The effect of moderator's facilitative strategies on online synchronous discussions

Moderators play an important role within a computer supported collaborative learning environment, and thus facilitative strategies and communication technology are nowadays used to enhance students' learning. This study proposed facilitative strategies as a guide for students' learning, and explored the influence of these strategies on the students' online synchronous discussion. A total of 331 senior high school students from eight computer classes in northern Taiwan were recruited to participate in this study. They were randomly assigned into an experimental condition, with the moderators' facilitation to complete online learning tasks, and the control condition without moderators' support. To fulfill the goal of the research, four strategies-helping students focus on the main topic, facilitating students' making argumentation, giving students positive feedback, and helping students sustain threaded discussion-were adopted to facilitate the online synchronous discussion in the experimental condition. According to the results of the content analysis, four group discussion patterns were revealed, including collaboration, centralization, partial contribution, and non-interaction. The findings suggest that the moderator helped enhance the collaboration pattern and increase the online participation rate. In addition, it was found that the strategies of helping students focus on the main topic and giving students positive feedback were frequently employed.

[1]  Youngsoo Kim,et al.  Exploratory study on the patterns of online interaction and knowledge co-construction in project-based learning , 2010, Comput. Educ..

[2]  Bolanle A. Olaniran.  Applying Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication into Course Design: Some Considerations and Practical Guides. , 2006 .

[3]  Chen-Chung Liu,et al.  An analysis of peer interaction patterns as discoursed by on-line small group problem-solving activity , 2008, Comput. Educ..

[4]  Chin-Chung Tsai,et al.  Content analysis of online discussion on a senior-high-school discussion forum of a virtual physics laboratory , 2006 .

[5]  Stefan Hrastinski,et al.  The potential of synchronous communication to enhance participation in online discussions: A case study of two e-learning courses , 2008, Inf. Manag..

[6]  Slava Kalyuga,et al.  Knowledge Elaboration: A Cognitive Load Perspective , 2009 .

[7]  Thérèse Laferrière,et al.  Technology in Support of Collaborative Learning , 2007 .

[8]  Susan M. Land,et al.  Scaffolding Peer-questioning Strategies to Facilitate Metacognition During Online Small Group Discussion , 2005 .

[9]  George Bradford.  A relationship study of student satisfaction with learning online and cognitive load: Initial results , 2011, Internet High. Educ..

[10]  Margaret Mazzolini,et al.  When to jump in: The role of the instructor in online discussion forums , 2007, Comput. Educ..

[11]  Yossi Lev,et al.  Surface and deep learning processes in distance education: Synchronous versus asynchronous systems , 2008, Comput. Educ..

[12]  Khe Foon Hew,et al.  Student contribution in asynchronous online discussion: a review of the research and empirical exploration , 2010 .

[13]  Jeroen Janssen,et al.  Visualization of participation: Does it contribute to successful computer-supported collaborative learning? , 2007, Comput. Educ..

[14]  S. Aisha Walker,et al.  Socratic strategies and devil's advocacy in synchronous CMC debate , 2004, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[15]  Olivier Le Bohec,et al.  Procrastination, participation, and performance in online learning environments , 2011, Comput. Educ..

[16]  F. Fischer,et al.  Epistemic and social scripts in computer–supported collaborative learning , 2005 .

[17]  Nathalie Huet,et al.  The influence of achievement goals and perceptions of online help on its actual use in an interactive learning environment , 2011, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[18]  Hans van Buuren,et al.  Measuring perceived sociability of computer-supported collaborative learning environments , 2007, Comput. Educ..

[19]  C. Brooks.  Toward ‘hybridised’ faculty development for the twenty‐first century: blending online communities of practice and face‐to‐face meetings in instructional and professional support programmes , 2010 .

[20]  Norah Jones,et al.  Blending learning: widening participation in higher education , 2010 .

[21]  Jeroen Janssen,et al.  Guiding students' online complex learning-task behavior through representational scripting , 2010, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[22]  Ann C. Jones,et al.  Learning technologies: Affective and social issues in computer-supported collaborative learning , 2005, Comput. Educ..

[23]  Eileen Scanlon,et al.  Investigating cooperation and collaboration in near synchronous computer mediated conferences , 2006, Comput. Educ..

[24]  Meng-Jung Tsai,et al.  The Model of Strategic e-Learning: Understanding and Evaluating Student e-Learning from Metacognitive Perspectives , 2009, J. Educ. Technol. Soc..

[25]  Pieter J. Beers,et al.  Computer support for knowledge construction in collaborative learning environments , 2005, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[26]  César A. Collazos,et al.  COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES TO SUPPORT THE MONITORING OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING PROCESSES , 2004 .

[27]  Sunghee Shin,et al.  The effects of different instructor facilitation approaches on students' interactions during asynchronous online discussions , 2009, Comput. Educ..

[28]  Fred Paas,et al.  Instructional interventions to enhance collaboration in powerful learning environments , 2005, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[29]  Karsten Stegmann,et al.  Learning to argue online: Scripted groups surpass individuals (unscripted groups do not) , 2010, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[30]  S. Schrire.  Interaction and cognition in asynchronous computer conferencing , 2004 .

[31]  Qiyun Wang,et al.  Comparing asynchronous online discussions and face-to-face discussions in a classroom setting , 2007, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[32]  Päivi Häkkinen,et al.  Epistemic cooperation scripts in online learning environments: fostering learning by reducing uncertainty in discourse? , 2005, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[33]  Angel A. Juan,et al.  Providing effective feedback, monitoring and evaluation to on-line collaborative learning discussions , 2011, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[34]  Jim Hewitt.  Toward an Understanding of How Threads Die in Asynchronous Computer Conferences , 2005 .

[35]  Jo Davies,et al.  Performance in e-learning: online participation and student grades , 2005, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[36]  Curtis J. Bonk,et al.  Content analysis of online discussion in an applied educational psychology course , 2000 .

[37]  Susan M. Land,et al.  A conceptual framework for scaffolding III-structured problem-solving processes using question prompts and peer interactions , 2004 .

[38]  Rachel Or-Bach,et al.  Designing Adaptive Interventions for Online Collaborative Modeling , 2004, Education and Information Technologies.

[39]  Chin-Chung Tsai,et al.  The preferences toward constructivist Internet-based learning environments among university students in Taiwan , 2008, Comput. Hum. Behav..