Examining Learners' Social Presence in Relation to Their Engagement in Social Interactions in MOOC Forums

• In Event: Highlighting Promising Practices in MOOCs

Abstract

Low engagement has been a longstanding problem in MOOCs. To further understand what factors drive/hinder learners’ engagement, this study focuses on how learners’ social presence affects their engagement in discussion forums. We analysed 993 posts generated by 221 learners using the social presence framework. The learners’ engagement in the forums was measured using social networking analysis (SNA) parameters (namely degree, closeness and betweenness centrality). Results showed that certain types of social presence, such as Asking questions, Complimenting others & expressing appreciation, Expressing emotions, Vocative etc., have significant correlations with learners’ degree centrality, while Personal advice correlates significantly with closeness centrality. The findings inform MOOC instructors to strategically facilitate discussions and engage learners to achieve productive learning outcomes.

Authors

• Wenting Zou, The University of Texas at Austin

• Yi Shi, The University of Texas at Austin

• Chenglu Li, The University of Texas at Austin

• Min Liu, The University of Texas at Austin