From Newcomers to Old-Timers: Previous Participation Patterns Predict Future Participation in Online Mathematical Discussions

• In Event: Persistence in Online Learning Environments

Abstract

While prior research has found the positive effects of online discussions on online learning, students’ participation in online discussions has been documented to vary over time. Leveraging a dataset comprising more than 90,000 students and over a half million online discussion interactions, this study examined students’ sustained participation in online mathematical discussions by investigating how students’ entry time and earlier participation patterns predicted their subsequent participation, considering their social roles as newcomers or old-timers. The findings revealed that students’ entry time, social interaction, use of linguistic knowledge, and affective control during discussions were found to predict continued participation in the discussions regardless of their social roles. These results provide insights for educators to encourage students’ sustained participation in online mathematical discussions。

Authors

• Bailing Lyu, University of Utah

• Chenglu Li, University of Utah

• Hai Li, University of Florida

• Wanli Xing, University of Florida