An Epistemic Network Analysis of Different Scripted Roles in Online Discussions

In online discussion, it is difficult to measure the dynamic development of students' discussion status. Based on the social constructivist learning theory, this study sets up three scripted roles of initiator, supporter, and arguer. 57 participants in a blended course participated in online discussion. This study demonstrates the application of epistemic network analysis (ENA) to reveal the differences in the distribution of epistemic network centroid among students with different scripted roles in online discussions and compares students with different scripted roles separately to further analyze the differences between the epistemic networks of different scripted roles. The results of the study show that the script plays a role and that the students' primary behaviors follow the requirements but stayed at a shallow level. It is also important to note that the epistemic network structure of arguer is more complex compared to the other two.