AI-Supported Learning in Online Discussion Forums: A Scoping Review

Abstract

As the popularity and accessibility of artificial intelligence (AI) in learning continue to rise, online education has increasingly incorporated AI. It is imperative to investigate how AI in the scholarly community supports the learning of autonomous students. This scoping review investigated articles that employed AI in discussion forums. The objective of this study is to develop a summary that denotes the effective integration of AI in discussion forums, thereby characterizing the overall learning experience. In accordance with the search, appraisal, synthesis, and analysis (SALSA) framework, the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram was employed to design the article screening and selection process. Scopus was utilized for the literature search, resulting in the identification of twelve articles that met the predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The extracted articles covered the following six applications: intelligent tutoring systems, AI-assisted apps, chatbots, automatic formative assessment, AI teaching assistants, and AI-assisted lifelong learning assistants. Three types of man-machine partnerships related to the activities are discussed: student-AI partnerships, student-AI-student partnerships, and student-AI-teacher partnerships, the latter being the most commonly observed. The generated content was frequently processed through teacher adjustments and checks. Components of community of inquiry theory were adapted as indicators. Cognitive presence was observed to be more predominant than social presence, with a particular emphasis on individual learning achievements. Three distinct perspectives regarding the role of AI in learning were identified. The first perspective posited that AI functioned as a virtual teacher, supplementing the teaching functions of human teachers and delivering information to students. In the second perspective, AI facilitated students in collecting information by enabling interactions with messages or peers. In the third perspective, the significance of the automatic evaluation function, which assessed learning activities and provided feedback to enhance the system while simultaneously implementing immediate changes in the learning process, was acknowledged. Regarding the role of communication, teachers clearly intended for students to acquire knowledge through it. Despite the focus on assisting individual learners, each article encompassed references from a wide range of fields and exhibited substantial diversity overall. Consequently, the domain of discussion forums with AI was depicted through the complex interplay between technology, pedagogy, and the learning environment. This context is known as entangled pedagogies, which emphasize understanding the interconnections among these elements and their reciprocal influences. In summary, AI was predominantly utilized in the form of chatbots and GenAI in discussion forums. Emerging AI roles included virtual teachers, peer/message matching, and automated evaluation. Aggregated information was presented in a manner that supported student learning. AI also served as a conduit between students and teachers.