Threaded Discussion Boards Research Articles

Work Organization Factors Associated With Nurses’ Stress, Sleep, and Performance: A Pre-pandemic Analysis

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic put extreme stress on an already strained healthcare workforce. Suboptimal work organization, exacerbated by the pandemic, is associated with poor worker, patient, and organizational outcomes. However, there are limited qualitative studies exploring how the interconnections of work organization factors related to shift work, sleep, and work stress influence registered nurses and their work performance in the United States.PurposeWe sought to understand how nurses perceive work organization factors that impact their performance. Knowledge in this area could direct efforts to implement policies and design tailored interventions to support nurses in the post-pandemic period.MethodsWe used a qualitative descriptive design with the Work, Stress, and Health framework as an overarching guide to understand the interconnectedness of work organization factors, work stress, and outcomes. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two anonymous, asynchronous virtual focus groups (i.e., threaded discussion boards) in 2019. Registered nurses (N = 23) working across the United States were recruited and engaged until data saturation was achieved. Directed content analysis was used to analyze the data.ResultsFindings aligned with the Work, Stress, and Health framework and revealed three themes: (1) “Our Voice Should Matter” (nurses’ desire to have their voices heard in staffing policies); (2) “Tired But Wired” (the harmful cycle of work stress, rumination, and poor sleep); and (3) “We’re Only Human” (nurses’ physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion linked to critical performance impairments).ConclusionThese findings underscore that high work stress and poor sleep were present before the pandemic and impacted nurses’ perceptions of their performance. As leaders look forward to recovery and work redesign efforts, these findings can guide decision-making and resource allocation for optimal nurse, patient, and organization outcomes.

Increase Engaged Student Learning Using Google Docs as a Discussion Platform

Online discussion board activities have traditionally been a primary method of providing student-to-student interaction, especially in asynchronous online classes. This study examines the impact of an alternate online discussion tool on student participation in online discussion assignments. Three identical discussion assignments were examined over the course of two semesters. The first semester utilized the traditional Learning Management System (LMS) threaded discussion board. The second semester incorporated Google Docs as the discussion platform. Overall, students using Google Docs made 68 percent more posts per student than students using the traditional LMS discussion board. Students using Google Docs also demonstrated more engagement by sharing professional experiences and teaching strategies more often than those students using the traditional LMS discussion board. While the data are encouraging, limitations of this study encourage additional research in the areas of discussion platform, discussion group size, and group assignment methods.

Teaching Ichthyology Online with a Virtual Specimen Collection

For generations, organismal biologists have learned their craft in hands-on laboratories that teach anatomy, evolution, natural history, systematics, and functional morphology through specimen collection, observation, comparison, and manipulation. Though these activities teach the comparative method that lies at the heart of our discipline, students without access to specimen collections have been excluded from this foundational experience. To fill that gap, we developed a virtual collection of photographs and 3D specimen models and designed entirely online versions of courses in ichthyology and systematics of fishes. The virtualization allows students to illustrate and compare specimens in online labs, identify species from different habitats using dichotomous keys, contextualize the relationships of species, recognize synapomorphies using a phylogeny, take online specimen-based practical exams, and help each other recognize adaptations and diagnostic features on threaded discussion boards. The classes built around the collection educate and provide university credit to students lacking access to similar courses, and their infrastructure allowed face-to-face instruction to shift online rapidly after 2020's novel coronavirus shut down our brick-and-mortar campus. While we may never be able to replicate the aroma of oil-laden alcohol online, specimen virtualization opens access to experiential learning to an underserved and widespread audience; allows new generations of students to develop crucial skills in observation, comparison, and inference; and affords substantial instructional resiliency when unexpected challenges arise.

Out-of-School Reading and Literature Discussion: An Exploration of Adolescents’ Participation in Digital Book Clubs

This research used an inductive qualitative method to examine how adolescents participate in online literature discussion, with limited guidance from adults, through a summer reading program. Using a New Literacy framework, the authors considered that literacy is social and collaborative and that adolescents often engage in such literacy practices on the Internet outside of school. This study considered these literacy practices to examine an eight-week voluntary online summer reading program at a public library and how such a program might inform such activities in school settings to promote more authentic opportunities for literacy engagement. In this program, twelve adolescents (ages 13-17) read print-based young adult novels and responded to their reading in threaded discussion boards, called book clubs, in a closed, online social network. Results indicated two overlapping themes related to students’ formality in writing to promote shared learning and personalizing digital discussions to make connections. Researchers found adolescents spontaneously adopted online discussion techniques that hybridized formal discussion practices with more personal practices to encourage emotive transaction with text. These results raised implications for integrating such activities in classroom settings to support all learners and to promote academic literacies.

Implementation and evaluation of a distance learning introductory course in medical informatics.

There is a growing interest in and need for continuing education in medical informatics delivered by distance learning. Implement and evaluate a distance learning introductory course in medical informatics. A Web-based version of our on-campus "Introduction to Medical Informatics" course was implemented using streaming audio lectures, threaded discussion boards, and several other teaching modalities. Evaluation was performed using an adaptation of our on-campus course evaluation instrument. The course was implemented with no major technological or pedagogical problems. Student satisfaction with teaching modalities and other course modalities was high. The learning technologies used in this course were implemented successfully and a Graduate Certificate Program is planned to further meet educational needs in medical informatics.

