Participation in asynchronous online discussion forums does improve student learning of gross anatomy

Asynchronous online discussion forums are common in blended learning models and are popular with students. A previous report has suggested that participation in these forums may assist student learning in a gross anatomy subject but it was unclear as to whether more academically able students post more often or whether participation led to improved learning outcomes. This study used a path model to analyze the contribution of forum participation, previous academic ability, and student campus of enrolment to final marks in a multicampus gross anatomy course for physiotherapy students. The course has a substantial online learning management system (LMS) that incorporates asynchronous forums as a learning tool, particularly to answer learning objectives. Students were encouraged to post new threads and answer queries in threads started by others. The forums were moderated weekly by staff. Discussion forums were the most used feature of the LMS site with 31,920 hits. Forty‐eight percent of the students posted at least once with 186 threads initiated by students and a total of 608 posts. The total number of posts made a significant direct contribution to final mark (P = 0.008) as did previous academic ability (P = 0.002). Although campus did not contribute to final mark, there was a trend for students at the campus where the course coordinator was situated to post more often than those at the other campus (P = 0.073). These results indicate that asynchronous online discussion forums can be an effective tool for improving student learning outcomes as evidenced by final marks in gross anatomy teaching. Anat Sci Educ. 7: 71–76. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Teaching Mature Students

ABSTRACT

Online discussions are widely viewed as a valuable tool for encouraging student engagement and promoting interaction with course material outside of the traditional classroom. Strategies for conducting online discussions vary and are not confined to traditional, university-sponsored learning management systems (LMS). Social media platforms such as Facebook, which provide a variety of social benefits to students, might also represent a viable mechanism for educational information exchange and learning. Our study tested this proposition by comparing the effects of a Facebook-based and LMS-based online discussion forum on students' participation, achievement of learning goals, and overall course performance. Our findings suggest that different forums can affect classroom dynamics and student learning in different ways. While Facebook may be better at fostering student participation and encouraging peer-to-peer dialogue, the university-sponsored LMS may be a more effective tool for encouraging students to develop coherent arguments and apply course content in other contexts. Since this study shows that platform of an online discussion assignment matters, college instructors should consider the benefits and drawbacks of each platform before developing an online discussion assignment. Instructor choice of platform should depend on course content, instructor's teaching preferences, and online discussion assignment goals.     

Broadening the notion of participation in online discussions: examining patterns in learners’ online listening behaviors

While a great deal of research has studied the messages students contribute to electronic discussion forums, productive participation in online learning conversations requires more than just making posts. One important pre-condition for productive interactivity and knowledge construction is engagement with the posts contributed by others. In this study, these actions (how learners interact with the existing discussion; which posts they attend to, when, and how) are conceptualized as “online listening behaviors” and are studied in the context of a large undergraduate business course taught in a blended format. Clickstream data was collected for 96 participants from 3 week-long online discussions to solve organizational behavior challenges in groups of 10–13. Listening behaviors accounted for almost three-quarters of the time learners spent in the discussions, and cluster analysis identified three distinct patterns of behavior: (1) Superficial Listeners, Intermittent Talkers; (2) Concentrated Listeners, Integrated Talkers; and (3) Broad Listeners, Reflective Talkers. The clusters differed in the depth, breadth, temporal contiguity, and reflectivity of their listening as well as in their patterns of speaking. An illustrative case study of how the listening behaviors were enacted by one student from each cluster over time was used to deepen the characterization and interpretation of each cluster. The results indicate that online listening is a complex phenomenon and a substantial component of students’ participation in online discussions. Findings are compared to the previous work on student learning approaches and implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Participation and cognitive quality profiles in an online discussion forum

A case study was used to analyse the relationships between participation in an online discussion forum and the cognitive quality of the contributions made. Participation was calculated using two dimensions: presence (who accesses the environment, how often and for how long) and connectivity (who interacts with whom and the degree of intensity of the interaction). The discussion forum considered forms part of a course on Educational Psychology included in the curriculum of initial teacher training at the University of Barcelona and was accessed by 17 students over a period of 25 days. The analysis was carried out using a multi‐method approach, which combines quantitative indicators of presence and connectivity with a content analysis of the contributions made by each participant. The results suggest that a high level of participation (high level of presence/high level of connectivity) is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for maintaining high‐quality contributions throughout the discussion.     

Does the discussion help? The impact of a formally assessed online discussion on final student results

While there is agreement that participation in online asynchronous discussions can enhance student learning, it has also been identified that there is a need to investigate the impact of participation in online discussions on student course performance. This paper presents a case study based on an undergraduate engineering management unit employing a formally assessed online discussion area. It was observed that while many students read a significant number of discussion postings, generally, the posting of new and reply messages occurred at the minimum level required to qualify for the assignment marks. Based on correlation and multiple regression analysis, it was observed that two variables were significantly related to a student's final unit mark—prior academic ability and the number of new postings made to the online discussion. Each new posting contributed three times as much to the final unit mark as its nominal assessment value, suggesting that the work in preparing their new discussion postings assisted students in the completion of a range of assessable tasks for the unit. The number of postings read was not significantly correlated with the final unit mark, suggesting that passive lurking in this online discussion did not significantly contribute to student learning outcomes.     

