Discovery of interest topics in web-based educational communities

Author

Tobarra, L. ; Robles-Gomez, A. ; Ros, Salvador ; Hernandez, Roberto ; Caminero, A.C.

Author_Institution

Control & Commun. Syst. Dept., Spanish Univ. for Distance Educ., Madrid, Spain

fYear

2012

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

6

Abstract

In this work, the dynamics of interest topics in web-based educational environments are studied by analysing the students´ interactions during the teaching/learning process. Forums are the main tools to observe these interactions for distance learning. Specific techniques are needed for analysing the large amount of data generated in the course, which allows faculty making interesting conclusions to improve it. In particular, we propose a set of algorithms to discover relevant topics (and subtopics) appeared in the forums´ messages. The results obtained are also discussed in order to find out patterns of behaviour.

Keywords

Internet; behavioural sciences; computer aided instruction; distance learning; educational courses; social aspects of automation; teaching; Web-based educational communities; Web-based educational environment; behavioural pattern; course; distance learning; faculty; forum message; interest topic discovery; learning process; student interaction; teaching process; Communities; Context; Correlation; Discussion forums; Education; Least squares approximation; Message systems; Asynchronous Discussion Forums; Distance Education; Interest Topics; Learning Analytics;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Computers in Education (SIIE), 2012 International Symposium on

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-4743-3

Type

conf

Filename

6403160