Open AccessExploring the Use of Discussion Strategies and Labels in Asynchronous Online Discussion
Author(s) -
Fei Gao
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
online learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.182
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 2472-5749
pISSN - 2472-5730
DOI - 10.24059/olj.v18i3.460
Subject(s) - online discussion , asynchronous communication , discussion group , psychology , computer science , intervention (counseling) , quality (philosophy) , mathematics education , applied psychology , medical education , world wide web , medicine , computer network , philosophy , epistemology , psychiatry
Drawing on research in both constrained online discussion environments and strategy instruction, this approach combines explicit instruction on discussion strategies with the use of post type labels. In a trial of this approach in an online course, students actively used the discussion strategies and post type labels in their discussion. Analysis of student posts and survey responses suggested that students in the experimental group used discussion strategies more frequently after the intervention as compared to the control group and perceived that this approach positively impacted their discussions. In addition, there is a certain degree of improvement in the quality of discussion measured by Gunawardena, Lowe and Anderson’s (1997) critical analysis model.