Threaded Discussion Forum Research Articles

Cancer-related Fatigue Reported in Online Discussion Groups.

Fatigue is a prevalent cancer-related symptom that is difficult to communicate, define, and treat. To obtain robust descriptions of symptoms, participants were recruited into two online groups that consisted of their dialoguing together in an asynchronous, threaded discussion forum. Participants dialogued for 5 months and completed pre- and post-participation demographic data and symptom ratings. Survey data were described, and change scores were calculated. Excerpts from the dialogue were analyzed using phenomenological techniques. The 28 participants reported low symptoms that did not change significantly from pre- to post-participation. Phenomenological analysis revealed three themes: descriptions of "bone-sucking fatigue," a search for meaning or answers about the fatigue, and attempted remedies. Online support groups provide a venue for sharing symptom experiences, adding to existing knowledge about symptoms in survivors. These descriptions provide information that will aid in developing patient-centered interventions.

Does mobile instant messaging facilitate social presence in online communication? A two-stage study of higher education students

Online social presence supports student learning by making group interactions more appealing and has become a central concept in computer-mediated communication. However, questions remain over how social presence is presented in a mobile instant messaging (MIM)-facilitated environment and to what extent MIM can afford social presence compared to a threaded discussion forum. This study offers a new contribution by examining the social presence levels afforded by a MIM app (WeChat) and comparing it with a threaded discussion forum. We present a two-stage study. In stage 1, we analyzed social presence levels in the MIM postings of class A with a validated instrument comprising three dimensions, namely, affective, interactive, and cohesive responses. In stage 2, we employed a historical cohort control experimental research study to compare social presence levels manifested in class A to those in class B who used an online forum. Follow-up interviews were conducted to solicit explanations of the differences in social presence levels. The results show that compared to the asynchronous threaded forum, the quasi-synchronous MIM is particularly suited to promoting (a) expression of emotions (affective social presence), (b) expressing agreement (interactive social presence), and (c) phatics and providing support (cohesive social presence). Four attributes might contribute to the differences including (a) the ease of use of non-verbal cues, (b) location-free digital interaction, (c) presence awareness, and (d) multimodality. The implications for future practices and research are discussed.

Facilitating Scientific Engagement Online: Responsive Teaching in a Science Professional Development Program

ABSTRACT Given the widespread adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards in the United States, there is a need to study new models of professional development to prepare teachers to enact practice-based visions of science learning and to address problems of access to reach teachers nationwide. While studies of online professional development offer promise in addressing both of these challenges, there is still much to be learned about how to design and orchestrate these learning environments. In particular, researchers have highlighted instructor facilitation as critical for teacher learning and reflection, yet there is a need for greater specification of online facilitation and how it can achieve targeted professional development goals. In this paper we explore responsive teaching as an approach to facilitating upper elementary and middle school teachers’ scientific engagement in asynchronous online learning environments. Using a case study approach, we examine instructors’ facilitation and teachers’ participation over four weeks in an online threaded discussion forum. This episode was situated within a 12-month hybrid-online professional development program, which had an explicit goal of supporting teachers to experience “doing science” themselves. Building on our prior work showing that the program was successful in fostering teachers’ engagement in scientific practices online, we characterize the responsive nature of instructors’ facilitation and how it supported teachers’ individual and collective inquiry. Our analysis provides an existence proof of a responsive approach to facilitating scientific engagement online and offers insights into the design of online professional development that supports teachers in “doing science.”

The Analysis of Cohesive Links and Content, Interactional Quality and Objective Measures Based on the Conceptual Framework of Nandi

The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of cohesion in producing an interactive and meaningful discourse in harmony with the content, interactional quality and objective measure of the discussion forums in online discussion forums which contribute to knowledge in the course content which includes ideas and experiences. Discussion transcripts of five weeks of an online threaded discussion forum from a course entitled “Shaping the Way We Teach English, the Landscape of English Language Teaching” were taken and analyzed. The analysis of cohesive links was done based on the discourse analysis technique and the discussions are analyzed based on the content, interactional quality based on the framework of Nandi (2009). The results of the analysis revealed that the discussions which are long and deep have more usage of the cohesive links than surface discussions or replies. The analysis also highlights that the discussions are likely to fulfill the criteria proposed by Nandi and sharing experiences and ideas & the current practices that are practiced by different people in different places are mainly the content. The posts promote a deeper and more meaningful angle to the course content.

