring in several different affinity spaces on Reddit. Because of the lack of…

Engaging in interactions with peers is important for student learning. Many studies have quantified patterns of student interactions in in-person physics courses using social network analysis, finding different network structures between instructional contexts (lecture and laboratory) and styles (active and traditional). Such studies also find…

An ego network is an individual's social network relationships with core members. In this study, the ego network parameters in online discussion spaces of high- and low-performing students were compared. The extent to which students' ego networks changed over the course were also analyzed. Participation in 7 weeks of online discussions were…

An asynchronous online discussion (AOD) is one format of instructional methods that facilitate student-centered learning. In the wealth of AOD research, this study evaluated how students' behavior on AOD influences their academic outcomes. This case study compared the differential analytic methods including web log mining, social network analysis…

Gamification offers potential for improving students' online discussion quantity and the depth of discussion content. However, very few studies have examined the social network patterns when students are posting and providing peer-feedback to each other in gamification-based environments. In response to those gaps, this study used a learning…

This article reports on the investigation of collaborative learning processes in an online course that examined students' communication during whole-group discussions and small-group activities. Content analysis and social network analysis methods were employed to code and categorize text messages to uncover students' communication behaviour. The…

As online professional development courses for teachers have grown, the discussion forum has become a locus of considerable research. This study analyzes the discussion forums in four different sessions of a short (4-week) online course for teachers from six schools in three states. This study also compares four methodologies, all of which have a…

Theoretical foundation of Response mechanisms in networks of online learners are revealed by Statistical Analysis of p* Markov Models for the Networks. Our comparative analysis of two networks shows that the minimal-effort hunt-for-social-capital mechanism controls a major behavior of both networks: negative tendency to respond. Differences in…