Effects of online teaching presence on students' interactions and collaborative knowledge construction

This study analysed the instructors' teaching presence of three courses conducted by an instructor to explore the effects of the instructors' online teaching presence on students' interactions and collaborative knowledge constructions. Content analysis, social network analysis, and lag sequential analysis were used to explore the mechanism of teaching presence on students' interactions and collaborative knowledge construction. Results demonstrate that the design and organization, as well as facilitating discourse, can facilitate students' interaction, reduce the number of peripheral students, and facilitate students' collaborative knowledge construction, especially in the knowledge sharing, discovery, discussion, and application, whereas direct instruction has positive effects on teachers' centrality and negative effects on knowledge negotiation and testing. The result can give the instructors some guidance on online teaching practices.     

When groups decide to use asynchronous online discussions: collaborative learning and social presence under a voluntary participation structure

The purpose of this study is to explore how groups decide to use asynchronous online discussion forums in a non-mandatory setting, and, after the group decision is made, how group members use online discussion forums to complete a collaborative learning project requiring complex data gathering and research processes. While a large body of research on computer-mediated communication (CMC) has documented successful intervention strategies to promote and sustain online discussion forums, little of the research has examined the use of online discussion forums in voluntarily contexts, wherein the decision to use online discussion forums is a personal decision and participation is not a graded component. This study approaches the research questions using a naturalistic case study of one graduate-level blended learning course with 55 students. Employing both student interviews and content analysis methods, this study revealed that the factors affecting the group decision to use online discussion forums are (1) successful or unsuccessful experiences during the first trial, (2) perceived affordances of CMC tools, and (3) the interplay between the nature of collaborative tasks and perceived efficiency. The content analysis of online postings in two voluntary groups revealed that when groups decided to use online discussion forums, participation levels were almost equal among individual group members, and discussion threads were sustained until the final completion of the collaborative project.     

Predicting social cues during online discussions: Effects of evaluations and knowledge content

This study examined whether evaluations (agreements, disagreements), knowledge content (new ideas, justifications), or social cues (SCs) in recent messages affected a current message’s positive or negative SC during asynchronous, online discussions. Using statistical discourse analysis, we modeled 894 messages by 183 participants on 60 high school mathematics topics (typically eight people posted per topic) on a mathematics problem solving website not connected to any class or school. Results showed that recent agreements increased the likelihood of positive SC, whereas justifications reduced it. Disagreements increased the likelihood of negative SC, whereas new ideas reduced it. Meanwhile, recent positive or negative SCs did not affect the likelihood of a subsequent SC. Together, these results suggest that judicious use of positive SCs rather than negative SCs during disagreements can help students both construct knowledge and maintain social relationships.     

Cognitive presence in asynchronous online learning: a comparison of four discussion strategies

Some scholars argue that students do not achieve higher level learning, or cognitive presence, in online courses. Online discussion has been proposed to bridge this gap between online and face‐to‐face learning environments. However, the literature indicates that the conventional approach to online discussion – asking probing questions – does not necessarily advance the discussion through the phases of cognitive presence: triggering events, exploration, integration and resolution, which are crucial for deep knowledge construction. Using mixed methods, we examined the contribution of four scenario‐based online discussion strategies – structured, scaffolded, debate and role play – to the learners' cognitive presence, the outcome of the discussion. Learners' discussion postings within each strategy were segmented and categorized according to the four phases. The discussion strategies, each using the same authentic scenario, were then compared in terms of the number of segments representing these phases. We found that the structured strategy, while highly associated with triggering events, produced no discussion pertaining to the resolution phase. The scaffolded strategy, on the other hand, showed a strong association with the resolution phase. The debate and role‐play strategies were highly associated with exploration and integration phases. We concluded that discussion strategies requiring learners to take a perspective in an authentic scenario facilitate cognitive presence, and thus critical thinking and higher levels of learning. We suggest a heuristic for sequencing a series of discussion forums and recommend areas for further related research.     

Guidelines for facilitating the development of learning communities in online courses

Online learning has grown exponentially in recent years; however, dropout problem remains challenging for some online programmes. The dropout problem can be attributed to a number of reasons, with a lack of interaction between learners and the instructor constituting one of the main reasons. The lack of interaction also leads to learners' feeling of isolation. Learning communities can provide learners with an environment conducive to increased interactions and alleviate their feeling of isolation. Unfortunately, there are no clear rules that instructors can follow to help learners create learning communities. In this paper, we propose guidelines for online instructors to facilitate the development of learning communities in online courses. We first review the definition of a learning community, importance of a learning community and factors affecting the development of a learning community. Afterwards, based on a review of the existing guidelines and other relevant literature, we propose guidelines for facilitating the development of learning communities in online courses.     