A CS unplugged activity for the online classroom

In this paper, we present a group, asynchronous problem solving exercise designed to introduce non-computer science students to a variety of concepts from artificial intelligence and operations research. The exercise is designed to be a Computer Science (CS) Unplugged activity suitable for the online classroom. CS Unplugged is a methodology for teaching CS concepts using hands-on interactive activities without using a computer. CS Unplugged activities are often used to introduce CS concepts to novices, such as elementary, middle, or high school students; but can also be effective at engaging the non-CS undergraduate student. By definition, CS Unplugged seems at odds with online education, as the participants in the exercise are necessarily using computers. We present an interactive activity motivated by CS Unplugged, but implemented within an asynchronous threaded discussion board. The activity is based on the well-known Bin Packing problem, and is specifically an extension of an existing active learning exercise known as Collective Bin Packing but adapted to the online classroom. The activity is designed for an undergraduate interdisciplinary course as part of a liberal arts curriculum.

Evaluating Student Perceptions of Using Blogs in an Online Course

This article is based on an exploratory study on the use of blogs to support learning in an online MBA school. In this paper, the authors examine students’ perceptions toward blogs and their effectiveness. The study finds that although students are open to the idea of using blogs to enhance presentation and reflection of their learning, concerns exist on their suitability for threaded discussions in the presence of other platforms like threaded discussion boards. Therefore, what is less clear is the learning value and potential of blogs, especially that subset of learning that is orchestrated (and credentialed) by formal learning organisations.

Facilitating Historical Discussions Using Asynchronous Communication: The Role of the Teacher

This study examines the effectiveness of asynchronous communication in facilitating historical discussions among adolescents, with a specific focus on the ways in which teachers can affect this process. Threaded discussion board posts and teacher-student email correspondence from a five-week American history summer course are analyzed and triangulated with interview and observational data as part of a single case study. Using a social constructivist framework, the results suggest that the students in this particular course did not critically engage in discussions of a historical nature and often relied on unsubstantiated opinions that rarely challenged preexisting or canonical notions of history. The results also suggest that the teacher's actions or lack thereof may have contributed to the perfunctory social experience that students received. Although this study only serves as one example of K-12 e-learning, the findings offer implications for teaching and learning social studies within online environments.

The Effect of Student Choice of Online Discussion Format on Tiered Achievement and Student Satisfaction

This study investigated whether providing students with the choice of chat versus threaded discussion boards for online discourse is an effective instructional strategy in terms of student learning and satisfaction. The sample was teacher education students enrolled in face-to-face (FTF) and online sections of one undergraduate foundations course. Both sections required participation in online text-based discussion. Comparison groups included course format (FTF vs. online), discussion format (chat vs. discussion board) and discussion format option (choice vs. no choice). Results reveal that students’ choice of discussion format was influenced by the trait of academic introversion-extraversion but not by the instructional environment (FTF or online) in which they enrolled. In addition, providing the choice of discussion format to students enhanced course satisfaction and, while some differences were found in cognitive achievement, the results were weak.

Effects of Pre‐structuring Discussion Threads on Group Interaction and Group Performance in Computer‐supported Collaborative Argumentation

This study examined the effects of pre‐structuring discussion threads on group performance in computer‐supported collaborative argumentation where students labeled their messages as arguments, challenges, supporting evidence, and explanations on a threaded discussion board. In the pre‐structured group students were required to post supporting and opposing arguments to designated and separate discussion threads. In the control group no discussion threads were designated for posting supporting and opposing arguments. The mean number of challenges elicited per argument was 64% greater with pre‐structured threads (ES = +.47). No significant differences were found in the mean number of counter‐challenges, supporting evidence, and explanations posted in reply to challenges. The findings suggest that prestructured discussion threads can increase the frequency of argument→challenge exchanges needed to initiate critical discourse.

On-line Communities: Helping "Senior Surfers" Find Health Information on the Web

Currently, it is estimated that approximately 10 million older adults use Internet communities to gain information on any health issue. It is nearly impossible to police all of the sites available to make sure correct information is distributed. A short website review demonstrates factors that create an unsafe or safe health environment. The ability of a facilitator to properly manage an online community and the problems that may be encountered in this setting are issues that warrant attention. Discussion forums provide information through threaded discussion boards, and frequently the information is inaccurate. Research is needed to determine if on-line health communities are a bane or a boon to the elderly population.

