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This study adopted an experimental study method to examine how middle school students interacted with each other in online forums organized by grouping or non-grouping strategy within the context of a seven-day middle school SPOC (Small Private Online Course) offered in 2016 (Class A) and 2017 (Class B). The size of the two classes were both 40. Class A was randomly divided into five groups, while Class B was as a whole group. Social network analysis and content analysis were adopted to explore the structure and quality of students’ interaction, respectively. We discovered that group size didn’t influence the quality of students’ individual posts, but had meaningful impacts on students’ interactive replies in forums. In small-group forums, students were limited to group-wide discussion and closely connected within the group. Besides, they submitted more replies and replied to themselves more, but the quality of replies was lower. Moreover, students got more equal attention from others. As the course progressed, students interacted with nearly the same crowd and their enthusiasm to participate in forums showed a downward trend. In class-wide forums, students received unequal attention, that is, there were obvious star students and neglected students. As the course progressed, five communities gradually formed, and students tended to communicate with different classmates. In addition, their enthusiasm to participate in the forum showed an upward trend. This study may provide an implication for educationists and practitioners on grouping strategies in online forums. © 2019, Beijing Normal University.
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