我国网上学习社区研究现状——基于中国期刊网的分析

近年来,人们对网上教学的理解逐渐从借助网络平台传递教学资源,到强调促进师生和生生之间互动与交流,促使学习社区的形成,而使网上学习社区的理论和实践研究日趋成为一个热门课题。然而研究现状如何,如何提高现有研究水平,未来研究的趋势和方向是什么,是我们不得不考虑的几个问题。本文以2000-2007年8月期间中国期刊网数据库中的网上学习社区相关论文为研究对象,采用内容分析法,从论文主题、研究方法和研究类型三个方面进行统计分析,旨在得出我国网上学习社区研究的现状和趋势,并对未来的研究提出了相关建议,以期对网上学习社区的研究者和实践者提供一定的参考。     

论网络教师在师生互动中的印象管理

网络教学环境是一个技术支持下的社会化空间,师生在网络环境下处于相对分离的状态,只能通过技术工具与平台实现互动,师生互动是影响网络教学绩效的关键因素之一。由于学生对网络教师的印象不仅会影响他们对网络学习的满意度,而且还会影响学习效果,因此网络教师在师生互动过程中应学会印象管理。网络教师实施有效的印象管理有利于增加师生之间的信任程度,优化网络教学环境下的师生互动效果。网络教师在师生互动过程中的印象管理内含印象动机与印象建构两种成分,前者是指网络教师具备主动促使学生对自己形成好印象的意识与愿望,后者是指网络教师通过适当的策略与方法展现自我形象,调整自己的行为表现,努力让学生对自己形成自己所期望的印象的过程。网络教师的印象管理策略包括基于提升＂教学临场＂的专业化策略、基于社交技能的社会化策略以及基于技术素养的技术性策略。针对网络教师实施印象管理的具体策略,开展实证层面的应用效果和评价研究是未来的努力方向。     

网络课程质量评价实践及学术研究评述

网络课程质量评价在整个网络教育中占有非常重要的地位,可为网络课程学分互认提供依据。本文以近5年国内外关于网络课程质量评价的实践及文献作为研究对象,总结了实践领域影响力较高的网络课程质量评价指标,从专家视角、学生视角、交互视角、各类教学原理视角对已有研究进行了评述。研究发现,坚持整体观立场,以有效学习发生为基础,探索网络课程质量是极其重要的;网络课程质量评价研究的三个基本核心问题为目标是否适合社会需求、目标与其实现手段是否一致、目标与其评价是否一致,这三个问题也是研究网络课程学分互认的重要基础。     

Exploring ethical issues associated with using online surveys in educational research

Online surveys are increasingly used in educational research, yet little attention has focused on ethical issues associated with their use in educational settings. Here, we draw on the broader literature to discuss 5 key ethical issues in the context of educational survey research: dual teacher/researcher roles; informed consent; use of incentives; privacy, anonymity, and confidentiality; and data quality. We illustrate methods of addressing these issues with our experiences conducing online surveys in educational contexts. Moving beyond the procedural ethics approach commonly adopted in quantitative educational research, we recommend adopting a situated/process ethics approach to identify and respond to ethical issues that may arise during the conduct, analysis, and reporting of online survey research. The benefits of online surveying in comparison to traditional survey methods are highlighted, including the potential for online surveys to provide ethically defensible methods of conducting research that would not be feasible in offline education research settings.     

Interaction and cognitive engagement: An analysis of four asynchronous online discussions

Online discussion plays a unique role in face-to-face and distance teaching and learning. Interaction and student cognitive engagement during the online discussion are critical for constructing new understanding and knowledge. This article analyzes types of interaction that occur during online discussions, examines levels of student cognitive engagement in each discussion, and explores their effects on and implications for learning and teaching in higher education. By combining methods of social network analysis with qualitative content analysis, the article explores new methodologies for analyzing participation, interaction, and learning that take place online, and suggests areas for research in learning and teaching online.     

