The Impact Of Social Interaction On Univresity Students’ Learning Engagement In A MOOC Learning Environment

Online teaching is now an important learning method,and MOOC learning is playing an indispensable role in response to the call for "stopping classes without stopping learning".However,in the current MOOC learning environment,due to the long-term separation of teachers and students,many learners have high dropout rates,low completion rates,and poor learning engagement.Learning engagement is an important observable indicator of students’ learning effectiveness and plays an important role in learning outcomes.Therefore,exploring the factors influencing learners’ learning engagement in MOOCs has become a hot topic in MOOC teaching.Social interaction is the way to effective teaching and learning,and learners can achieve knowledge accumulation through effective social interaction,help learners complete the development of cognitive ability from lower to higher order,improve learner engagement,and realize deep learning.Therefore,in the MOOC learning environment,it is necessary to investigate the factors that influence learners’ learning engagement from social interactions and other factors.Relevant studies have demonstrated that learning engagement is the result of a combination of external support and intrinsic motivation and that learners who develop a sense of belonging through interactions that increase their confidence in solving problems will become more immersed in their current learning and thus increase their learning engagement.In addition,group identity and self-efficacy,as intrinsic indicators of student learning,are also key elements in measuring learning effectiveness,as well as focusing on the intrinsic relationship between positive factors within individuals and learning engagement during MOOC social interactions.Therefore,in this context,this study empirically investigates the relationship between MOOC social interaction,group identity,self-efficacy,and learning engagement to improve learners’ MOOC learning engagement and contribute to the improvement of MOOC learning quality.Based on this,based on the literature review,this study first identified MOOC social interaction,group identity,and self-efficacy as internal and external factors affecting learning engagement,determined their interrelationships,and constructed a model of the influence of social interaction on college students’ learning engagement in the MOOC learning environment.A survey questionnaire was designed based on the established scales.The questionnaire was administered to 362 college students who had MOOC learning experience,and the model hypotheses were tested using empirical analysis.T-tests and ANOVA were used to investigate the effects of gender,grade,major,and number of MOOC participants on social interaction,group identity,selfefficacy,and learning engagement in MOOC.Meanwhile,the relationship between MOOC social interaction,self-efficacy,and learning engagement was explored using correlation analysis and regression analysis,and the mediation and chain mediation effects of group identity and self-efficacy were examined.The results of the study showed that(1)the MOOC social interaction,group identity,self-efficacy,and learning engagement of college students were at an overall moderate level;all variables were significantly different in terms of grade factors,and graduate students scored higher than other grades on all variables.(2)MOOC social interaction had a significant direct effect on learning engagement,and the higher the degree of social interaction,the higher the learning engagement.(3)The mediating effects of group identity and selfefficacy between social interaction and learning engagement were significant and partially mediated.(4)MOOC social interaction also influenced learning engagement through the mediating chain of group identity and self-efficacy.Based on the above findings,this study proposes social interaction strategies to enhance college students’ engagement in MOOC learning from three main levels,namely,teachers,students,and MOOC platforms,based on relevant theories and research findings: Fist,Teachers play a leadership role,provide immediate feedback,conduct multiple assessments,and focus on students’ emotional experiences.Second,students improve the establishment of learning communities among themselves,create authentic situations,stimulate interest in learning,and mobilize students’ interactive initiatives.Third,MOOC platforms should enrich the form of movement by improving course quality,focusing on resource sharing,and optimizing the interactive function of the platform.