Title :
Assessment of online participation through social network measures: A HLM approach
Author :
Hon Jie Teo ; Johri, A. ; Lohani, Vinod
Author_Institution :
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
Abstract :
In this research, we bring attention to one of the largest electrical and computer engineering (ECE) online discussion forums AllAboutCircuits.com. There are close to two hundred thousand learners contributing more than a million messages to this forum for over more than a decade. The massive archives of educational data raise an important question for engineering educators: How do we assess online participation? In this work-in-progress, we propose a multilevel approach to assess online participation based on social network measures and Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) techniques. Specifically, we consider the employment of HLM to model the association between online participation and measures of social capital. Predictors of social capital are established, at both the individual and group levels, to examine the association between these predictors and learners´ participation frequencies. We discuss our choice of HLM as a modeling approach over ordinary least squares (OLS) regression methods. We then describe how data is collected from the site of study, AllAboutCircuits.com, and how the modeling approach is conceptualized and used for assessment purposes. The importance of this work lies not only on sheer participation figures - it derives from the argument that online discussion fosters productive collaborative learning and individual reflection.
Keywords :
computer aided instruction; computer science education; electrical engineering education; least squares approximations; regression analysis; social networking (online); ECE; HLM approach; OLS regression methods; educational data; electrical and computer engineering online discussion forums AllAboutCircuits.com; engineering educators; hierarchical linear modeling techniques; learner participation frequency; multilevel approach; online participation assessment; ordinary least squares regression methods; productive collaborative learning; social capital predictors; social network measures; Atmospheric measurements; Communities; Consumer electronics; Discussion forums; Education; Particle measurements; Social network services; assessment; electrical and computer engineering; hierarchical linear modeling; online discussion forums;
Conference_Titel :
Frontiers in Education Conference, 2013 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Oklahoma City, OK
DOI :
10.1109/FIE.2013.6685080