基于云计算和大数据的在线教育交互应用研究

在线教育交互是在线教育研究领域的重要组成部分,云计算和大数据技术的出现及发展为在线教育交互研究提供了新的机遇,对其服务模式与数据处理等方面产生了巨大影响。文章在基于云计算和大数据特征基础上,对在线教育交互所面临的问题进行讨论,并构建在线教育交互平台模型,通通分析平台功能和进行数据挖掘,实现了在线授课者和学习者的高效互动的目的。     

MOOCs as a massive research laboratory: opportunities and challenges

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) offer many opportunities for research into several topics related to pedagogical methods and student incentives. In the context of over 20 years of online learning research, we discuss lessons to be learned from observational comparisons and experiments on randomly chosen groups of students. We target two MOOCs for our study. We investigate dropout rates and how students who decide to drop out differ from those who continue courses. We discuss class forums and video lectures and how these interactions correlate with achievement. We explore the strong correlation between procrastination and achievement and implications for MOOC design. We examine the role of certifications offered by MOOCs and how different options can affect outcomes. We also examine the potential of linking data across courses. We discuss survey data in the context of these MOOCs. These research opportunities offer big data challenges, which are addressed with parallel computing techniques.     

Adaptive navigation support in educational hypermedia: the role of student knowledge level and the case for meta-adaptation

Adaptive hypermedia is an alternative to the traditional “one‐size‐fits‐all” approach in the development of hypermedia systems. Adaptive hypermedia (AH) systems build a model of the goals, preferences, and knowledge of each individual user, and use this model throughout the interaction with the user, in order to adapt to the needs of that user. Adaptive navigation support is a specific group of adaptive hypermedia techniques that become especially popular in educational hypermedia systems. This paper provides a brief overview of main adaptive navigation support techniques and analyzes the results of most representative empirical studies of these techniques. It demonstrates an evidence that different known techniques work most efficiently in different context. In particular, the studies summarized in the paper have provided evidence that users with different knowledge level of the subject may appreciate different adaptive navigation support technologies. The paper argues that more empirical studies are required to help the developers of adaptive hypermedia systems in selecting most relevant adaptation technologies. It also attempts to build a case for meta‐adaptive hypermedia systems, ie, systems that are able to adapt the very adaptation technology to the given user and context.     

话语分析-研究CSCL中协作意义建构的新方法

计算机支持的协作学习(CSCL)中学习者主要是通过对话来进行意义建构的,意义体现在话语之中。因此话语成为研发和分析协作意义建构的焦点。在过去的二十年中,研究话语正在成为研究社会情境下学习的一个重要的理论视角,因此通过研究话语来研究网络教育成为该领域的一个新的研究路径。文章在探讨了话语的概念和特点的基础上,阐述了话语分析的发展历程和理论基础。结合CSCL中协作意义建构的特点,提出了适合运用话语分析方法研究问题的要素、原则和方法,最后提出了运用话语分析可以研究的CSCL问题及其意义。     

Youth online political expression in non-political spaces: implications for civic education

ABSTRACT

Based on an in-depth qualitative content analysis of post-election discourse in three online creative communities (Scratch, Archive of Our Own, and hitRECord), we examine the significance of youth political expression in non-political online spaces, and its implications for civic education. We find that these spaces offer a valuable window into the main concerns experienced by youth around the election, which they voice through unique modes of expression. Online spaces facilitate connections between the personal and the political, while highlighting the social aspects of youth participation and learning in regard to civic issues. At the same time, participants exhibit uncertainty regarding the limits of online expression and the potential consequences of speaking out. We argue that online spaces should be acknowledged as a significant channel for youth political expression and socialization, and consider how the practices encountered there could shape our approach to civic education.     

“在线实践共同体”成员参与动机研究

在线实践共同体的学习已成为非正式学习的一种崭新方式,对它的研究也已成为网络教育应用的热点之一。但是,人们为何热衷参与这种学习方式,其主要动机和缘由是什么却鲜有研究涉及。基于“Sybace在线”网络共同体的实证研究显示：在线实践共同体的基本成员角色包含发起者、协调者、核心成员、技术支持人员和一般成员;成人是否选择参与在线实践共同体主要由内在动机决定,成员参与动机是理智、有选择、有目标的,各个动机因素之间并不独立无关,而是相互影响,共同作用的,激发和维持成员参与动机非常重要。     

