Liu, Eric Zhi-Feng, Shan-Shan Cheng, and Chun Hung Lin. "The effects of using online q&a discussion forums with different characteristics as a learning resource." The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher 22 (2013): 667-675.

This paper investigates how the characteristics of online Q&A discussion forums impact student engagement and learning outcomes. Utilizing social cognitive theory, it evaluates various forums based on their features and user experience. Experiments show that students using more sophisticated forums participate actively, engage at higher cognitive levels, and achieve better learning performance compared to those using simpler forums.