Comparing the use of a social annotation tool and a threaded discussion forum to support online discussions

This study aimed to understand how a threaded forum and asocial annotation tool, Diigo, supported online discussions. Forty-five pre-service teachers in two sections of an undergraduate course participated in two online discussion activities. A crossover study was conducted to examine student participation and interaction, and students' perceived learning experience in the two environments. In the first activity, students in Section A used Diigo for the online discussion while students in Section B used a threaded discussion forum. In the second activity, the two sections switched their online discussion environments. A participatory survey was administered at the end of the study. Postings in the two activities were analyzed and compared in terms of participation, focus, and interaction types. The results indicated that the different design of the two activities and the different functions of two environments impacted student participation, knowledge construction processes, and the foci of discussions. Social annotation tools could be used as an alternative environment to encourage certain types of interaction during online discussions.

Scaffolding computer-mediated discussion to enhance moral reasoning and argumentation quality in pre-service teachers

This study investigated the effect of scaffolding computer-mediated discussions to improve moral reasoning and argumentation quality in pre-service teachers. Participants of this study were 76 teaching education students at a Turkish university. They were divided into three groups: (1) a computer-supported argumentation group; (2) a computer-mediated discussion group; and (3) a control group. Participants in the computer-supported argumentation group were instructed in argumentation, and were provided with note starters and graphical argumentation tools. The computer-mediated discussion group, however, was engaged in unstructured interaction on the Moodle forum, a free popular learning management system having a threaded discussion forum. The control group did not receive any instruction and neither did they participate in any discussions. As for the results, the computer-supported argumentation group outperformed the control group, but not the computer-mediated discussion group on DIT score and argumentation quality. Thus, it was concluded that both giving instruction on argumentation and appropriately designing the interfaces of computer-mediated discussion environments can enhance argumentation quality in students’ writings and also their moral reasoning.

Towards an integration of text and graph clustering methods as a lens for studying social interaction in MOOCs

<p>In this paper, we describe a novel methodology, grounded in techniques from the field of machine learning, for modeling emerging social structure as it develops in threaded discussion forums, with an eye towards application in the threaded discussions of massive open online courses (MOOCs). This modeling approach integrates two simpler, well established prior techniques, namely one related to social network structure and another related to thematic structure of text. As an illustrative application of the integrated technique’s use and utility, we use it as a lens for exploring student dropout behavior in three different MOOCs. In particular, we use the model to identify twenty emerging subcommunities within the threaded discussions of each of the three MOOCs. We then use a survival model to measure the impact of participation in identified subcommunities on attrition along the way for students who have participated in the course discussion forums of the three courses. In each of three MOOCs we find evidence that participation in two to four subcommunities out of the twenty is associated with significantly higher or lower dropout rates than average. A qualitative post-hoc analysis illustrates how the learned models can be used as a lens for understanding the values and focus of discussions within the subcommunities, and in the illustrative example to think about the association between those and detected higher or lower dropout rates than average in the three courses. Our qualitative analysis demonstrates that the patterns that emerge make sense: It associates evidence of stronger expressed motivation to actively participate in the course as well as evidence of stronger cognitive engagement with the material in subcommunities associated with lower attrition, and the opposite in subcommunities associated with higher attrition. We conclude with a discussion of ways the modeling approach might be applied, along with caveats from limitations, and directions for future work.</p>

Learning in the practicum: engaging pre-service teachers in reflective practice in the online space

It is argued that online discussion is a useful tool for creating opportunities for learning in teacher education. In a project designed to improve the practicum in rural areas, researchers placed pre-service teachers (PSTs) in two different moderated online discussion forums: an unstructured personal blog space and a structured threaded discussion forum where discussion topics guided them to reflect on their practicum experiences in relation to theoretical components of their studies. Findings indicated a marked difference in the contributions made to each form of online discussion with significantly greater participation in the unstructured blog format. Using Kreber and Cranton’s hierarchy of reflection, analyses of both forums found that PSTs rarely engaged in high-level reflection. Examination of lecturer involvement in the forums suggests that their contributions did not sufficiently encourage PSTs towards optimum critical reflection. These results leave the researchers considering ways in which the practicum experience can better promote reflective practice in this crucial, component of teacher education.