Social metacognition and the creation of correct,new ideas: A statistical discourse analysis of online mathematics discussions

During asynchronous, online mathematics discussions, new ideas and justifications (knowledge content) and evaluations and invitations to participate (social metacognition) can influence the likelihood of a correct, new idea (CNI) in the current message. Using statistical discourse analysis, we modeled 894 messages by 183 participants on 60 high school mathematics topics on a mathematics problem solving website not connected to any class or school. Results showed that CNIs, justifications, and social metacognition (correct evaluations and questions) in recent messages increased the likelihood of a CNI in the current message. Meanwhile, more experienced participants (who had posted more messages on the website) had more CNIs, and participants who initiated topics had fewer CNIs. Applied to practice, these results suggest that teachers can facilitate students’ creation of CNIs by encouraging them to justify their ideas, evaluate one another’s ideas carefully, and ask questions during online mathematics discussions.     

Investigating students' learning approaches,perceptions of online discussions,and students' online and academic performance

The main purpose of this study was to understand the relationships between students' approaches to learning, their perceptions of online discussions, students' contributions in asynchronous discussions, and their academic performance. Two sets of questionnaires were used for understanding students' approaches of learning and perceptions of online discussions. The online postings from seven weeks of discussions were coded into three major categories: Initiation, Elaborated Response (ER), and Response with Resources (RWR). The results showed, first, some aspects of students' perceptions influenced the numbers of ERs and RWRs. Secondly, students' contributions to Initiation messages and RWR significantly related to deep motivation and deep strategies; however, the numbers of these two types of messages were negatively correlated to surface strategies. Finally, cluster analysis revealed three distinct groups who scored significantly different in almost all aspects of approaches to learning and perceptions of online discussions. Students in the cluster who adopted deep approaches and scored highest in the perception scales outperformed students in the other two clusters, both in terms of the number of ER messages and academic performance. Pedagogical implications for teaching with online discussions are discussed in this study.     

How students emerge as learning leaders in small group online discussions

In this study, we examined the role of leadership styles and multi-dimensional learner engagement in how students emerge as learning leaders in asynchronous online discussions. Grounded in the conceptual framework of two dominant leadership styles of transformational and transactional leadership, this study applies the two leadership styles—transformational leadership and transactional leadership—to the Leader Identification Method (LIM) which defines three types of leader roles (i.e., full, transactional and attractive facilitator) in online learning. We collected data from 20 students enrolled in a graduate-level online course that required participation in 12-week discussion activities. Results of the longitudinal data analyses show that person-focused, transformational leadership and active participation in online discussions were significant factors that enabled students to emerge as learning leaders. Students are more likely to become leaders by exhibiting transformational leadership behaviour and productively interacting with one another in an online discussion community.     

Being polite while fulfilling different discourse functions in online classroom discussions

Using a discourse analytic qualitative approach, we investigated the naturally-occurring discourse that arose as part of two kinds of regular course activities, synchronous and asynchronous computer-mediated discussions. The messages contributed by members of a graduate course were analyzed for the kind of discourse functions and the kind of politeness strategies they displayed. Results indicated that synchronous CMD afforded more information seeking, information providing, and social comments than asynchronous CMD. Asynchronous discussions were slightly more likely to allow for such functions as discussion generating, experience sharing, idea explanation, and self-evaluation functions than synchronous discussions. Proportionately the two modes were similar in how politeness was expressed. Finally, in relating politeness and function, we found more politeness indicators when students were posting messages with such functions as positive evaluation and group conversation management, functions that carried the potential for face threat, and the least politeness associated with messages serving the function of experience sharing.     

Building presence in an online shopping website: the role of website quality

This study explores how sellers’ website quality influences buyers’ perceived presence, which in turn affects website identification and purchase intention. The results of a conceptual model, with data collected from TaoBao, demonstrate that information and service quality are positively related to social presence, and system and service quality are positively related to telepresence. Furthermore, information and service quality increase website identification, but system quality does not. Finally, social presence positively affects website identification and purchase intention, while telepresence only positively affects website identification. These results bridge the research gap about the formation of presence in an online shopping context.     

Five facets of social presence in online distance education

Social presence in online learning environments refers to the degree to which a learner feels personally connected with other students and the instructor in an online learning community. Based on a 19 item Online Social Presence Questionnaire (OSPQ) given to college students in two different online learning courses, a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses consistently revealed five factors representing facets of social presence in online learning environments: social respect (e.g. receiving timely responses), social sharing (e.g., sharing information or expressing beliefs), open mind (e.g., expressing agreement or receiving positive feedback), social identity (e.g., being called by name), and intimacy (e.g., sharing personal experiences). Together, the five factors accounted for 58% of the variance and were based on 19 items. Although much previous research focuses on cognitive aspects of learning in online environments, understanding the role of the learner’s sense of presence may be particularly important in distance learning situations in which students and the instructor are physically separated.     

