Analyzing knowledge dimensions and cognitive process of a project-based online discussion instructional activity using Facebook in an adult and continuing education course

In recent years, social networking services (SNSs), for example, Facebook, have shown exponential growth in their number of users. Witnessing the popularity of these SNSs, educational researchers have also explored the potential educational value of using SNSs. Despite the few studies that have investigated learners' attitudes toward and the effects of incorporating SNSs in class, limited attention has been paid to examining learners' knowledge and cognitive processes involved in online discussions using SNSs. Although general public interest in life-long learning has been gradually increasing, relatively little attention has been devoted to exploring the application of SNSs in adult and continuing education programs. To promote a better understanding of using SNSs in learning, this study seeks to explore learners' online discussion behaviors in an art course that involved a project-based learning activity using a popular SNS, Facebook, to support students' asynchronous online discussions. The participants in our study included 62 students enrolled in the school of continuing education at a university in northern Taiwan. Adapting the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy as a coding scheme, this study employed a quantitative content analysis (QCA) and lag sequential analysis (LSA) to examine the content and behavioral patterns of students' discussions. The results indicate that the most prominent knowledge dimension in students' discussions is the meta-cognitive knowledge, while the cognitive process is primarily focused on understanding and comprehension. In addition, a moderate proportion of off-topic discussion was found in this study. Considering the different behaviors that may be exhibited by members of varied age and gender, a further analysis based on students' individual differences was conducted. The results showed that, in the context of online discussions, female and older learners are more likely to engage in off-topic discussions. Based on these findings, this study suggests that when conducting online discussion activities using SNSs, instructors should consider the characteristics of adult learners and their individual differences and design their teaching activities accordingly. Implications and limitations of this study are discussed, and pedagogical suggestions for adapting SNSs to teaching activities for adult and continuing education are proposed.

[1]  John W. Thomas,et al.  A REVIEW OF RESEARCH ON PROJECT-BASED LEARNING , 2000 .

[2]  Clayton Shepard,et al.  A longitudinal study of emoticon use in text messaging from smartphones , 2012, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[3]  Paul A. Kirschner,et al.  Facebook® and academic performance , 2010, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[4]  Reynol Junco,et al.  Too much face and not enough books: The relationship between multiple indices of Facebook use and academic performance , 2012, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[5]  Allan Jeong.  The Sequential Analysis of Group Interaction and Critical Thinking in Online , 2003 .

[6]  Bernard J. Jansen,et al.  Using the taxonomy of cognitive learning to model online searching , 2009, Inf. Process. Manag..

[7]  Sarah E. Scherling.  Designing and Fostering Effective Online Group Projects , 2011 .

[8]  Börje Holmberg,et al.  Theory and practice of distance education , 1989 .

[9]  Charlotte N. Gunawardena,et al.  Analysis of a Global Online Debate and the Development of an Interaction Analysis Model for Examining Social Construction of Knowledge in Computer Conferencing , 1997 .

[10]  M. Valcke,et al.  Supporting active cognitive processing in collaborative groups: The potential of Bloom's taxonomy as a labeling tool , 2009, Internet High. Educ..

[11]  Myron A. Eighmy,et al.  Adult Education and the Social Media Revolution , 2011 .

[12]  Nada Dabbagh,et al.  How to structure online discussions for meaningful discourse: a case study , 2005, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[13]  Joe F. Donaldson,et al.  A Model of College Outcomes for Adults , 1999 .

[14]  Daniel L. Schwartz,et al.  Doing with Understanding: Lessons from Research on Problem- and Project-Based Learning , 1998 .

[15]  Anastasios A. Economides,et al.  Computer based assessment: Gender differences in perceptions and acceptance , 2011, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[16]  Huei-Tse Hou.  EXPLORING THE BEHAVIOURAL PATTERNS IN PROJECT-BASED LEARNING WITH ONLINE DISCUSSION: QUANTITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS AND PROGRESSIVE SEQUENTIAL ANALYSIS , 2010 .

[17]  Paul A. Kirschner,et al.  Identifying the pitfalls for social interaction in computer-supported collaborative learning environments: a review of the research , 2003, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[18]  John D'Ambra,et al.  Do nontask interactions matter? The relationship between nontask sociability of computer supported collaborative learning and learning outcomes , 2012, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[19]  T. Paulus,et al.  Using a social networking site for experiential learning: Appropriating, lurking, modeling and community building , 2010, Internet High. Educ..

[20]  S. Chyung.  Age and Gender Differences in Online Behavior, Self-Efficacy, and Academic Performance , 2007 .

[21]  Yiping Lou,et al.  Learning to solve complex problems through between‐group collaboration in project‐based online courses , 2004 .

[22]  Khe Foon Hew,et al.  Project-based learning and student knowledge construction during asynchronous online discussion , 2010, Internet High. Educ..

[23]  Lindsay H. Hoffman,et al.  All the news that's fit to post: A profile of news use on social networking sites , 2012, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[24]  Benjamin S. Bloom,et al.  A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives , 2000 .