전자매체를 통한 정보공유와 공동학습

최근 들어 인터넷 기반 교육, 사이버 교육 등 다양한 교육프로그램 및 방식이 교육현장에 도입됨에 따라 기존의 전통적인 교육과 달리 전자매체에 의존하는 교육내용전달에 대한 관심과 요구가 증가하고 있다. 본 연구의 준비단계로 실시한 사전연구에서 공동학습을 위해 형성되었던 온라인 학습집단의 약 절반정도가 가상공간에서의 공동학습을 효율적인 것으로 답한 반면, 나머지 절반정도는 학습집단의 형성과 학습의 진행에 어려움을 경험했다. 이 연구는 대학 학부생들로 구성된 온라인 학습집단들로 하여금 전자우편과 토론게시판의 두 가지 전자매체를 통해서 주어진 토론과제를 수행하도록 하고, 각 전자매체의 특성과 온라인 공동학습집단의 정보공유 패턴 및 학습의 효율성과의 연관성을 조사하였다. 연구의 결과 전자우편의 경우는 학습자 간의 상호작용에 있어서 좀 더 개별적이고 친숙한 느낌으로 정보를 전달하는 장점을 지닌 반면. 비효율적이고 일방적인 정보전달로 인한 의견교류의 어려움을 나타냈다. 토론게시판을 이용한 경우는 여러 학습자와의 자료 공유 및 전체공지가 용이하며 조원 간의 적극적인 참여가 가능하다는 긍정적인 답변과 더불어 정확한 의사전달의 어려움. 게시물의 중복 등이 문제점으로 제기되었다. 따라서 매체별 특성에 따라 학습자 간의 이용의도 및 경험에 차이가 나타남을 알 수 있었다. With the introduction of Internet-based education such as online learning and virtual campuses. there are increased interests and demands for electronically delivering educational contents in comparison to the traditional educational methods. Our preilminary study showed that approximately <TEX>$50\%$</TEX> of virtual groups formed online for the scope of collaborative learning encountered harriers that prevented them from forming an effective learning team and making satisfactory progress toward reaching the learning objectives. In this study, we asked the undergraduate students. who were the members of the online learning team, to work on the given discussion topics through the use of emails and threaded discussion boards. Then. we investigated the roles played by two electronic communication medium during the virtual discussion with respect to the learning outcome. We also studied how information was shared amongst the virtual learning team members. The results of our study showed that the email based online learning had the advantage of individualized and friendly information transfer. However. it also caused certain difficulty in exchanging ideas due to the one-sided nature of the email-based communication. On the other hand, the threaded discussion board provided easier information sharing and broadcasting. which enabled active participation by the virtual team members. However. It also had the disadvantage of difficulty in accurate information conveyance and duplication of the posted information. In summary, our study results showed that there was a high correlation between the characteristics of the electronic communication medium and the decision that the online learners made regarding which medium to use. There was a high correlation between the type of the electronic communication medium and the online learners' experiences in using these media.

ASSESSING THE VALUE OF A SYNCHRONOUS SEMINAR COMPONENT IN ONLINE DATABASE CLASSES

Current research shows that online students often feel a sense of isolation that is not always recognized and addressed by instructors and is generally detrimental to student performance. This paper reports the results of a study of online college students’ performance and outcomes in four sections of an online ‘Introduction to Databases’ course. The first two sections were taught with a mandatory weekly 1.5 hour chat room class session, while the latter two sections were taught completely asynchronously. Through regression analysis of assignment scores, exam and project performance, and threaded discussion board participation, we find that weekly real-time contact with the instructor and other students significantly improves student outcomes and increases student retention.

Collaboration nation [group software

As group software assumes a major role in the workplace, will engineers stop talking to each other? Communication is the essence of collaboration, and increasingly communication about semiconductor design is happening over the Internet not only through e-mail and threaded discussion boards, but also through specially designed Web collaboration software that lets engineers work on parts of the same chip simultaneously, whether they are down the hall or across the world. The increasing use of collaborative software has raised concerns that the engineering workplace would suffer from diminished human contact, and that engineers would be transformed into zombie-like automatons, addicted to their workstations. That hasn't happened; workplace experts say that engineers rely as much as ever on face-to-face interactions.

Discursive evaluation in a distributed learning community

This paper describes a distance education project where a threaded discussion board was used for interaction amongst students and teachers. The experiences from the first year of the project shows that such a forum can be an important complement to other evaluative resources in order to monitor student's expectations and experiences. Furthermore, it is argued that discursive evaluations can establish a learning community with shared norms and forms of communication and collaboration. Vital properties of the discussion board are that it is continuous, online, public, asynchronous and auto-structuring.

Implementation and evaluation of a medical informatics distance education program.

Given the need for continuing education in medical informatics for mid-career professionals, the authors aimed to implement and evaluate distance learning courses in this area. The authors performed a needs assessment, content and technology planning, implementation, and student evaluation. The needs assessment and student evaluations were assessed using a combination of Likert scale and free-form questions. The needs assessment indicated much interest in a medical informatics distance learning program, with electronic medical records and outcome research the subject areas of most interest. The courses were implemented by means of streaming audio plus slides for lectures and threaded discussion boards for student interaction. Students were assessed by multiple-choice tests, a term paper, and a take-home final examination. In their course evaluations, student expressed strong satisfaction with the teaching modalities, course content, and system performance. Although not assessed experimentally, the performance of distance learning students was superior to that of on-campus students. Medical informatics education can be successfully implemented by means of distance learning technologies, with favorable student satisfaction and demonstrated learning. A graduate certificate program is now being implemented.