Examining emotional expressions in discourse: methodological considerations

This methodological paper presents an approach for examining emotional expressions through discourse analysis and ethnographic methods. Drawing on trends in the current literature in science education, we briefly explain the importance of emotions in science education and examine the current research methodologies used in interactional emotion studies. We put forth and substantiate a methodological approach that attends to the interactional, contextual, intertextual, and consequential aspects of emotional expressions. By examining emotional expressions in the discourse in which they are constructed, emotional expressions are identified through semantics, contextualization, and linguistic features. These features make salient four dimensions of emotional expressions: aboutness, frequency, type, and ownership. Drawing on data from a large empirical study of pre-service elementary teachers’ emotional expressions about climate change in a science course, we provide illustrative examples to describe what counts as emotional expressions in situ. In doing so we explain how our approach makes salient the nuanced nature of such expressions as well as the broader discourse in which they are constructed and the implications for researching emotional expressions in science education discourse. We suggest reasons why this discourse orientated research methodology can contribute to the interactional study of emotions in science education contexts.     

Toward pervasive knowledge building discourse: analyzing online and offline discourses of primary science learning in Singapore

This research examined discourses in classroom and online learning environments where the Knowledge Building Community model was enacted to foster deep understanding in science learning in Singapore primary classes. This study posited that discourse is a fundamental form of learning that reveals how knowledge building is enacted and embodied by a community of learners. Discourses in classroom lessons and online postings were analyzed from both quantitative and qualitative views. Overall, the discourse analysis of the verbal activities in classroom lessons showed clear signs of IRE (Initiation–Response–Evaluation) patterns of discourse, while more diversity of ideas and questions were found in Knowledge Forum postings. However, online discourse showed some instances of incorrect group thinking and fear of appearing ignorant. In conclusion, we discuss implications of findings and future research directions for creating pervasive knowledge building discourse.     

Analysis of students’ ideas and conceptual artifacts in knowledge-building discourse

This study proposes a new methodological approach to evaluate students’ knowledge-building discourse. First, we discuss the knowledge–creation metaphor of learning. In the metaphor, theories mention that learners should consider their collective knowledge objects or artifacts that materialize as a result of their collaborative discourse. Second, we argue the necessity of developing new analytics to evaluate student learning. We describe how students’ ideas and their conceptual artifacts can be examined in discourse analysis. Third, we demonstrate the application of our analytics to real discourse data. We conducted a new type of social network analysis of discourse to examine how students continuously improve their ideas. Further, we conducted another network analysis of discourse, called the Epistemic Network Analysis, by coding students’ epistemic actions as conceptual artifacts to create and examine their ideas.     

The Nature of Discourse throughout 5E Lessons in a Large Enrolment College Biology Course

Large enrolment science courses play a significant role in educating undergraduate students. The discourse in these classes usually involves an instructor lecturing with little or no student participation, despite calls from current science education reform documents to elicit and utilize students’ ideas in teaching. In this study, we used the 5E instructional model to develop and implement four lessons in a large enrolment introductory biology course with multiple opportunities for teacher-student and student-student interaction. Data consisted of video and audio recordings of whole-class and small-group discussions that took place throughout the study. We then used a science classroom discourse framework developed by Mortimer and Scott (2003) to characterize the discursive interactions in each 5E lesson phase. Analysis of the data resulted in two assertions. First, the purpose, communicative approach, patterns of discourse, and teaching interventions were unique to each 5E lesson phase. Second, the type of lesson topic influenced the content of the discourse. We discuss how the findings help characterize the discourse of each phase in a 5E college science lesson and propose a model to understand internalization through discursive interaction using this reform-based approach. We conclude with implications for facilitating discourse in college science lessons and future research. This study provides support for using the discourse framework to characterize discursive interaction in college science courses.     

The challenges of undergraduate online learning experienced by older workers in career transition

This paper presents the findings of a research project on older workers transitioning into work as vocational educators through online undergraduate university study. The study involved interpretive phenomenological analysis of the experiences of 10 older learners. Their experience of online learning was found to be shaped by diverse influences and to comprise three distinct but interrelated elements: their use of technology, their use of hypermedia and their independent learning. Challenges raised by each of these elements called for a distinctive response from the university, respectively: short-term, readily available technical advice and support; tutoring to develop Web navigation and exploration skills, or the provision of selected readings; and opportunities for online or face-to-face dialogical engagement with others. Recommendations for the online provision of higher education for such learners, then, pointed to the need for an appropriately distinctive response to challenges in each of the three elements: the use of technology calling for individualised and immediate responsiveness to learner issues; the use of hypermedia calling for aggregated advice and resources prepared in advance; and independent learning calling for the prior structuring of opportunities for interactive engagement. Further research is suggested focusing on the relative cost and effectiveness of different approaches to addressing those needs.     

