Abstract
Online discussions have been increasingly integrated into face-to-face classes at universities to enhance student learning of course content. The primary focus of past research has been on the end products of online discussions. Studies reported either successful findings or results that fell short of desired learning outcomes. An in-depth investigation is needed about how the design of online discussions is related to success. This paper reports our experiences in conducting a three-phase, design-based study: (1) designing the online discussion activity; (2) implementing our design in a university course; (3) empirically investigating our design.
Highlights
The use of online discussions is gaining momentum in university classrooms
We report our experiences in conducting design-based research that contains three essential components: (1) the design of the online discussion activity, (2) the implementation of our design in a university course, and (3) the empirical investigation of our design
Research confirmed that content analysis based on the message level was the reliable method to assess cognitive presence in online discussions [11, 45]
Summary
The use of online discussions is gaining momentum in university classrooms. It is widely recognized that online discussions have the potential to cultivate and develop student higher order thinking skills [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. It requires the systematic approach in designing a meaningful context wherein students practice higher order thinking skills purposely. Design-based research fits well with our purpose of improving teaching and learning with online technology. Design-based research as an approach was conceived out of their concerns that laboratory studies of instruction interventions are limited in addressing the dynamics, complexity, and messiness of learning processes in real classroom settings. Design-based research has gained popularity as a form of educational research for those who attempt to improve student learning in real classroom settings through designing educational interventions, especially involving the use of technology [15, 16, 17, 18]. We believe that online discussions have the potential of promoting student higher order learning if designed appropriately. The inclusion of design, practice, and investigation in design-based research allowed us to lay out our design, implement the design in a real class context, and empirically study the efficacy of our design
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