The effects of instructor participation and class size on student participation in an online class discussion forum

Abstract

Student participation in online discussion forums is associated with positive outcomes for student achievement and satisfaction, but research findings on the impact of class size and instructors’ participation on student participation have been mixed. The present study analyzed the frequency of instructor and student posts in asynchronous discussion forums in 500 online courses to examine factors contributing to student participation. Results showed significant effects of both class size and amount of instructor participation, with a significant interaction between the two. In medium class sizes (with 15–30 students), amount of instructor participation did not predict the number of posts per student, but in smaller classes, significant differences in student participation were found depending on amount of instructor participation. Implications for fostering student participation in online discussion forums and interpreting research in this area are discussed.

One Size Does Not Fit All: Toward an Evidence-Based Framework for Determining Online Course Enrollment Sizes in Higher Education

“…Alternatively, perhaps findings on class sizes could lead to implications that would be perceived as a threat to university finances, or pique political sensitivities regarding varying populations' access to equal educational opportunity (Colwell & Jenks, 2004;Curriculum Committee, 2011Diette & Raghav, 2015;Maringe & Sing, 2014;. Whatever the reasons, no existing convergence of research evidence provides guidance for determining optimal online class sizes at different educational levels and under varying contextual conditions-that is, no one size fits all (Beattie & Thiele, 2016;Bettinger, Doss, Loeb, Rogers, & Taylor, 2017;Bristol & Kyarsgaard, 2012;Chapman & Ludlow, 2010;Cheng, 2011;Colwell & Jenks, 2004;Curriculum Committee, 2012;Freeman, 2015;Haynie, 2014;Hewitt & Brett, 2007;Horning, 2007;Johnson, 2010;Kim, 2013;Lee, Dapremont, & Sasser, 2011;Liu, 2012;Mandernach & Holbeck, 2016;Morrison, 2015;Mupinga & Maughan, 2008;Parks-Stamm, Zafonte, & Palenque, 2016;Qiu, Hewitt, & Brett, 2012;Ravenna, 2012;Roby, Ashe, Singh, & Clark, 2013;Seaton & Schwier, 2014;Shaw, 2013;Sorensen, 2014Sorensen, , 2015Taft, Perkowski, & Martin, 2011;Tynan et al, 2015;Walls, 2016;Watson et al, 2016).…”

Learning Mechanism and Function Characteristics of MOOC in the Process of Higher Education

“…The multiple individual uncertainty mutation which is amplified by individual interaction will cause the emergence phenomenon (Mackness et al, 2016). When system has the emergent phenomenon, complex systems will be changed from low equilibrium state to high equilibrium state, and the new process and structure will take the place of the old process and structure (Giddens, 2016;Parks-Stamm et al, 2017;Liu, 2017). The comparison of generation mode of traditional on-line course and MOOC course resources is shown as Figure 1.…”

Wushu Teaching Strategy and Development in Urban and Rural Schools

“…According to research objects different attributes, it can be divided into single indicator comparison and multiple indicator comparison that is simple evaluation and comprehensive evaluation (Parks-Stamm et al, 2017). Principle that comparative analysis should adhere in practical operation process is comparability principle, its basic contents are as following (McLean et al, 2017):…”