“In a web-based … course, student attainment can be at least as successful through online discussions as face-to-face seminars. Indeed, students studying purely online appeared to perform slightly better than those following a blended route, although factors other than method of learning account for most of the difference. Increases in online activity were associated with higher assignment marks. Face-to-face seminar students who registered more hits in WebCT achieved higher marks in the assignments. Online discussion students who read more postings achieved higher marks and the highest average mark was obtained by the group who posted most often to the online discussion.”
Campbell, M., Gibson, W., Hall, A., Richards, D., & Callery, P. (2008).
Online vs. face-to-face discussion in a web-based research methods course for postgraduate nursing students: A quasi-experimental study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 45(5), 750-759.
This study was conducted in 2002-2003. Through a school’s educational management software (similar to TWU’s BlackBoard), all student activity (also known as hits) were recorded. Every time a student logged in, open a discussion to read a discussion, post a discussion, etc., were all tracked. Age and sex did not influence the study population of graduate level nursing students. The final recommendations were that other schools should conduct similar research to help “develop an evidence-based approach to web-based education” (Campbell, Gibson, Hall, Richards, & Callery, 2008).
I like what this research was able to provide. Evidence that good grades are possible for the student who just reads a discussion. Yes, the best grades were associated with students that participated in discussions. On Cathy’s recent blog (http://cathy-cathysjourney.blogspot.com/), she talked about “lurking and learning.” She made some assumptions that is actually supported by research.
This way of thinking flys in the face of the discussion question are essential for developing the online community. I’m not so sure that discussion question is about the online community. It is the online version of classroom face to face discussion. And just as it occurs in the classroom, some times there really isn’t anything else that needs to be said about a topic. Should students be penalized for only reading? I have always thought that the “grading” weight of online discussions is too high for graduate students. Undergraduate students need the discussions in traditional classrooms and especially online. I witnessed this fact during my teaching practicums.
Graduate level discussions. . . I’m not so sure that all students need to make replies just to make sure that their names appear. BlackBoard obviously has the capability to track the same activity as presented in this study. Notice on each of our current postings, there is a counter for how many times a posting was read by the class and how many times you personally have viewed a posting. In Chapter 1 of Pallof & Pratt, they discussed and stressed that every student has a level of interaction that is conducive to his/her learning. Some students need a lot of interaction while others are much happier with minimum interaction with the class and instructor. So if Pallof & Pratt and this recent study show that interactional needs and levels are so varied with online courses, should discussion questions be so highly weighted? Just a thought.
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6 comments:
Hi Katherine,
Great thoughts. I read your blog with great enthusiasm. Good points. I think the students get very accustomed to the technology as they interact more frequently which facilitates learning and helps to build more interactive learning communities. I can understand how much I have learned how to learn in online classes by simply getting engaged in more discussions and blogging.
Mercy.
Katherine,
Thank you for the additional studies. I think that we know how much we can learn just by reading. Your question is valid re: the weight of on line discussion for your grade. However, as teachers how can we measure it if not for responses and group discussion, tests, etc..?
I'm not saying to do away with the discussion grade as a whole. I think that the overall weight should not be the bulk of the grade because there are other assessment tools available.
Well... we could always just give more assignments instead of providing grades for discussion. I don't think that's really going to serve the purpose though. The idea is to develop a scholarly discourse (in grad school, at least) and allow students to guide their own discussion and learning within some general assignment guidelines.
As useful as it may be for some people to lurk, I think we need to require participation and engagement of our students (in any setting, not just online). My biggest problem (as a teacher) with those who do not engage in discussion or those who post a flurry of posts at the end of the module is that it reduces the value of the intellectual community. Their lack of engagement is harmful to their peers' learning.
Katherine,
You have valid questions in relation to how online discussion should be graded. I am one person that can read a posted discussion and may be have no comments at that particular time. I will not respond to that post. Then there will be a post may be I have a good understanding or experience about it, and then this will be my chance to say something. Therefore counting on the number of times a student replied to a post may not be the best way to grade. Rather substance. There is more than the hits to look for when grading.
Nelly
Great thoughts. I too sometimes grow tired of responding just to have my name on the page. But if they weren't required would anyone respond and create a discussion?
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