Interview Guide
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cf_ijitdl_journal_may_11.pdf
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
OF
INSTRUCTIONAL
TECHNOLOGY
AND
DISTANCE LEARNING
May 2011 Volume 8 Number 5
Editorial Board
Donald G. Perrin Ph.D. Executive Editor
Elizabeth Perrin Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief
Brent Muirhead Ph.D. Senior Editor
Muhammad Betz, Ph.D. Editor
ISSN 1550-6908
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. ii
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Donald G. Perrin, Executive Editor
Elizabeth Perrin, Editor-in-Chief
Brent Muirhead, Senior Editor
Muhammad Betz, Editor
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. iii
Vol. 8. No. 5.
ISSN 1550-6908
Table of Contents – May 2011
Page
Editorial: itdl.org 1
Donald G. Perrin
3 How Award-winning Professors in Higher Education Use Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction
Joel L. Gardner
Developing Trust and Openness in an Online Environment 17
Christopher J. Devers
29 Comparing Student Learning and Satisfaction between Learning Environments in Continuing Medical Education
Cheryl Fisher and William A. Sadera
43 Distance learners’ Work Life Learning Balance
Margarida Romero
49 Internal and External Factors that Influence Adult Learners in an Online Setting
Lara Henry
57 Managing Borderless Collaboration in Asia: Commitment, Coordination and Communication
Juvy Lizette Gervacio
67 The Impact of Smaller and Larger Online Group Conferences on Student Achievement
Stafford A. Griffith
81 Quality Assurance and Open Educational Resources in Online Courseware Development and Delivery
Mohammad Issack SANTALLY
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. iv
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 1
Editorial
itdl.org Donald G. Perrin
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 2
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
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Editor’s Note: Translating theory into practice is difficult without activity models, concrete examples and a
consistent strategy for observing and recording data. Dr. Gardner’s observations give strong support for efficacy of Merrill’s first principles of instruction to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning.
How Award-winning Professors in Higher Education Use Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction
Joel L. Gardner USA
Abstract
There is increasing evidence that using Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction as part of an
instructional strategy increases learning. However, these principles are written in general terms,
and little is written about how these principles function in the real world. Knowing how these
principles are currently used in the real world would extend our understanding of the principles
and provide insight into how they can be implemented. Therefore, a study was conducted to
determine how four award-winning instructors in higher education used First Principles of
Instruction in their teaching. The instructors’ use of these principles is described and analyzed. In
addition to these principles, several additional strategies for providing effective instruction
emerged during the study, including instructor enthusiasm, compassion, organization, and
expertise. Specific methods for using these principles in higher education are explored, and
several important questions regarding the use of First Principles of Instruction are posed,
particularly related to the use of real-world problems in instruction. Suggestions for future
research and practice are also provided.
Keywords: teaching, higher education, instructional theory, first principles of instruction, instructional
principle, learning theory
Note: Names of schools and people in this article are pseudonyms.
Introduction
One current theory of instruction is Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction (Merrill, 2002, 2007,
2008), which proposes five foundational principles of instruction which, when used, are proposed
to increase student learning. Merrill states the following principles: (1) Task/Problem-Centered –
learning is increased when instruction is centered on real-world problems or tasks; (2) Activation
– learning increases when learners recall or demonstrate relevant prior learning and recall or are
given a way to organize what they will learn; (3) Demonstration – learning increases when
learners observe a demonstration in which a similar problem is solved and/or a similar task is
performed; (4) Application – learning increases when learners apply what they have learned by
solving real-world problems and/or performing real-world tasks; (5) Integration – learning
increases when students reflect on, discuss, debate, or give a presentation on what they have
learned (Merrill 2002; 2006). These principles can be converted into a cycle of instructional
activities, centered on real-world tasks and problems. See Figure 1.
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 4
Figure 1. Instruction can follow a cycle of instruction centered on real-world tasks beginning with activation and continuing through integration.
