Participation In Asynchronous Discussions Research Articles

Predicting student performance by modeling participation in asynchronous discussions in university online introductory mathematical courses

Predicting student performance by modeling participation in asynchronous discussions in university online introductory mathematical courses

ASYNCHRONOUS DISCUSSION IN SUPPORT OF MEDICAL EDUCATION

Although the potential of asynchronous discussion to support learning is widely recognized, student engagement remains problematic. Often, for example, students simply refuse to participate. Consequently the rich promise of asynchronous learning networks for supporting students’ learning can prove hard to achieve.After reviewing strategies for encouraging student participation in discussions in Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALN), we present a study that investigates how these strategies influenced students’ perceptions and use of the discussion area. We identify and explore factors that encouraged and inhibited student participation in asynchronous discussion, and evaluate student postings to an asynchronous discussion group by content analysis.The results question received wisdom about some of the pedagogic techniques advocated in the literature.Instead, results support the view that the major factors for stimulating student participation in asynchronous discussion are tutor enthusiasm and expertise. It appears that the tutor may be the root cause of engagement in discussions, an important conclusion, given that to date, the tutor’s role has remained relatively unexamined. We also note that participation in asynchronous discussion is inhibited when students allocate a low priority to participation, as may occur when participation is not assessed.Content analysis of an asynchronous discussion in this study reveals that contributions were not strongly interactive and that students were simply ‘playing the game’ of assessment, making postings that earned marks but rarely contributing otherwise. Thus the use of assessment to encourage students’ contributions appears to be only a superficial success; it seems likely that giving credit for postings changes behavior without necessarily improving learning. This finding has significant implications for curriculum design.

Students' Learning in Asynchronous Discussion Forums

Asynchronous discussion forums are among the most preferred tools chosen to foster learning opportunities and knowledge construction. To reveal the cognitive engagement evidenced in the transcripts of the discussion forums, this study presents 51 papers. 17 papers reported research on students' attitude toward the use of ICT for learning, 16 papers revealed methodologies used in the field and 18 papers presented knowledge construction collaboration processes in online discussion forums. The primary sources for searching the papers were journals, proceedings and book chapters on educational technology. The starting point was the journals and proceedings that directly address ICT in education. The analysis shows that the majority of studies reported the level of students' knowledge construction remained in low level of cognitive engagement. The significance of the communication taking place through the mediation of computers seemed to depend greatly on the design of the classroom processes and explicit and tacit roles of teachers in providing straightforward guidance about students' participation in asynchronous discussions.

Factors affecting pre-service teachers’ participation in asynchronous discussion: The case of Iran

<p>This study reports on a qualitative small-scale exploratory study which examined the factors influencing 32 Iranian pre-service language teachers’ participation in online asynchronous text-based discussion forums. By adopting a multiple case study design and analysing data gathered through semi-structured interviews and participants’ online postings, it was found that access to computers and the Internet or high speed Internet, group size, quality of messages, level of instructor’s involvement, grades, interface qualities, participants’ personal characteristics and attitudes toward online interactions, as well as familiarity and experience with online discussions influenced participants’ level of participation in online discussions. Based on the findings, recommendations are made to help language teacher educators to encourage effective online communication practices in similar educational settings.</p>

Digging Beneath the Surface: Analyzing the Complexity of Instructors' Participation in Asynchronous Discussion

This study is situated at the nexus of contradictory research about the role of the instructor in asynchronous discussions. The goal of this descriptive study was to provide a deeper analysis of instructor comments and participation in these discussions. By developing an analytical tool based on the Community of Inquiry framework (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2001) we categorized the types of comments made by instructors as well as identified more complex profiles of instructor interaction. In addition, we looked at student and instructor data around instructor participation in these discussions. We found that instructors relied more heavily on social codes and were less likely to employ cognitive codes, that there was a variance in the types of discursive interactions as indicated by different discursive profiles, and that it is difficult for instructors to find the right balance of participation in asynchronous discussions. We believe engaging in this type of analysis can help us become more effective online instructors and provide a good next step for some larger relationship studies to further understand how the instructors’ comments do impact student discussion.

Impacts of role assignment and participation in asynchronous discussions in college-level online classes

In this study, 57 participants from an online course participated in online learning activities facilitated by assigned moderators. Social network analysis techniques were utilized to examine the influence of moderator role assignment on social networks of online classes. The results indicated when students were assigned to the moderator position their participation quantity, diversity, and interaction attractiveness increased significantly and their non-posting participation significantly influenced the group interaction. Students' participation quantity and diversity also significantly influenced their interaction attractiveness. Qualitative findings revealed moderation characteristics of the highest density and lowest density groups.

From message posting to learning dialogues: Factors affecting learner participation in asynchronous discussion

Generating true learning dialogue as opposed to a collection of loosely affiliated posted messages on a class discussion board can be challenging. This paper presents the results of a cross‐case analysis of nine naturalistic case studies of online classes, looking at how activity design and facilitation factors affected various dimensions of student participation. Findings show that use of guidelines, deadlines and feedback and type of instructor presence affect the resulting discourse in an online class. Additionally, the paper explores how particular types of learning activities are better suited to generating discussion than others and how the integration of discussion activities with the rest of the course activities and requirements impacts learner motivation and participation.