Educational researchers have pointed to socioemotional dimensions of learning as important in gaining a more nuanced description of student engagement and learning. However, to date, research focused on the analysis of emotions has been narrow in its focus, centering on affect and sentiment analysis in isolation while neglecting how emotions…

Online collaborative argumentations need instructional support to ensure social interactions and in-depth cognitive engagement. It is known that graphic organizers assist in comprehending information and negotiating meanings for individual and collective tasks. This study intends to compare the effects of different graphic organizers in…

Online group debates hosted in asynchronous threaded discussions can facilitate critical thinking between discussants (and increase deeper understanding of complex problems) by eliminating the need for turn-taking while formulating and presenting premises to support and challenge claims. Yet to be determined is to what extent does the current…

Asynchronous discussions have been widely used in education to support learning. Exploring the reasons why threads in asynchronous discussion forums die may help us improve our understanding of asynchronous discussions and lead to a more effective learning process. This study explored why threads in asynchronous discussion forums shut down. Two…

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of two metacognitive scaffolds on learners' cognition by evaluating student critical thinking skills performance in an asynchronous discussion board and achievement in a blended learning module. The two scaffolds included a systematic protocol for individualized facilitation prompts and an analytic…

The aim of the study is to examine undergraduate students' awareness of metacognition, the metacognitive strategies they use in their learning and their learning performance in pre-class asynchronous activity in a flipped classroom. The sample consisted of 47 undergraduate students. Eleven students were not included in this study since they did…

Given that grammatical and spelling errors have been found to influence perceived competence and credibility in written communication, this study examined how a student's grammar and spelling errors affect how other students respond to the student's postings in four online debates hosted in asynchronous threaded discussions. Message-response…

Approximately 10% of learners complete Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs); the absence of peer and professor support contributes to retention issues. MOOC leaders often form groups to supplement in-course forums and Q&A sessions, and students participating in groups find them valuable. Instructors want to assist in the formation of groups,…

While assigning student roles is a popular technique in online discussions, roles and the responsibilities allocated to them have not been consistently assigned. This makes it difficult to compare implementations and generate principled guidance for role design. This study critically examined frequently assigned student roles and identified a set…

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a content analysis model for assessing students' cognitive learning in asynchronous online discussions. It adopted a fully mixed methods design, in which qualitative and quantitative methods were employed sequentially for data analysis and interpretation. Specifically, the design was a…

Education is one of the pillars in which a Welfare State is effectively based on in order to achieve an equitable distribution of wealth. In contemporary society, knowledge and education are among the most appreciated goods, and everyone should have the right to acquire them, without distinction of gender, race, age, health or religion. From our…