There is some evidence that these principles increase learning. Thomson (2002) reported a study
in which an online Excel spreadsheet course using First Principles was compared with a
traditional online course teaching Excel. Basing the course on real-world tasks and using the four-
phase cycle of instruction caused a 30% student improvement in performance accuracy using
Excel, including a 41% improvement in the time taken to complete tasks (p.8). In a separate
study, Frick (2009) discovered a significant correlation between student satisfaction with a course
and the reported use of First Principles of Instruction. There is also evidence that these principles
are supported by various instructional models and theories (Gardner, 2010; Merrill, 2002; Merrill,
Barclay, & van Schaak, 2008). In addition, there is some empirical support for the individual
principles (Merrill, 2006; Merrill, Barclay, & van Schaak, 2008). Additionally, several authors
have described successful instruction that uses First Principles (Collis and Margaryan 2005;
Mendenhall, et al., 2006; Gardner, et al. 2008). Growing empirical, theoretical, and anecdotal
support for First Principles of Instruction warrants further investigation and understanding of how
these principles operate in a live instructional setting.
Study Purpose
Principles are intentionally general and to be used effectively must be tailored to specific
contexts, problems and situations (Merrill, 2002; Keller, 2008). Because these principles are
written in a general form, it can be difficult to interpret and apply these principles to a real-world
setting, and guidance on how to implement these principles is needed (Merrill, 2007). Because
effective practice can contribute to and help build theory (http://www.aect.org/), it would be
beneficial to study how these principles are used successfully by expert teachers. To date there
have been no studies that report how award-winning instructors are using Merrill’s First
Principles of Instruction in higher education. Therefore, I studied four award-winning professors
in higher education with the goal of discovering methods of instruction that adhere to Merrill’s
First Principles of Instruction. The guiding question in the design of the study is, “How do
effective, award-winning instructors at a large western university use Merrill’s First Principles of
Instruction?”
Method
The study took place at a large western university. To ensure that I studied quality instruction, I
selected four professors who had been recognized in previous years as the teachers of the year for
the entire university. This recognition is very prestigious and is awarded to one of several
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hundred instructors for outstanding teaching at the university. Awardees are experienced
instructors who were considered and selected based on the recommendations of their peers and
the feedback of past students. It was assumed, and later confirmed, that the instructors selected
for this study effectively apply some or all of Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction. Potential
participants were identified from an online list showing past award winners on the university
website. They were contacted twice via email and were asked to participate in the study. Of the
winners for the past ten years at university, six replied to my emails. And of the six that replied,
four agreed to participate in the study and were included as participants in this study.
The Researcher
An important aspect of my relationship to these instructors was my employment as an
instructional designer in the university’s center for teaching. In this role, I supported several
departments at the university in developing and managing course content in Blackboard Vista, the
university’s Course Management System. Because I worked directly with professors at the
university, I was particularly well-positioned to gather relevant knowledge for this study.
The purpose of this study was to find out how instructors use First Principles of Instruction in
higher education. To gain a rich understanding of the instructors’ teaching strategies, I followed
the advice of Glesne (1992) and gathered data from several sources: an interview with each
instructor (which was recorded and later transcribed), an observation of the instructor in a
teaching setting, and documents provided by the professor relating to their teaching philosophy
and strategy. These documents included course syllabi, student evaluation feedback data,
assignment descriptions, peer evaluations, and emails from students. These multiple sources
provided triangulation of data for this study.
Data were analyzed using thematic analysis (Glesne, 1992; Gall, Gall & Borg, 2007). I searched
for any reference in the sources that referred to the use of any of the five First Principles of
Instruction. In addition to themes directly related to First Principles, several other themes and
patterns emerged from the data. Appendix 1 demonstrates the codes and associated themes that
emerged during the study. All documents and transcripts were coded according to these themes
and were then analyzed and are described in the following section.
Results: Instructors’ Use of First Principles of Instruction
This section describes the findings of the data, which were analyzed using thematic analysis and
grouped into categories defined by First Principles and other themes that emerged during the
study. The instructors included in this study are described to provide context for who was studied.
Instructor use of Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction is described. Themes that emerged
during the analysis but were not specific to First Principles of Instruction are also described. The
findings are presented as a description of how the instructors used each principle in the courses.
The additional themes are then presented, including examples from each instructor.
Study Participants
Dr. Linda Kelley
Dr. Linda Kelley is a professor in the department of Family, Consumer, and Human
Development. She began her career as a kindergarten teacher and has earned graduate degrees in
child development. She has worked with small children throughout her career and chose to take a
position as a professor and director of a student-teaching preschool lab because her “three favorite
populations are parents, little children and college students.”
