An Algorithm and a Tool for the Automatic Grading of MOOC Learners from Their Contributions in the Discussion Forum

Sergio García-Molina,Carlos Delgado Kloos,Carlos Alario-Hoyos,Iria Estévez-Ayres,Pedro J Muñoz-Merino,Pedro Manuel Moreno-Marcos

doi:10.3390/app11010095

Sergio García-Molina, Carlos Delgado Kloos + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/app11010095

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Journal: Applied sciences	Publication Date: Dec 24, 2020
Citations: 9	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Carlos III University of Madrid

Abstract

MOOCs (massive open online courses) have a built-in forum where learners can share experiences as well as ask questions and get answers. Nevertheless, the work of the learners in the MOOC forum is usually not taken into account when calculating their grade in the course, due to the difficulty of automating the calculation of that grade in a context with a very large number of learners. In some situations, discussion forums might even be the only available evidence to grade learners. In other situations, forum interactions could serve as a complement for calculating the grade in addition to traditional summative assessment activities. This paper proposes an algorithm to automatically calculate learners’ grades in the MOOC forum, considering both the quantitative dimension and the relevance in their contributions. In addition, the algorithm has been implemented within a web application, providing instructors with a visual and a numerical representation of the grade for each learner. An exploratory analysis is carried out to assess the algorithm and the tool with a MOOC on programming, obtaining a moderate positive correlation between the forum grades provided by the algorithm and the grades obtained through the summative assessment activities. Nevertheless, the complementary analysis conducted indicates that this correlation may not be enough to use the forum grades as predictors of the grades obtained through summative assessment activities.

Highlights

IntroductionMOOCs (massive open online courses) have gained huge popularity in recent years transforming the traditional learning environment of universities, thanks to initiatives, such as edX, Coursera, or FutureLearn [1]
MOOCs have gained huge popularity in recent years transforming the traditional learning environment of universities, thanks to initiatives, such as edX, Coursera, or FutureLearn [1]
These three scenarios represent three different levels of demand by instructors for the learners to get the same grade. These three scenarios are piloted with all the learners who contributed to the MOOC forum (N = 5147) to explore the scores they would have obtained in case each of these scenarios had been applied

Summary

Introduction

MOOCs (massive open online courses) have gained huge popularity in recent years transforming the traditional learning environment of universities, thanks to initiatives, such as edX, Coursera, or FutureLearn [1]. These online courses normally involve a very heterogeneous set of participants with different learning capabilities and motivations [2]. These participants communicate with each other and with the instructors in different ways, including forums and social networks [3]. The collection and analysis of data from forum interactions in MOOCs can be framed within the research area called “Social Learning

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