## 7 Discussion  
The results have served to assess the grading algorithm and the web application through three scenarios with different input parameters, and with data collected from a real MOOC, in which the role of the forum was not a priority and served only to have a shared space for questions and answers. It is important to note that this exploratory analysis has been done after the MOOC was completed, so no interventions could be made to encourage the use of the forum by the learners. It should be noted that while completion rates in MOOCs are typically very low (usually around 5-10%) [50], the use of the course forum might be even lower [11; 51], although it may be interesting for instructors to take into account learners' dedication to the forum as part of their grade. It is also important to bear in mind the possible side effects of grading learners based on their use of the forum. On the positive side, faster response times and larger numbers of responses per post could be obtained, as already demonstrated when including a reputation system associated with a MOOC forum [52]. On the negative side, an artificial or unnecessary use of the forum could happen in the case of learners who simply want to gain more points. For example, if learners are informed about the input parameters used by the algorithm, they might decide to write longer messages, or agree with other colleagues to upvote/follow certain messages. Considering the use of the forum in learners' final grade (and if so, the weight assigned and the values of the input parameters) is a decision that should be made by the instructors of the MOOC depending on the purpose of the course, especially if the instructors want to foster the discussion among learners. In any case, forum grades add new possible ways of \"gaming the system\" since students might want to increase their grades artificially and this can be a promising future research direction to complement the present literature on \"gaming the system\" [17; 18]. Regarding RQ1, the results have disclosed a moderate positive correlation between the grades obtained through the grading algorithm and summative assessment activities although this correlation depends on the input parameters of the algorithm and decreases as the requirements increase. These results are consistent with those from [PERSON] et al. [29], who also obtained a positive correlation coefficient between final grade and use of the forum. [PERSON] et al. [11] pointed out that learners who participate in the MOOC forum have better performance (in terms of final grades) than those who do not. Similarly, [PERSON] et al. [10] reported in another example MOOC the relationship between posting multiple times in the forum and passing the course. In this sense, and as part of this research question, the effect of the so-called top contributors or \"superposters\" [30; 31] has also been studied, obtaining a similar correlation, but in this case higher in the scenario with higher requirements. However, the relationship between posting on the forum and getting good grades on the summative evaluation activities is not a two-way relationship. In this MOOC, 92.6% of learners who got more than 60 points out of 100 in their forum grade (average requirements) also passed the course according to the summative assessment activities, while from those who passed the course only 3.1% of learners got more than 60 points out of 100 in their forum grade. It is important to note that unlike previous related publications that analyze the relationship between course grades and contributions in the forum of the MOOC, this research work takes into account not only the quantitative dimension of the messages published in the forum but also their relevance.