Distributed knowledge in an online patient support community: Authority and discovery

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressively debilitating neurodegenerative condition that occurs in adulthood and targets the motor neurons. Social support is crucial to the well‐being and quality of life of people with unpredictable and incurable diseases such as ALS. Members of the PatientsLikeMe (PLM) ALS online support community share social support but also exchange and build distributed knowledge within their discussion forum. This qualitative analysis of 1,000 posts from the PLM ALS online discussion examines the social support within the PLM ALS online community and explores ways community members share and build knowledge. The analysis responds to 3 research questions: RQ1: How and why is knowledge shared among the distributed participants in the PLM‐ALS threaded discussion forum?; RQ2: How do the participants in the PLM‐ALS threaded discussion forum work together to discover knowledge about treatments and to keep knowledge discovered over time?; and RQ3: How do participants in the PLM‐ALS forum co‐create and treat authoritative knowledge from multiple sources including the medical literature, healthcare professionals, lived experiences of patients and “other” sources of information such as lay literature and alternative health providers? The findings have implications for supporting knowledge sharing and discovery in addition to social support for patients.

Student perceptions of ePortfolio integration in online courses

This study explored students’ perceptions regarding the integration of electronic portfolios (ePortfolios) in two online graduate‐level courses at a small research university in the western United States. Researchers investigated student perceptions of communication, connectedness, value, and perceived student learning through ePortfolio integration and formative peer review to support a sustained community of learning. Data was collected from 40 students with a Web‐based questionnaire and a threaded discussion forum. Results indicate ePortfolios positively impacted some students’ perception of communication, connectedness, and learning. Most participants also valued ePortfolios. Prior ePortfolio experience and gender were responsible for minor differences in student perceptions, whereas lack of prior reflective experience impacted student perceptions significantly. Researchers conclude that ePortfolios can foster learning communities in online graduate programs.

ICT professional development for teachers in online forums: Analysing the role of discussion

This paper explores the role of engaging teachers in constructive dialogue within ICT professional development activity. As part of an ICT professional development program, sixteen teachers across eight geographically removed schools participated in an online threaded discussion forum for a school year. Data reported in this paper are generated from the archived posts to a threaded discussion forum and are analysed qualitatively for evidence of community and quantitatively for different forums of feedback ( Mäkitalo, Häkkinen, Leinonen, & Järvelä, 2002) and levels of discussion ( Jarvela & Hakkinen, 2002). The findings suggest evidence of both collegial and critical forms of discussion. Collegial discussion was found to be important in developing and maintaining community while critical discussion was vital for its role in transforming teachers' beliefs. The data also revealed a number of practical aspects of online environments that inhibit what is termed in this paper as constructive discussion.

Teachers’ talk in professional development activity that supports change in their ICT pedagogical beliefs and practices

Enabling teachers to talk about their professional practice is an essential element of professional development; however, the types of conversations required for transformative outcomes are not clearly defined. Teachers from eight Australian primary schools (grades 1–7) participated in a collaboratively designed information and communication technologies (ICT) professional development program over a period of 12 months. Teachers conversed through an online threaded discussion forum as well as within small and large group face‐to‐face meetings as part of their ICT professional development activities. The findings suggest evidence of two types of talk that have a concomitant relationship in the development of transformative practice within ICT professional development: collegial and critical discussion. Collegial discussion is found to be important in developing community and common understandings while critical discussion is vital for its role in transforming teachers’ beliefs. The environment in which conversations take place plays a major role in the type of talk in which teachers will engage. The findings of this research inform both ICT professional development for practicing teachers and the functioning and productivity of professional learning in online learning communities.

Student engagement in distance learning environments: A comparison of threaded discussion forums and text-focused Wikis

The purpose of this study was to improve the quality of students' online discussion of assigned readings in an online course. To improve the focus, depth, and connectedness of online discussion, the first author designed a text-focused Wiki that simultaneously displayed the assigned reading and students' comments side by side in adjacent columns. In the text-focused Wiki, students were able to read the assigned text in the left column and type their comments or questions in the right column adjacent to the sentence or passage that sparked their interest. In post-participation surveys, data were gathered about students' experiences in the text-focused Wiki and prior experiences in threaded discussion forums. Students reported more focus, depth, flow, idea generation, and enjoyment in the text-focused Wiki.

