This study explores how the pacing of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)—whether self-paced or instructor-paced—affects cognitive processing in discussion forums. Using automatic text analysis on 2,423 discussion posts from 671 students in a HarvardX MOOC, the study finds that a higher number of dictionary words used correlates positively with cognitive processing, while analytical thinking and clout show a negative correlation. The research also indicates that student demographics, engagement status, and course pacing do not significantly impact cognitive processing in forum posts.