Why birds of a feather flock together: Factors triaging students in online forums

Peer effects, an influence that peers can have on one's learning and development, have been shown to affect student achievement and attitudes. A large-scale analysis of social influences in digital online interactions showed that students interact in online university forums with peers of similar performance. Mechanisms driving this observed similarity remain unclear. To shed light as to why similar peers interact online, the current study examined the role of organizing factors in the formation of similarity patterns in online university forums, using four-years of forum interaction data of a university cohort. In the study, experiments randomized the timing of student activity, relationship between student activity levels within specific courses, and relationship between student activity and performance. Analysis suggests that similarity between students interacting online is shaped by implications of the course design on individual student behaviour, less so by social processes of selection. Social selection may drive observed similarity in later years of student experience, but its role is relatively small compared to other factors. The results highlight the need to consider what social influences are enacted by the course design and technological scaffolding of learner behaviour in online interactions, towards diversifying student social influences.