Interacción en foros virtuales y rendimiento académico en estudiantes universitarios

Abstract

Interaction in virtual forums has a very significant weight in higher education, since it favors the exposition of ideas, the resolution of doubts, the collaborative construction of knowledge, etc., thus promoting active learning and the sense of academic community. This research aimed to examine the relationship between interaction in virtual forums and academic performance in university students. For the development of the research, a non-experimental, cross-sectional-correlational design was used in a sample of 120 university students from various majors, and interaction in virtual forums was determined according to the frequency and quality of participation and academic performance through final grades and the passing rate in the fundamental activities. The results showed a positive and significant correlation between the frequency of participation in the forums and the final grades (r = 0.42, p < 0.01) and between the quality of the interventions and academic performance (r = 0.37, p < 0.05). The regression model suggested that both variables explain 32% of the variance around the final grades, with participation frequency being the strongest predictor of all those used. In light of this work, the importance of promoting active and quality participation in virtual environments is exposed. Educational institutions are suggested to implement strategies to promote frequent and informed interaction in virtual forums as well as to develop clear rubrics to evaluate the quality of the interventions.