Rethinking online discourse: Improving learning through discussions in the online classroom

As colleges continue to expand online offerings, student participation within courses should be assessed to ensure that teachers can best implement effective, responsible lesson plans. This study examined discourse in an online classroom in order to gauge student participation by observing student-to-student and student-to-instructor exchanges within the discussion board. Classroom discourse was analyzed using Stahl’s computer supported collaborative learning methodology. Data was collected to assess development of classroom dialogue through group collaboration, and to determine whether participants were interpreting previous posts and contributing to the development of the discussion topic. This study shows that students within the online classroom were able to construct deeper meanings in classroom dialogues through thoughtful and personal contributions, thereby reaching new understandings through collaborative discussion. This study contends that through insightful planning and guided responses, instructors can manage online classroom discussions to better direct student communications in order to improve collaborative learning and knowledge construction.     

Student outcomes associated with use of asynchronous online discussion forums in gross anatomy teaching

Asynchronous online discussion forums are increasingly common in blended learning environments but the relationship to student learning outcomes has not been reported for anatomy teaching. Forums were monitored in two multicampus anatomy courses; an introductory first year course and a second year physiotherapy‐specific course. The forums are structured with a separate site for each course module and moderated weekly by staff. Students are encouraged to post to new threads (initial post) and answer queries in threads started by others (reply post). Analysis of forums was conducted separately for each course and included overall activity (posts and views) for a full semester and a detailed analysis for one week in the middle of semester. Students were classified as zero, moderate, or high contributors to the forums based on the number of posts. Final mark for the course was related to level of forum contribution using nonparametric tests. Forum threads were characterized as task‐focused, administrative, or other. A higher proportion of second year (36%) than first‐year (17%) students posted on the forums and the postings were more likely to be task‐focused and student initiated. Second‐year students that posted frequently to the forum gained a higher final mark for the course than those that did not post or only posted a moderate number of times (P < 0.01). This relationship was not evident for first‐year students who had a much higher proportion of administrative threads. Forums in anatomy courses can be powerful learning tools encouraging deeper learning and improved learning outcomes. Anat Sci Educ 6: 101–106. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.     

Teacher Learning in Mathematics: Using Student Work to Promote Collective Inquiry

The study describes teachers' collective work in which they developed deeper understanding of their own students' mathematical thinking. Teachers at one school met in monthly workgroups throughout the year. Prior to each workgroup, they posed a similar mathematical problem to their students. The workgroup discussions centered on the student work those problems generated. This study draws on a transformation of participation perspective to address the questions: What do teachers learn through collective examination of student work? How is teacher learning evident in shifts in participation in discussions centered on student work? The analyses account for the learning of the group by documenting key shifts in teachers' participation across the year. The first shift in participation occurred when teachers as a group learned to attend to the details of children's thinking. A second shift in participation occurred as teachers began to develop possible instructional trajectories in mathematics. We focus our discussion on the significance of the use of student work and a transformation of participation view in analyzing the learning trajectory of teachers as a group.     

Exploring the temporal dimension of forum participation in MOOCs

Discussion forums are increasingly central to massive open online courses (MOOCs), and it is vital for learners to participate in associated forum activities. Active forum participation positively relates to learner achievement in that more posts yield better learner performance. However, this numerically aggregated measure overlooks the fact that longitudinal trajectories of forum participation temporally vary among learners with different motivations in taking MOOCs. To provide timely support for learners to stay engaged, it is important to understand the temporal variation of longitudinal forum participation and how different motivations account for the variance. Using educational data mining techniques, this research identified three clusters with different longitudinal participation trajectories and also indicated that intrinsically motivated learners outperformed others in their longitudinal forum engagement. Also, examining longitudinal forum participation more accurately differentiated learner performance than the numerically aggregated measure. Last, learners persistently engaging in forums were more likely to perform better in MOOCs.     

Utilizing Peer Moderating in Online Discussions: Addressing the Controversy between Teacher Moderation and Nonmoderation

This study focused on the effects of peer moderation on meaningful interactions in online discussions. A meaningful interaction was defined as a message relating to a discussion topic, responding to a previous message, and adding substance to the discussion. A randomized-subject, posttest-only control group design was used to test the first hypothesis, that a peer-moderated online discussion forum would contain more posts responding to previous comments than a nonmoderated forum, and the second hypothesis, that a peer-moderated online discussion forum would contain more substantive responses enriching the conversation than a nonmoderated forum. Both hypotheses were supported. Results showed that students responded to messages more actively and engaged in more in-depth discussions when discussions were moderated by a peer.     

