A network analysis of student groups in threaded discussions

Jeon Hyung Kang, Jihie Kim, Erin Shaw

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

As online discussion boards become a popular medium for collaborative problem solving, we would like to understand patterns of group interactions that lead to collaborative learning and better performance. In this paper, we present an approach for assessing collaboration in online discussion, by profiling student-group participation. We use a modularity function to compute optimal discussion group partitions and then examine usage patterns with respect to high-versus low-participating students, and high- versus low-performing students as measured by grades. We apply the profiling technique to a discussion board of an undergraduate computer science course with three semesters of discussion data, comprising 142 users and 1620 messages. Several patterns are identified, and in particular, we show that high achievers tend to act as 'bridges', engaging in more diverse discussions with a wider group of peers.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationIntelligent Tutoring Systems - 10th International Conference, ITS 2010, Proceedings
Pages359-361
Number of pages3
EditionPART 2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2010
Event10th International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems, ITS 2010 - Pittsburgh, PA, United States
Duration: 14 Jun 201018 Jun 2010

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
NumberPART 2
Volume6095 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference10th International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems, ITS 2010
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityPittsburgh, PA
Period14/06/1018/06/10

Keywords

  • group detection in discussions
  • Student online discussions

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