Open AccessCharacteristics of Initial Posts and Peer Engagement: Density Score Analyses for Social Presence in Online Discussions
Author(s) -
Kathy Hanselman,
Leping Liu
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of educational technology development and exchange
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1941-8035
pISSN - 1941-8027
DOI - 10.18785/jetde.1402.03
Subject(s) - asynchronous communication , psychology , online discussion , student engagement , computer mediated communication , social psychology , computer science , mathematics education , the internet , world wide web , computer network
A common activity in online courses that allows for student interaction is the asynchronous discussion; however, discussions do not inherently lead to meaningful engagement among students. This study explores how the moves that students make in their initial discussion posts influence the emotional engagement of their peers in response posts. 1500 asynchronous online discussion messages were collected from an undergraduate online course offered at a western state university. 608 online discussion threads were analyzed to determine how the characteristics of initial posts are associated with the engagement in peer responses. Six characteristic variables from initial posts were identified and analyzed. Density scores for social presence categories and indicators were calculated as the measure of the emotional engagement in the response posts. Results suggest that three characteristic variables in initial posts significantly influence the emotional engagement of peers in the response posts.