Social presence in relation to students' satisfaction and learning in the online environment: A meta-analysis

Social presence, the ability to perceive others in an online environment, has been shown to impact student motivation and participation, actual and perceived learning, course and instructor satisfaction, and retention in online courses; yet very few researchers have attempted to look across contexts, disciplinary areas, or measures of social presence. This meta-analysis allowed us to look across these variables of the primary studies and identify the pattern of student outcomes (e.g., perceived learning and satisfaction) in relation to social presence through scrutiny of differences between the studies. The results showed a moderately large positive average correlation between social presence and satisfaction (r = 0.56, k = 26) and social presence and perceived learning (r = 0.51, k = 26). Large variation among correlations (86.7% for satisfaction and 92.8% for perceived learning, respectively) also indicated systematic differences among these correlations due to online course settings. We found that (a) the strength of the relationship between social presence and satisfaction was moderated by the course length, discipline area, and scale used to measure social presence; and (b) the relationship between social presence and perceived learning was moderated by the course length, discipline area, and target audience of the course. Implications and future research are discussed.     

Effect of online social networking on student academic performance

Online social networks (OSNs) have permeated all generations of Internet users, becoming a prominent communications tool, particularly in the student community. Thus, academic institutions and faculty are increasingly using social networking sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, to connect with current and potential students and to deliver instructional content. This has led to a rise in questions about the impact of OSN on academic performance and the possibility of using it as an effective teaching tool. To learn more about the impact on academic performance, we conducted a survey of business students at a large state university. Survey results were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results revealed a statistically significant negative relationship between time spent by students on OSN and their academic performance. The time spent on OSN was found to be heavily influenced by the attention span of the students. Specifically, we determined that the higher the attention span, the lower is the time spent on OSN. Further, attention span was found to be highly correlated with characteristics that predict or influence student behavior, such as their perceptions about society’s view of social networking, their likes and dislikes of OSN, ease of use of OSN, etc.     

It is about timing: Network prestige in asynchronous online discussions

Asynchronous online discussions are broadly used to support social learning. This paper reports on an undergraduate class's online discussion activities over one semester. Applying social network analysis, this study revealed a participation gap among students reflected by their varied levels of network prestige. The low‐prestige group initiated equivalent volumes of interactions but were less reciprocated. In‐depth analysis found the high‐prestige group also advantageous in other network measures such as closeness centrality and eigenvector centrality, as well as the strength, persistence, and reciprocity of their ties. To probe potential explanations of the revealed gap, we further contrasted post content and posting behaviours between two groups. Results did not identify any significant differences in post content but found low‐prestige students' participation less timely and more temporally compressed. This paper calls for attention to the participation gap in online discussions, microlevel temporal patterns of student activities, and practical means to scaffold student participation in asynchronous online discussions.     

Predicting students' final performance from participation in on-line discussion forums

On-line discussion forums constitute communities of people learning from each other, which not only inform the students about their peers' doubts and problems but can also inform instructors about their students' knowledge of the course contents. In fact, nowadays there is increasing interest in the use of discussion forums as an indicator of student performance. In this respect, this paper proposes the use of different data mining approaches for improving prediction of students' final performance starting from participation indicators in both quantitative, qualitative and social network forums. Our objective is to determine how the selection of instances and attributes, the use of different classification algorithms and the date when data is gathered affect the accuracy and comprehensibility of the prediction. A new Moodle's module for gathering forum indicators was developed and different executions were carried out using real data from 114 university students during a first-year course in computer science. A representative set of traditional classification algorithms have been used and compared versus classification via clustering algorithms for predicting whether students will pass or fail the course on the basis of data about their forum usage. The results obtained indicate the suitability of performing both a final prediction at the end of the course and an early prediction before the end of the course; of applying clustering plus class association rules mining instead of traditional classification for obtaining highly interpretable student performance models; and of using a subset of attributes instead of all available attributes, and not all forum messages but only students' messages with content related to the subject of the course for improving classification accuracy.     

Training teacher-researchers through online collective academic supervision: Evidence from a postgraduate teacher education programme

Collective academic supervision (CAS) is a collective model for students' academic supervision to reduce their isolation and as a measure to establish a congenial culture and to develop networks with their peers. Most studies focus on the benefits of online CAS, leaving the pedagogical process and students' learning experiences understudied. This research examines the participation and learning experience of a cohort of Master of Education (MEd) students in online supervision that took place on a Moodle platform. This article reports a case study of Moodle-based CAS in Hong Kong that aims to train postgraduate students into teacher-researchers. A class of MEd students and their supervisors were observed, and their online dialogues were analysed. The bio-ecological student engagement model was used to explain the online supervision process. The results indicated that the students' learning was situated and embodied in the online social processes facilitated by peers' and supervisors' replies. The online interaction behaviours mainly included proposing questions or problems, providing information or solutions, and making comments. The findings have provided an exemplary case regarding the application of the online learning environment in supporting CAS and active research-based learning. The productive online CAS seems to benefit both teacher candidates and their supervisors by promoting the co-construction of the knowledge and skills of educational research, although more evidence is needed.