Characteristics of Initial Posts and Peer Engagement: Density Score Analyses for Social Presence in Online Discussions.

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Title:	Characteristics of Initial Posts and Peer Engagement: Density Score Analyses for Social Presence in Online Discussions.
Authors:	Hanselman, Kathryn¹ kathrynh@unr.edu, Leping Liu¹ liu@unr.edu
Source:	Journal of Educational Technology Development & Exchange. 2021, Vol. 14 Issue 2, p41-74. 34p.
Subject Terms:	Online education, Student engagement, *Interpersonal communication, Virtual communities, Density, Peers
Abstract:	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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
	Copyright of Journal of Educational Technology Development & Exchange is the property of Society of International Chinese in Educational Technology (SICET) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database:	Education Research Complete

Description
Abstract:	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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	19418027
DOI:	10.18785/jetde.1402.03