Looking for Critical Thinking in Online Threaded Discussions

Threaded discussion forums have been a popular topic for the past few years in distance education research and studied as a factor in student participation, satisfaction, learning outcomes, social presence, and interaction. Only recently has it been considered as a potential vehicle for the development of critical thinking skills and deep learning. Thirty-seven current studies on critical inquiry, deep learning. presence, and interaction in distance education were synthesized. The studies were compared for findings about participation quality, participation quantity, critical thinking skills and deep learning, and recommendations. The synthesis revealed that current literature touts the potential for development of deep learning and critical thinking skills through online threaded discussions. For the most part, however, research does not show this happening at a high level or to any great extent. Confounding the issue is the fact that current research is predominated by examination of education and graduate level online classes and is mainly focused on student perceptions and outcomes. This is at odds with the profile of today's “typical” distance education student. The need for more instructor involvement and effort is indicated in much of the research, but bulk of the research has focused on students and not teachers.

New Web Resource Targets Linguistic Diversity

New Web Resource Targets Linguistic Diversity

Online vs live methods for teaching difficult airway management to anesthesiology residents

To compare the effectiveness of traditional and online teaching methods for educating anesthesiology residents in the principles and practice of difficult airway management. Prospective, randomized, controlled trial. University hospital. Two randomly selected groups, each containing 28 physicians enrolled from among residents in Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine in Italy. Residents in Group 1 took a traditional 5-h course on the principles and practice of airway management, which included lectures, slide projection, and dummy demonstrations. The same material was presented to Group 2 in an exclusively online format, which could be individually accessed for a period of 36 h. In the online course, student-instructor interaction was provided through threaded discussion forums during three 30-min real-time question-and-answer sessions. Differences in baseline and post-course scores on written tests and practical skills tests were measured. Knowledge gains in Group 2 were slightly, but not significantly, greater compared with Group 1 both in written (P=0.228) and practical skills (P=0.376) tests. Semi-quantitative ratings of learner satisfaction were significantly higher in the online group (P=0.014). Almost all online students (93%) were logged in for at least 45 of the 90 min of real-time question-and-answer sessions. The four instructors spent an average of 144+/-10 min preparing answers and interacting with online students. Online teaching formats may be a valid alternative for teaching residents the principles and practice of difficult airway management. Interaction with instructors seems to be an important element, but it may require substantial time commitments by instructors.

Time demands in online instruction1

This article reports findings from a Mellon Foundation research project at Syracuse University with regard to the time demands placed on teachers and learners in online courses. This exploratory research was primarily a study of cases involving three online courses and one face‐to‐face course. The focus of the study was the effects of different forms of communication and collaboration on time invested by teachers and learners. The online courses made use of e‐mail, threaded discussion forums, and online chat sessions; the face‐to‐face course used e‐mail in addition to a course Web site and lectures. Learning outcomes and retention in the three online courses were similar to outcomes and retention in comparable face‐to‐face courses at this institution. Students invested slightly more time in online courses whereas faculty, all of whom were experienced online teachers, invested considerably more time in their online courses. An analysis of interviews with online teachers at other institutions confirms the finding that experienced online teachers invest significantly more time in online teaching than their counterparts in face‐to‐face settings.

Evaluating the effectiveness of ICT to support globally distributed PBL teams

In the 21st century it is becoming increasingly common to work and learn in teams that are globally distributed. Such teams rely heavily on ICT to facilitate communication. There are many communication tools and technologies to choose from. This study investigates the effectiveness of a rich set of tools and considers if synergy exists between them. This paper reports and analyses the use of communication tools by students in a distributed Problem-based Learning (dPBL) environment. The PBL teams consisted of four students from Singapore and four from the UK. Teams had a rich set of synchronous and asynchronous communication tools available to them, including ISDN videoconference, WebCam video/audio, Microsoft NetMeeting® Chat, Asynchronous drop box and threaded discussion Forum. This ethnographic study showed that semantic discussion threads included the use of all tools and enabled students to effectively co-construct meaning (and understanding). Students were able to deploy the use of different tools effectively to achieve the learning outcomes intended for various stages in the PBL cycle, with both asynchronous and synchronous media being considered of high importance.

