1 / 18

Shufang Shi Oct. 31, 2003

Teacher Moderating and Student Engagement in Synchronous Computer Conferencing (A work in progress). Shufang Shi Oct. 31, 2003. The problem.

kiara
Download Presentation

Shufang Shi Oct. 31, 2003

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Teacher Moderating and Student Engagement in Synchronous Computer Conferencing(A work in progress) Shufang Shi Oct. 31, 2003

  2. The problem • The role of the teacher in classroom discourse is relatively well understood in f2f classrooms, but not in online learning environment. Perceptions of online teachers’ roles in distance education remain quite varied and controversial. • Most research on distributed learning has focused on asynchronous networks, where students learn at any time but not necessarily with any real-time synchronous contact with other learners or the instructor.

  3. Purpose of the Study • To develop a better understanding on how different moderating behaviors by teachers impact learner engagement in synchronous computer conferencing learning environments. • To develop a model that can help us explain the relationship between instructor moderating levels and student engagement

  4. Theoretical Perspectives • Socio-cultural and socio-constructive theories: • Learning as a process of negotiating community membership through various social interactions (Wenger, 1998) among peers, experts, and teachers. • computer conferencing as a powerful social constructivist learning tool because of its capability to support interaction and collaboration among diverse and dispersed students. • All learning requires engagement to attain mastery (Bloom, 1956; Carroll, 1963, Schwab, 1975), online learning is no exception. • The teacher plays an important role in online discussions

  5. Research Questions 1. How do levels of moderating impact levels of student engagement in synchronous computer conferencing? Does a higher level of moderation lead to higher levels of student engagement? 2. Are there optimal levels of moderating for different aspects of student engagement? If so, what are they?

  6. Research Design (1) • This research project builds on two prior research projects. • A case-study which led to the development of “thread theory,” an analytical framework for the analysis of synchronous conferencing transcripts (Shi, 2002). In this study I focused on decrypting the interactional patterns of collaborative discourse and on the teacher’s role in such discussions. • A pilot study to develop constructs (teacher moderating levels & student engagement) and coding scales. • Test the model: a preliminary model of the relationship between moderating levels and student engagement.

  7. Research Design (2) • Independent variable: Teacher moderating levels • A five-level scale to measure moderating levels of each conference by adapting and combining Xin’s (2002) rubric for measuring online moderating with Anderson, Rourke, and Archer’s (2001) teaching presence model. • Dependent variable: student engagement • Behavioral engagement • Social-emotional engagement • Intellectual engagement • Relationship between the variables—the model

  8. Teacher moderating levels The independent variable • A five-level scale (combined and adapted from Xin, 2002, Anderson et al. 2001) is developed • The minimum level of moderation (Level 1) is when the moderator does the bare minimum required (such as opening the discussion, establishing the agenda and so on) but does not participate in the discussion. At the high end of moderating (Level 5), the moderator strongly delegates, prompts, weaves and summarizes participants’ ideas in addition to performing all the previous moderating levels or functions.

  9. Student engagement The dependent variable • Develop and define the construct Broad literature starting from Bloom’s educational objectives (1956), Carrol’s model of school learning (1963), and Schwab’s learning community (1975), to the more current computer mediated communication field. Engagement—synonym of investment, involvement, and commitment. • Student engagement—the components • Behavioral engagement • Social-emotional engagement • Intellectual engagement

  10. Behavioral Engagement • Define When participants are attentively participating in the collaborative discourse (Lobel, et al, 2003). • Measure Such behavioral traits can be derived from computer log data such as arrival and departure time, system queries, and feature usage in computer conferencing environment.

  11. Social-Emotional Engagement • Define Social-emotional engagement involves students seeing themselves as part of a group rather than as individuals. Students who are social-emotionally engaged make efforts to build cohesion, have a sense of belonging, and render mutual support. • Measure Emotional engagement is assessed through emotional expression and group cohesion attributed to closeness, warmth, affiliation, attraction, and openness (Rourke et al, 1999).

  12. Intellectual Engagement Definition The phenomenon when participants interact and debate not only with each other but also reflect deeply on the issues of the prevailing task or subject matter and undergoing cognitive change and growth through engaging in this process (Xin, 2002) • Higher-order thinking-indicator 1 Higher-order learning requires sustained critical discourse where dissonance and problems are resolved through the full cycle of the critical thinking process: problem initiating and brainstorming, problem investigation and meaning negotiation, and problem solving and idea integration (A coding scheme for measuring higher-order thinking--adapted from Xin, 2002 & Garrison et al., 2001). • Interactivity: Indicator 2 Inquiry combines interactions between the public shared world and the private reflective world through interactivity. A coding scheme for measuring interactivity--adapted from Rafaeli & Sudweek, 1996 )

  13. Data (1) • The unique nature of the course • Completely synchronous • Online three-credit course on interpersonal communications and relations of a Canadian University, delivered through a real-time, interactive text, image, and animation messaging system called the Learnbydoing eClassroom • (give some refs and add a slide at the end that gives more detail about the system) • 44 archived transcripts of computer conferences from a three-credit university level online course • 4 groups of 5 students and 1 moderator • About 600 postings per transcript (a large data set compared to other previous studies)

  14. Data (2)

  15. Data analysis • Cleaning up and categorizing data • To get moderating levels • And student engagement And then… ? What statistical method is the most reasonable?

  16. Next… Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) • What is it? Test theoretical models that specify causal relationships among a number of observed or latent variables and determines whether the theoretical model successfully accounts for the actual relationships observed in the sample data • Rationale of using this statistical method (#24) Still working on this…

  17. Please help • What should I be thinking about before going in for my proposal meeting? • What’s good • And what’s bad • What kinds of questions should I watch out for… • In terms of research design • In terms of data analysis • …

  18. Thank you

More Related