- Forum-based online learning is a useful complementary approach to the classroom 
- Engages students: problem solving, collaboration, incorporating real life experiences
- Breaking up final paper into smaller deadlines was helpful for preventing procrastination and plagiarism 


Implications of the Study

Students in the online forum-based group submitted assignments more in the first two days and much less in the final two days than students in the control group. Online forum-based learning was associated with less procrastination than the control.

Villanova University

Subjects: 40 undergraduate (mostly sophomore and some senior) students in the course C1, 80 undergraduate students (fresh- man) in C2, and 20 graduate students in C3

Methods: 
-Control Group and Forum-Based online learning group
-Measured procrastination (submission time) and plagiarism (students could not pick the same topic as another group or individual for their project)
-Measured student reactions and thoughts about forum-based online learning with 100 question questionnaire 

Subjects and Methods

Kang, X., & Zhang, W. (2020). An experimental case study on forum-based online teaching to improve student’s engagement and motivation in higher education. Interactive Learning Environments. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2020.1817758

An experimental case study on forum-based online teaching to improve student’s engagement and motivation in higher education

Results: Procrastination

- Students were emotionally resistant to forum-based online learning but recognized that it was helpful in reducing procrastination and plagiarism
- Students recognized that lecture learning is not enough but the majority still preferred a typical classroom approach

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