Reputation Systems’ Impact on Help Seeking in MOOC Discussion Forums

Many interactional archetypes from outside of learning contexts are being adapted and widely used for online learning environments without consideration for some of the side effects relevant to learner outcomes. Of particular concern is the effectiveness of help exchange in these learning environments. To address this need, this article explores how the reputation system features of up/downvoting, badges, and displayed expertise impact student helper selection in a peer help exchange system within a MOOC discussion forum. We draw from Expectancy Value Theory for Help Sources as a theoretical framework for positioning the work. Results from our field experiment show that up/downvoting has a negative impact on help seeking which is mitigated by the positive effect of Help Giver badges. The mechanism behind these results are then explored in a survey experiment investigating reputation systems’ impact on students’ expectancies, values, and costs for a help source.