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.     

Exploring Factors Influencing Collaborative Knowledge Construction in Online Discussions: Student Facilitation and Quality of Initial Postings

Although lots of studies have investigated collaborative knowledge construction in online courses, the factors influencing this process are yet to be fully determined. This study provides quantitative and qualitative types of evidence on how (naturally emerged) student facilitation and quality of initial postings influence collaborative knowledge construction in online discussions. We analyzed the discourse of nine student groups (N = 34) working on a case problem in an online discussion forum. We found that student facilitation was an important contributor to the process. In contrast, the contribution of low-quality postings in early stages of the discussion can jeopardize the process. This work is an attempt to address quality in online learning by helping instructors decide on encouraging student facilitation in online discussions as well as structuring and carefully monitoring the content of initial discussion postings.     

Student hand-raising as an indicator of behavioral engagement and its role in classroom learning

Hand-raising is an everyday student behavior during classroom discourse. The present study investigates hand-raising as an observable indicator of behavioral engagement and its relation to student achievement. We examine students’ hand-raising behavior during a videotaped lesson in high school classrooms (N = 266 students). Results from multilevel regression modeling linked the frequency of students’ engagement in hand-raising to academic achievement. Further, structural equation modeling was applied to investigate the interrelations between hand-raising, cognitive engagement, and teacher emotional support. Results indicate that hand-raising is associated with cognitive engagement and perceptions of teacher support and suggest that hand-raising may mediate the relation between teacher emotional support and academic achievement. The discussion highlights the utility of student hand-raising as a proxy for students’ active participation and engagement. We emphasize the study’s contribution to the engagement literature.     

Shades of gray: an autoethnographic study of race in the academy

The study is an autoethnographic case study of one Black man’s experiences, both within and outside academe. Two strands of vignettes – one personal, the other professional – run throughout the paper. The two strands are presented in a format similar to parallel editing used in film editing. The overarching goal of the piece is to offer a view of the author’s experiences involving race in higher education. The study uses reflexive writing as a method of revisiting and interrogating the author’s experience and illustrating how this process of reflexivity impacts on his own in notions of race. The result of these writings ranges from reinforcing relatively simplistic views of race to disrupting his preconceived ideas. While some themes that arise from this piece may resemble previous works on race, racial identity and racial politics, there are unique perspectives and interpretations presented in this paper that are attributable in no small measure to the fact that the author is a Black man who was raised by a white family in white America. Since the author did not have the cultural experience of being Black until he went to college, a white cultural lens largely informs his understandings of his own experiences. However, the act of writing uncovers inconsistencies within the author’s own interpretations and theories of race. In fact, it appears that the author has competing theories of race that present dilemmas for his thinking and dealings with race in higher education. The study concludes that writing can be used as an effective method for reflecting, interrogating and modifying one’s own perspective to arrive at more nuanced and complex understandings, which reinforce the conclusion that race plays out in messy and complicated ways.     

Sex,Male Teachers and Young Children

The recent case of a male student nursery nurse found guilty of sexually abusing children brought into focus the absence of policies on men working with young children in schools regarding such issues as how to handle physical contact, intimacy and masculinity, their female colleagues and the children in their care. This means individual male teachers have to construct their own frameworks in which to work ‘safely’ with children. If male teachers and children are to work together within a protective and supportive environment, issues involving sex and masculinity need to be given a forum for discussion.     

Student Responsible Learning: Getting Students to Read Online Discussions

Designing courses for optimal level student learning is dependent upon student participation. This study examined one way to encourage further student participation in online discussions. Of specific importance was how to encourage students to read their student-colleagues' online discussion responses: not just a minimum number of responses but the majority of the responses. Results illustrate that the method utilized, Thematic Analysis, is effective in increasing reading rates among students. But possibly even more interesting are the students' reports that the use of this learning tool encouraged them to think critically and that their learning occurred primarily through many of the tenets of social constructivist theory. Furthermore, students reported enjoying this process of learning.     

Students in Higher Education Governance: The Portuguese case

This article aims at analysing and discussing student participation in Portuguese higher education institutions and, specifically, in university governance. In a first moment, it describes this participation under both the previous (1988–2007) and the new legal frameworks (since 2007). A discussion of the changes introduced by this last framework and the extent to which it has contributed to the erosion of student participation in governance is undertaken. Next, the article deals with the ways students are involved in quality assessment at both its systemic and institutional levels. The case of a specific Portuguese university is used as an example of how this involvement takes place. The article concludes with a discussion on the main features of Portuguese student participation in governance, focusing on its effectiveness and suggesting measures for improvement.