Abstract
This preliminary study again provides evidence that it is the method and not the media that matters the most in learning effectiveness. The present work examines classroom community in order to determine how sense of community differs between students enrolled in traditional face-to-face and those enrolled in asynchronous learning network (ALN) courses. Subjects consist of 326 adult learners who were enrolled in a mix of 14 undergraduate and graduate courses at two urban universities. As operationalized by the Sense of Classroom Community Index (SCCI), there appears no significant difference in classroom community between the two groups of subjects. However, a discriminant analysis shows a significant overall difference in community structure between the two groups. Variations between groups on feelings of similarity of needs, recognition, importance of learning, connectedness, friendship, thinking critically, safety, acceptance, group identity, and absence of confusion are the characteristics contributing mostly to this difference in learning effectiveness.
Highlights
The past few decades have witnessed increased interest in the concept of community
This study was designed to answer the following research question: how does sense of community differ between students enrolled in traditional face-to-face and asynchronous learning network (ALN) courses? The ultimate goal of this type of research is to identify best practices for promoting community in asynchronously delivered distance education courses
Interactions in such environments, and the sense of community such interactions can generate, have the potential to be equal to that sustained in traditional classrooms because of the fact that discussion boards, the heart of ALN learner-learner and learner-instructor interactivity, can support discussions that are both task-driven and socio-emotional-driven in origin
Summary
The past few decades have witnessed increased interest in the concept of community. Etzioni explains that much of this interest is based on the perception that sense of community in this country is weak and that there is a need to get our citizens thinking about working together toward the common good [1]. Bielaczyc and Collins describe such a community as one that embodies a “culture of learning in which everyone is involved in a collective effort of understanding” [8] Alexander defines this type of community as a group of learners who form a partnership based upon the concern for the welfare of self and others and for the common good [9]. Members of such classroom communities have feelings of belonging and trust. The ALN model facilitates community, since the essence of community is making connections between people Bates supports this view and claims that one of the major contributions of two-way technologies is allowing interactions among learners as well as between learners and instructors [31]. This study was designed to answer the following research question: how does sense of community differ between students enrolled in traditional face-to-face and ALN courses? The ultimate goal of this type of research is to identify best practices for promoting community in asynchronously delivered distance education courses
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