Beyond Surveys and Data Mining: Searching for New and Potentially More Useful Evidence of Disciplinary Engagement

An exploratory analysis of an innovative open online courses was conducted on data from discussion threads in order to identify potentially useful evidence of productive student engagement. Social network analysis was used to identify patterns of interaction and engagement between types of users. The graphical representations of these interactions were used to identify central actors within the courses and to yield compelling evidence of engaged participation to include in web-enabled Microcredentials offered to students.