Empirical Study On The Depth Of Online Discussion Among Learners Of University Blended Courses

The development of information technology has greatly changed the teaching style,and online and offline hybrid teaching has become one of the main teaching methods in university courses,and the online discussion in the hybrid teaching session has become an important means for teachers to disseminate teaching contents and students to construct knowledge.However,most of the existing online discussions in blended courses are conducted at a shallow learning level,and the depth of knowledge construction is not enough.This study focuses on "depth of online discussion","characterization of depth of online discussion","factors influencing depth of online discussion","strategies to promote depth of online discussion" and so on in blended teaching.This study analyzes the issues of "depth of online discussion","factors influencing the depth of online discussion","strategies to promote the depth of online discussion",and other issues by combining discourse analysis,questionnaires,interviews,and structural equation modeling of blended course cases.First,we define the core concepts of "depth of online discussion",and then we select a blended course case to analyze the depth of online discussion and summarize the characteristics of deep learners.On this basis,we constructed a model of factors influencing the depth of online discussion based on the "willingness-context-behavior" model and developed a questionnaire of factors influencing the depth of online discussion,which included learner dimensions(attitude toward participation in discussion,motivation,selfefficacy,and independent learning),teacher support scale,and instructor support scale.The questionnaire consisted of a learner dimension(attitude,motivation,self-efficacy,self-directed learning ability)scale,a teacher support scale,a platform support scale,a cultural environment dimension scale,a willingness to participate in online discussions scale,and a depth of online discussions scale.Questionnaires were distributed and interviews were conducted with learners who had experience with online discussions to obtain relevant data for the study.SPSS and AMOS software were used to verify the fit of the model,explore the logical relationships between latent variables,reveal the current situation and influencing factors of online discussion depth,and finally propose targeted strategies to promote online discussion depth.After the discourse analysis of the case course,it was found that the online discussion forum attaches importance to the design of reflective replies can effectively cause learners’ reflection,and there is a correlation between the number of replies,the length of replies,the nature of the topic,the teacher’s response rate and the depth of online discussion,and deep learners have the characteristics of a wide thinking domain,focusing on the use of metacognitive strategies and knowledge linkage.The results of the questionnaire survey show that it is entirely appropriate to use four elements,namely,learners’ own factors,teacher support,platform support,and cultural environment,to represent the factors influencing the depth of online discussion in a blended learning scenario,and the established model of influencing factors has a high degree of fit,and learners’ motivation,attitude,self-efficacy,teacher support,organizational motivation,and interpersonal trust influence the depth of online discussion.Based on these results,the article concludes with corresponding strategies in terms of improving learners’ virtual communication and collaboration,intrinsic motivation,and self-efficacy,enhancing faculty support in discussion forums,optimizing blended teaching processes and resource design,and creating a knowledge-sharing atmosphere,with a view to providing references for enhancing the depth of online discussions among learners in blended university courses.