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Online Discussion with Assigned Roles: Does It Bring Better Learning Behaviors and Experiences?

This study designed a single-subject experiment to investigate the effectiveness of role-based discussion in promoting online learning behaviors and experiences. A total of 46 participants were divided into 10 groups with four specific roles assigned within each group. They participated in an eight- week online discussion featured by the alternations of free and role-based discussion strategies for comparison. Participants’ learning behaviors and experiences were collected from logfiles, questionnaire, and interviews. Statistical results indicated significant difference in online learning behaviors between role- based discussion and free discussion but revealed no significant difference among the roles. In addition, role-based discussion was preferred by the participants to a moderate degree. The research findings indicate that role-based discussion strategy can bring better learning behaviors and experiences in online discussion if properly implemented.