Assessing learning in MOOCs through interactions between learners

Abstract

This paper presents a retrospective analysis of learning in a MOOC as reconstructed from the conversations that learners conducted in MOOC group forums while performing the course tasks. A mixed method approach was applied to analyze the quantity and the quality of these conversations. Two activity patterns were distinguished – in groups with higher activity levels, there were more individual contributions (posts) on more course themes and these contributions were broader spread throughout the course. In high activity groups there was also more interaction between participants, i.e., more questions, answers, explanations and elaborations. The presented study demonstrates how modeling interactions in group forums helps to elicit individual and emerging group knowledge construction and thus supports defining MOOC learning, informs MOOC design and provides insights on how assessing MOOC learning can be automated.