Ghosts, stars, and learning online: Analysis of interaction patterns in student online discussions

Debbie Samuels-Peretz

doi:10.19173/irrodl.v15i3.1641

Abstract

<p>Discussions are commonly used in online teaching and have been shown to foster student learning and collaboration. This case study uses content analysis to explore the interaction patterns of student online discussions during a semester-long teacher preparation course using concepts from sociometry. Findings suggest that interaction patterns were influenced by the content of student posts. Online discussions in this case were found to be an equitable form of collaborative learning, enabling each student to have a voice. There were, however, indications that gendered ways of knowing may play a role in the content of interaction, if not in the patterns themselves.</p>

Highlights

Instruction in today’s higher education classrooms has come a long way from the traditional lecture method, it continues to be the dominant pedagogical approach (Barr & Tagg, 2000; Pollio, 1984;Welty, 2000)
The literature in teaching and learning emphasizes that students learn better when interacting with new ideas in a social context and constructing meaning from their experiences than they do passively receiving and being tested on knowledge transmitted by experts (Astin, 1993; Brooks & Brooks, 1993)
Vygotsky (1978) emphasizes the social context of thinking and learning by arguing that “learning awakens a variety of internal developmental processes that are able to operate only when the child is interacting with people and his environment and in cooperation with his peers” (p. 90)

Summary

Introduction

Instruction in today’s higher education classrooms has come a long way from the traditional lecture method, it continues to be the dominant pedagogical approach (Barr & Tagg, 2000; Pollio, 1984;Welty, 2000). The literature in teaching and learning emphasizes that students learn better when interacting with new ideas in a social context and constructing meaning from their experiences than they do passively receiving and being tested on knowledge transmitted by experts (Astin, 1993; Brooks & Brooks, 1993). Dewey (1933) argued long ago that “learning is learning to think” Vygotsky (1978) emphasizes the social context of thinking and learning by arguing that “learning awakens a variety of internal developmental processes that are able to operate only when the child is interacting with people and his environment and in cooperation with his peers” Bruffee (1993), drawing on the work of Thomas Kuhn, Richard Rorty, and Clifford Geertz, argues that knowledge is socially constructed through interaction with peers There is support for the salience of the social context with adult students as well. Bruffee (1993), drawing on the work of Thomas Kuhn, Richard Rorty, and Clifford Geertz, argues that knowledge is socially constructed through interaction with peers

Methods

Results

Conclusion