Factors influencing peer referencing behavior during an online learning activity

Cultivating critical thinking skills in referencing a plethora of information epitomizes the learning objectives of technology in education. However, different social influences in a classroom, such as academic prestige, friendship, and gender, may impact students’ referencing behavior. Specifically, we investigated how various factors affect pupils’ referencing of peer-generated questions during an online test-construction learning activity and perceptions. Three fifth-grade classes (n = 75, M_age = 11.08, SD_age = 0.28) participated in a two-stage mixed methods research for 12 weeks. We found significant effects of friendship and inferred task-specific ability on online referencing behavior based on the multiple regression quadratic assignment procedures, simple regressions, and two-step hierarchical linear regressions. The survey data further revealed that students considered the content of their peers' questions most frequently among a mixture of other factors influencing online referencing decisions. The implications and suggestions for instruction, future studies, and system designs involving behavior connoting intent to endorse are provided to help create meaningful, reflective, and impartial online learning spaces.