Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms capture the digital traces of millions of learners and generate an avalanche of “numbers” on learner behavior in MOOCs. Yet little is known about the dynamics through which MOOCs can support individual learning as the cognitive and social constituents of this complex process and their interplay within this process do not clearly surface in this large mass of “numbers”. This study analyzed the content generated by learners in a MOOC discussion forum with a particular focus on the still under-explored cognitive dimension of learning in MOOCs and demonstrated how certain levels of cognitive engagement relate to learning. It further examined the interplay between the cognitive and social aspects, revealing the moderating role of the social aspect in the association between the lowest level of cognitive engagement and learning in a MOOC environment. The study concludes with discussing the theoretical and practical implications of the findings and with highlighting the need to consider the interdependencies between the cognitive and social variables and learning when designing and evaluating MOOCs.

大规模开放式在线课程（MOOC）平台捕获了数百万学习者的数字痕迹，并产生了关于MOOC中学习者行为的“数字”雪崩。关于MOOCs支持个人学习的动力知之甚少，因为这一复杂过程的认知和社会构成及其在此过程中的相互作用并未清楚地体现在如此大量的“数字”中。这项研究在MOOC讨论论坛上分析了学习者所产生的内容，特别关注了MOOC中仍未充分探索的学习认知维度，并展示了认知参与的某些水平与学习之间的关系。它进一步研究了认知和社会方面之间的相互作用，揭示了社交方面在MOOC环境中最低程度的认知参与和学习之间的关联中的调节作用。该研究最后讨论了研究结果的理论和实践意义，并强调了在设计和评估MOOC时需要考虑认知和社会变量与学习之间的相互依赖性。