As educators continue to explore the world of online teaching and learning as higher education instructors, it is essential that they ensure that the elements that create strong learning environments, the engaging conversations, the ah-ha moments, the laughter as they connect to content and one another, be ever present. Research on effective…

Online collaborative discussion (OCD) focuses on promoting individual knowledge inquiry and group knowledge construction through active peer interactions and communications. In practice, it is necessary to explore how different modes of OCD come into play, in which student engagement can function as an evaluating indicator. To identify student…

As a former teacher of face-to-face classes now assigned to teach only online classes, Nancy Reese Durham found herself challenged to change to accommodate online learners. She was determined to provide an environment in the online class where the high level of discussion she had provided in face-to-face classes could flourish as well. Here she…

In this research, we investigated whether online discussions can significantly benefit students' learning in online courses. We designed an experiment by dividing 129 students who enrolled in four fully online "Introduction to Microeconomics" courses taught by the same instructor into four groups (one control group and three experimental…

Background: Social contact and belonging are among the most important keys to health and wellbeing, especially for the most vulnerable during the current global pandemic. Method: This reflective paper describes the authors' efforts to sustain an online version of a well-established community psychology-oriented group for men with learning…

Group projects are an important part of many educational programs. In these projects, groupware tools like shared workspaces, shared editors, and synchronous or asynchronous communication tools (video conferencing, chat, email, forum) are often utilized. For synchronous collaboration, video conferencing systems are often used since they allow for…

This dissertation investigates the role of multimedia applications in enhancing student engagement in higher education, with a particular focus on the dynamics of asynchronous discussion forums and lurking behaviors. Leveraging multimedia applications facilitates dynamic, inquiry-based discussions that promote deeper cognitive engagement and…

The purpose of this study was to explore how students interpret and negotiate menstruation in PE in online forums. We conducted a qualitative discourse analysis of 12 threads from 4 different German-language online forums, in which menstruation in PE is discussed by students. Our goal was to analyse which topics structure this online discourse and…

Learners in asynchronous discussion forums are inundated with diverse options when it comes to interaction. This enables the embodiment of various styles of participation. On the other hand, the affective domain tends to be overlooked in the online discussion context. The modeling of discussion activities based on both cognitive and affective…

Automatic analysis of the myriad discussion messages in large online courses can support effective educator-learner interaction at scale. Robust classifiers are an essential foundation for the use of automatic analysis of cognitive presence in practice. This study reports on the application of a revised machine learning approach, which was…

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between clout and cognitive processing in massive open online course (MOOC) discussion forum posts. Cognitive processing, a category variable generated by the automated text analysis tool, Linguistic Inquiry Word Count (LIWC), is made up of six sub-scores (insight, causation, discrepancy,…

This study presents a case study of asynchronous online discussions' (AOD) growth patterns in an undergraduate blended course to address the gap in our current understanding of how threads are developed in peer-moderated AODs. Building on a taxonomy of thread pattern proposed by Chan, Hew and Cheung (2009), growth patterns of thirty-six forums…

This research used qualitative netnography to examine the use of Duolingo German discussion boards among users of varying levels of engagement. The sample contained six participants of various levels of engagement. The criteria for selecting participants were based on usage counts in the discussion board community. This study aimed to examine…

Although researchers recognize the importance of discussing support for math learning within online learning communities, there is a lack of relevant network classifying methods and analyses at the group level to understand the behavioral differences between groups with varying levels of activity, including their mathematical literacies. In this…

Background: Instructors often try to promote student engagement with discussion boards in learning management systems (LMS) like Canvas. Although convenient, alternatives like the social media platform Reddit may be more effective. Method: A non-randomized controlled trial compared the use of Canvas and Reddit in two sections of two undergraduate…