A networked learning community approach to sustain teacher ICT professional development

This paper explores the process of collaboratively creating a networked learning community of practising teachers to support information and communication technology (ICT) professional development. The paper reports on one aspect of a continuing ARC funded Linkage project that is concerned with models of teacher ICT professional development that result in multiliterate classroom outcomes. The industry partner for the project is the Suncoast Cyberschools, a group of regional schools for whom being a ‘networked learning community’ is fundamental to their purpose. Data reported in this paper were gathered using archived posts to a threaded discussion forum and analysed qualitatively for evidence of community development, and quantitatively through a process of categorising posts to reflect levels of discussion (Järvelä & Häkkinen, 2002). The research provides a number of indicators that support a claim for the existence of community and some practical stages that are essential to the formation of an online learning community. The findings of this research inform both ICT professional development for practising teachers and the functioning of online learning communities.

Introducing the New NASPGHAN Web Site

Effective on August 31, 2001, a newly redesigned Internet site for the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) went online for the first time. The introduction of the new site was accomplished concurrently with the official adoption of the new name of the organization, adding “Hepatology” to the previous name. The Internet is arguably the most important medium for dissemination of public information and shaping public perception of an organization. The leaders of NASPGHAN recognized this and charged the Internet Committee with the task of redesigning and improving the old site with all possible speed. Readers of this Journal are encouraged to visit the new site, http://www.naspghan.org, to see what we have been able to accomplish. For the next year, those entering the old address, http://www.naspgn.org, will also be directed to the new site. Those familiar with the old site will be very pleased with the dramatically improved appearance, which will also have much more visual appeal to the general public. The goals of the redesign process were to modernize the look of the site, streamline navigation of the site, and improve the online content. The purpose of the new site is to be the premier Internet address sought by the public for information on childhood digestive and liver diseases. We have also been able to improve the members-only section, easing the access of NASPGHAN members to the services provided by the organization. The new site incorporates the following features: Colorful, modern design. This design, and the many internal improvements listed below, has been accomplished by a highly qualified Web site design firm, Active Web Corporation (Guelph, Ontario, Canada; http://www.activeweb.net). NASPGHAN reviewed bids from several candidates before choosing Active Web. This new graphic design is the most visible of the many exciting changes to the site. Much improved navigation features, with cascading drop-down menus that enable access to all parts of the site from any page. Improved navigation also includes attention to the logical arrangement of pages within the site, making site exploration intuitive and easy. NASPGHAN policy statements are formatted as they appear in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition and are viewable as PDF files. Hidden in the site design is a powerful database. New database-driven features enable improved access to members-only page, allow smart membership directories, rapid self-update of changes in members' information (address, e-mail address, phone number, among others), and advanced features, such as meeting registration. Search feature. The public can search for pediatric gastroenterologists in North America by name and location Enhanced availability of disease information for the public (this will be an ongoing effort, coordinated with the Public Education Committee. Improved search engine for keyword searching of site A fellow's section within the membership-only area Threaded discussion forums for NASPGHAN committee use Searchable job listings within membership-only area Still in development by various NASPGHAN committees are new patient and professional education materials. Our goal of achieving “premier site” status for education of the public will not be reached until such content is expanded. NASPGHAN has a major commitment to this task, and the site can be expected to grow steadily. This will be a continuous process, with regular additions of new materials and continuous review and update of existing information. All new educational materials for the site will be carefully reviewed by the appropriate NASPGHAN committee (Public Education or Professional Education) and approved by the executive council before addition to the site. This editorial process will ensure the quality and consistency of educational materials posted on the Web site. NASPGHAN members can be proud of what their organization is accomplishing to advance the science and art of pediatric gastroenterology and hepatology and to educate the public. The Internet Committee of NASPGHAN has been pleased to be able to take an active role in this process. We as a committee are interested in the input of all members of the organization. Those of you with ideas, including possible additions to the site, are encouraged to contact a member of the Internet Committee, listed below.