The development of massive open online courses (MOOCs) has proceeded through three generations, and in all three, online discussions have been considered a critical component. Although discussions in MOOCs have the potential to promote learning, instructors have faced challenges facilitating learners’ knowledge inquiry, construction, and management through social interaction. In addition, understanding various aspects of learning calls for more mixed-method studies to provide both quantitative, generalized analysis and qualitative, detailed descriptions of learning. This study fills these practice and research gaps. We designed a Chinese MOOC with the support of a pedagogical strategy, a learning analytic tool, and a social learning environment in order to foster learner engagement in discussions. Mixed methods were used to explore learners’ discussion patterns, perceptions, and preferences. Results indicated that learners demonstrated varied patterns, perceptions, and preferences, which implies a complex learning process due to the interplay of multiple factors. Based on the results, this research provided theoretical, pedagogical, and analytical implications for MOOC design, practice, and research.

中文翻译：

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中文大规模在线公开课程（MOOC）中学生的讨论方式，知觉和偏好

大规模开放式在线课程（MOOC）的开发已经经历了三代人的经历，在这三者中，在线讨论都被视为至关重要的组成部分。尽管MOOC中的讨论有促进学习的潜力，但教师仍面临通过社会互动促进学习者的知识探究，建构和管理的挑战。此外，了解学习的各个方面要求进行更多混合方法的研究，以提供定量的，广义的分析以及定性的，详细的学习描述。本研究填补了这些实践和研究空白。我们在教学策略，学习分析工具和社会学习环境的支持下设计了中文MOOC，以促进学习者参与讨论。混合方法用于探索学习者的讨论模式，看法和偏好。结果表明，学习者表现出不同的模式，看法和偏好，由于多种因素的相互作用，这意味着一个复杂的学习过程。根据结果​​，本研究为MOOC的设计，实践和研究提供了理论，教学和分析方面的启示。