[25]  Timothy Teo.  Gender differences in the intention to use technology: A measurement invariance analysis , 2010, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[26]  Robert L. Jorczak,et al.  The effect of task characteristics on conceptual conflict and information processing in online discussion , 2009, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[27]  John D'Ambra,et al.  Enhancing non-task sociability of asynchronous CSCL environments , 2011, Comput. Educ..

[28]  Yao-Ting Sung,et al.  What kinds of knowledge do teachers share on blogs? A quantitative content analysis of teachers' knowledge sharing on blogs , 2010, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[29]  Huei-Tse Hou,et al.  Analyzing the latent emotional transfer pattern (LETP) of a learning community in an online peer-assessment activity , 2012, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[30]  Erman Yükseltürk,et al.  Gender Differences in Self-Regulated Online Learning Environment , 2009, J. Educ. Technol. Soc..

[31]  D. Kilgore.  The Medium is the Message: Online Technology and Knowledge Construction in Adult Graduate Education , 2004 .

[32]  Brian K. Payne,et al.  Addressing issues in group work in the classroom , 2005 .

[33]  Michael Conway,et al.  Motivation, Interest, and Positive Affect in Traditional and Nontraditional Undergraduate Students , 2007 .

[34]  George Veletsianos,et al.  How do learners respond to pedagogical agents that deliver social-oriented non-task messages? Impact on student learning, perceptions, and experiences , 2012, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[35]  Rosanna E. Guadagno,et al.  Make new friends or keep the old: Gender and personality differences in social networking use , 2012, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[36]  Yao-Ting Sung,et al.  An Analysis of Peer Assessment Online Discussions within a Course that uses Project-based Learning , 2007, Interact. Learn. Environ..

[37]  Reynol Junco,et al.  The relationship between frequency of Facebook use, participation in Facebook activities, and student engagement , 2012, Comput. Educ..

[38]  Mark Batey,et al.  A tale of two sites: Twitter vs. Facebook and the personality predictors of social media usage , 2012, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[39]  Annemarie S. Palincsar,et al.  Motivating Project-Based Learning: Sustaining the Doing, Supporting the Learning , 1991 .

[40]  M. Roblyer,et al.  Findings on Facebook in higher education: A comparison of college faculty and student uses and perceptions of social networking sites , 2010, Internet High. Educ..

[41]  D. Garrison,et al.  Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer conferencing in distance education , 2001 .

[42]  Kuo-En Chang,et al.  Exploring the behavioral patterns of an online knowledge-sharing discussion activity among teachers with problem-solving strategy , 2009 .

[43]  Paul A. Kirschner,et al.  Learning and Understanding in Virtual Teams , 2004, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[44]  Liam Rourke,et al.  Validity in quantitative content analysis , 2004 .

[45]  O. Jegede,et al.  Gender Differences in Factors Influencing Achievement of Distance Education Students , 2001 .

[46]  Brian K. Payne,et al.  Students' Perceptions of Group Projects: The Role of Race, Age, and Slacking. , 2006 .

[47]  Roger Bakeman,et al.  Observing Interaction: An Introduction to Sequential Analysis , 1986 .

[48]  Sheng-Yi Wu,et al.  Analyzing the social knowledge construction behavioral patterns of an online synchronous collaborative discussion instructional activity using an instant messaging tool: A case study , 2011, Comput. Educ..

[49]  J. Meek,et al.  Facebook, social integration and informal learning at university: ‘It is more for socialising and talking to friends about work than for actually doing work’ , 2009 .

[50]  L. Price,et al.  Gender differences and similarities in online courses: challenging stereotypical views of women , 2006, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[51]  G. Kennedy,et al.  Medical students’ use of Facebook to support learning: Insights from four case studies , 2010, Medical teacher.

[52]  Hans van Buuren,et al.  Determining Sociability, Social Space, and Social Presence in (A)synchronous Collaborative Groups , 2004, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[53]  Robert W. Zmud,et al.  Behavioral Intention Formation in Knowledge Sharing: Examining the Roles of Extrinsic Motivators, Social-Psychological Factors, and Organizational Climate , 2005, MIS Q..

[54]  Muhammad Kamarul Kabilan,et al.  Facebook: An online environment for learning of English in institutions of higher education? , 2010, Internet High. Educ..

[55]  T. Paulus.  Collaborative and cooperative approaches to online group work: The impact of task type , 2005 .

[56]  P. Seabright,et al.  Do women have longer conversations? Telephone evidence of gendered communication strategies , 2011 .

[57]  Douglas R. Vogel,et al.  Can learning be virtually boosted? An investigation of online social networking impacts , 2010, Comput. Educ..

[58]  Huei-Tse Hou.  A case study of online instructional collaborative discussion activities for problem-solving using situated scenarios: An examination of content and behavior cluster analysis , 2011, Comput. Educ..