Education Commons^™

The Mean Reply Depth Algorithm: A Correlational Study Of Quantitative Versus Qualitative Measures Of Threaded Discourse, Sandie Waters

Sandie H Waters

In the world of online learning, instructors look for the keys that open the door to student learning, engagement, satisfaction, retention, and ability to transfer newly acquired knowledge to real-world situations. One of the most common communication tools in online courses is the threaded discussion. With a growing number of students participating in online education comes the potential for an increase in faculty load. The reviewed courses provided over 1500 threads for two sections of a graduate course at a Mountain Region University. The number of threads that are produced by a student accounts for countless hours of reading, processing, …