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1. Extracting Archival-Quality Information from Software-Related Chats

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3377812.3381391  

   Chatterjee, Preetha (January 2020, ICSE Doctoral Symposium)

   Software developers are increasingly having conversations about software development via online chat services. Many of those chat communications contain valuable information, such as code descriptions, good programming practices, and causes of common errors/exceptions. However, the nature of chat community content is transient, as opposed to the archival nature of other developer communications such as email, bug reports and Q&A forums. As a result, important information and advice are lost over time. The focus of this dissertation is Extracting Archival Information from Software-Related Chats, specifically to (1) automatically identify conversations which contain archival-quality information, (2) accurately reduce the granularity of the information reported as archival information, and (3) conduct a case study to investigate how archival quality information extracted from chats compare to related posts in Q&A forums. Archiving knowledge from developer chats that could be used potentially in several applications such as: creating a new archival mechanism available to a given chat community, augmenting Q&A forums, or facilitating the mining of specific information and improving software maintenance tools. 

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2. When marital institutions break down: Impact and adaptation among the Enga of Papua New Guinea

   https://doi.org/10.1017/ehs.2021.13  

   Wiessner, Polly; Pupu, Nitze (January 2021, Evolutionary Human Sciences)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract Institutions to regulate marriage and sexual mores are nearly universal across human societies to assure production and reproduction and weave the fabric of society. The stakeholders are many. What happens when marital traditions break down in times of rapid change? Taking a long-term perspective, we will first look at developments in marital institutions that occurred after the arrival of the sweet potato (ca. 400 BP) among the Enga of Papua New Guinea. Next, we will document changes in recent marital practices of 402 Enga women collected in 2007. With data from 270 public forums in customary courts applying restorative justice between 2008 and 2019, we will consider (a) the impact of the breakdown of marital institutions and (b) responses to adapt norms to new practices. In the absence of regulation by ‘traditional’ institutions, individuals pursue their own interests and passions with negative outcomes for families and communities. Communities, non-governmental organisations, churches and government throughout Papua New Guinea are seeking to adapt norms to new conditions. We consider both norm change resulting from community action via customary courts and what communities strive to preserve. Cultural institutions and accompanying norms are important factors in assuring production and reproduction; however, they can instill attitudes that inhibit adaptation. 

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3. What You Say is Relevant to How You Make Friends: Measuring the Effect of Content on Social Connection

   Xu, Yiqiao; Gitinabard, Niki; Lynch, Collin; Barnes, Tiffany (June 2019, International Conference on Educational Data Mining)

   Lynch, Collin F.; Merceron, Agathe; Desmarais, Michel; Nkambou, Roger (Ed.)

   Discussion forums are the primary channel for social interaction and knowledge sharing in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Many researchers have analyzed social connections on MOOC discussion forums. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is little research that distinguishes between the types of connections students make based upon the content of their forum posts. We analyze this effect by distinguishing on- and off-topic posts and comparing their respective social networks. We then analyze how these types of posts and their social connections can be used to predict the students’ final course performance. Pursuant to this work we developed a binary classifier to identify on- and off- topic posts and applied our analysis with the hand-coded and predicted labels. We conclude that the post type does affect the relationship between the students and their closest neighbors or community members clustered communities and their closest neighbor to their learning outcomes. 

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4. ‘Custodian of Online Communities’: How Moderator Mutual Support in Communities Help Fight Hate and Harassment Online

   Tabassum, Madiha; Mackey, Alana; Lerner, Ada (August 2024, USENIX)

   Volunteer moderators play a crucial role in safeguarding online communities, actively combating hate, harassment, and inappropriate content while enforcing community standards. Prior studies have examined moderation tools and practices, moderation challenges, and the emotional labor and burnout of volunteer moderators. However, researchers have yet to delve into the ways moderators support one another in combating hate and harassment within the communities they moderate through participation in meta-communities of moderators. To address this gap, we have conducted a qualitative content analysis of 115 hate and harassment-related threads from r/ModSupport and r/modhelp, two major subreddit forums for moderators for this type of mutual support. Our study reveals that moderators seek assistance on topics ranging from fighting attacks to understanding Reddit policies and rules to just venting their frustration. Other moderators respond to these requests by validating their frustration and challenges, showing emotional support, and providing information and tangible resources to help with their situation. Based on these findings, we share the implications of our work in facilitating platform and peer support for online volunteer moderators on Reddit and similar platforms. 

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5. Development of a self-report instrument for measuring online teaching practices and discussion facilitation

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275880  

   DeCamp, Whitney; Horvitz, Brian; Garza Mitchell, Regina L.; Kowalske, Megan Grunert; Singleton, Cherrelle (October 2022, PLOS ONE)

   Luo, Heng (Ed.)

   Online learning in higher education has been increasing for many years. This is happening across all of higher education and it is happening more specifically within STEM fields. The growth of online learning has significantly accelerated the past couple of years during the COVID-19 pandemic as colleges and universities have sought ways to continue educating students while also keeping students, faculty and staff safe. As result, many college faculty and instructors across all fields of study including STEM fields have made and continue to make the transition to teaching online for the first time. Teaching in an online environment is different from traditional classroom teaching in many ways and presents a unique set of challenges to college instructors. This study documents the development of an instrument used for instructors to self-report their instructional techniques and practices. Data from 251 instructors is also used to examine how this instrument can be used to better understand particular practices, with a focus in this study on discussion facilitation. The results align with the Community of Inquiry framework, including indicating that teaching through discussion forums involves direct contribution and/or facilitation. 

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