Supporting change and scholarship through review of online resources in professional development settings

How can we accelerate innovation and ensure effective dissemination of knowledge about online learning resources? This paper advocates strategies that systematically link online professional development with the research, development and diffusion cycle. The systemic approach we describe can accelerate knowledge advancement and help manage change by improving communication among teachers, trainers, developers and researchers. The examples that are provided are set within two funded projects in the United States that led to the development of two distinct but related strategies—the Online Site Evaluation Form for educators (a web‐based review form used in workshops) and a six‐week online course on technology‐supported assessments. Both strategies make it easier to give feedback to developers and offer incentives to do so in ways that help teachers to learn about online resources individually and with colleagues. The examples are discussed with analysis of their strengths and weaknesses in supporting different modes of interaction. We highlight implications for instructional development, professional development, research and knowledge management in online communities.     

Missed Opportunities for Science Learning: Unacknowledged Unscientific Arguments in Asynchronous Online and Face-to-Face Discussions

We explored the scientific argumentation that occurs among university biology students during an argumentation task implemented in two environments: face-to-face in a classroom and online in an asynchronous discussion. We observed 10 student groups, each composed of three students. Our analysis focused on how students respond to their peers’ unscientific arguments, which we define as assertions, hypotheses, propositions, or explanations that are inaccurate or incomplete from a scientific perspective. Unscientific arguments provide opportunities for productive dissent, scientific argumentation, and conceptual development of scientifically desirable conceptions. We found that students did not respond to the majority of unscientific arguments in both environments. Challenges to unscientific arguments were expressed as a question or through explanation, although the latter was more common online than face-to-face. Students demonstrated significantly more epistemic distancing in the face-to-face environment than the online environment. We discuss the differences in discourse observed in both environments and teaching implications. We also provide direction for future research seeking to address the challenges of engaging students in productive scientific argumentation in both face-to-face and online environments.     

An emerging community in online mathematics teacher professional development: an interactional perspective

Online collaborative and content-focused professional development (PD) is becoming an increasingly important setting for supporting mathematics teachers’ professional learning. The purpose of this study was to better understand the process by which a community emerges in such a PD setting by examining how the cohesiveness of 21 mathematics teachers’ social network evolves and associated shifts in the quality of mathematics teachers’ mathematical discourse. We employed social network analysis (SNA) to examine the evolving cohesiveness of mathematics teachers’ social network and coding procedures to examine teachers’ mathematical discourse. A key finding was the documentation of an emergent divide between participation in the core and periphery during initial weeks of the PD and then a reduced divide and emergence of a social network that resembles a community. We argue that the instructor’s pattern of participation that included distributing their interactions across the subgroups while sending a common message regarding expectations for mathematical discourse in the PD may have contributed to the community formation process. We propose the Interaction Assessment Model, which outlines an approach for PD facilitators to use SNA as a feedback mechanism to differentiate facilitation of online collaborative and content-focused PD and build online communities.

     

Hypermedia design as learner scaffolding

A number of available resources offer guidance about hypermedia design strategies, many of which rely on principles of user-centered design. Many recent efforts, however, have focused more on developing learner-centered hypermedia. Learner-centered hypermedia is designed to help learners achieve their educational goals, rather than offer mere usability. Unfortunately, this endeavor is hamstrung by a lack of empirical research on the topic. Research conducted in my laboratory and others has provided some insight, however. It is now understood that several system and user characteristics influence outcomes of hypermedia-assisted learning (HAL). Among the most relevant factors are learners’ levels of metacognition and prior knowledge, and the interaction between these factors and hypermedia structure. By capitalizing on this research, it is possible to create hypermedia that scaffolds learners in their quest to build knowledge and understanding. The present article draws from empirical findings to suggest hypermedia design strategies aimed at scaffolding learners engaged in HAL. These guidelines target learners’ knowledge and metacognitive ability to structure hypermedia that maximizes learning potential.