In student evaluations, students described Dr. Kelley as “very approachable and friendly,” and
“enthusiastic.” In the class I observed, she arranged the classroom in a circle and spent time
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chatting and laughing with the students before and after the class. Students described the class as
“a comfortable conversation where we could discuss anything.” The nature of her relationship
with students appears to be comfortable and enjoyable to Dr. Kelley and to her students.
Dr. Bretton Wellington
Dr. Bretton Wellington is a professor of Marketing in the School of Business at the university.
He began his studies at San Jose State where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Marketing. After
earning an MBA from Santa Clara University and a Ph. D. in Marketing from Arizona State
University, he taught briefly in Arizona and afterward took a position at the university where he
has taught for nearly 17 years. Most of his research focuses on the market diffusion of renewable
energy and clean technologies. Dr. Wellington has a confident and an engaging personality, and
peers in the School of Business who had observed his teaching described him as “”terrific in
engaging students,” “very animated and energetic,” and “enthusiastic.” My observation of his
teaching style confirms this description, and I found myself drawn into his presentation through
his use of dynamic voice inflections and witty humor.
Suzan Harrison
Suzan Harrison is an instructor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the university.
She was born and raised in the community surrounding the university and earned a bachelor’s and
a master’s degree from the program at the university. Before taking a position as professor, she
worked in many positions in the field of nutrition, including an outpatient dietician at the local
hospital, a dietary manager for patients in a nursing home, and even worked with diabetics and
clients with eating disorders. After working in a research position at the university, she
transitioned from researcher to professor and now manages and organizes all of the undergraduate
introductory nutrition courses at USU. Harrison is a pleasure to talk to and many of her students
describe her as “very professional,” “extremely knowledgeable,” and “fun to listen to.”
Dr. Pradeep Sumbramony
Dr. Pradeep Sumbramony is a professor in the Department of Economics in the School of
Business at the university. He began his education at Calcutta University where he earned a
bachelor’s degree in Economics. He later earned a PhD in Economics from Chicago University
and afterward came to the university as professor. He has taught at the university for over 33
years and has received many awards for excellence in teaching and mentorship. Students
described Dr. Sumbramony as “enthusiastic,” “very entertaining,” and that he showed “genuine
care for his students.” Dr. Sumbramony had compassion for his students and worked to provide
individual guidance and attention to each of his students. One student wrote, “I admire and
appreciate (his) effort and love for teaching me.”
Instructor Use of First Principles of Instruction
The instructors’ use of First Principles of Instruction is described below. Results are presented
according to the themes associated with each principle, and discussion of the findings follows the
presentation of the findings. It is worth noting that each instructor used all of the principles,
including the cycle of instruction. The only exception was that Dr. Kelley was not observed to use
the activation principle. Instructors’ use of these principles is described briefly below. A more
detailed list of how these principles were used is by each instructor can be found in Appendix 2.
Problem/Task-Centered
All instructors used some form of real-world problems or tasks in their class. For example, in a
child development class, Dr. Kelley directed students to plan out and executing lesson plans in
the university pre-school lab. In a marketing class, Dr. Wellington directed students to assume the
role of consultants for a real-world company and perform a marketing audit for that company.
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And in a nutrition class, Harrison shared real-world, personal examples of the nutrition and
development phenomena that she was teaching in lectures and directed students to track and
apply nutrition principles to their own lives.
Activation
Most of the instructors also used Activation strategies. For example, when lecturing, Dr.
Wellington referred to and built on the knowledge that students had obtained in previous
prerequisite courses. In addition, when beginning a lecture, Harrison reviewed what was
discussed in the previous class prior to lecturing on new content. And at the beginning of the class
period, Dr. Sumbramony asked questions to the students regarding previously learned
fundamental principles of economics, slowly progressing to questions about more abstract,
complex principles, and finally moved into the content of the current class.
Demonstration
The instructors also used the Demonstration principle in their courses. In Dr. Kelley’s child
development course, Students learned from other students by observing and evaluating them as
they planned out and executed lesson plans in the pre-school lab. In lectures, Dr. Wellington
provided his marketing students with many relevant examples from the popular media that
illustrate the marketing audit steps to be applied by the students. And Dr. Sumbramony used the
chalkboard to work through many examples of how to use a complex equation to solve
economics problems on the chalkboard.
Application
The application principle was also used by the instructors. For example, Dr. Kelley’s child
development students responded to real-world cases during a class discussion. Dr. Wellington’s
students performed a marketing audit over the course of a semester, including several specific
audit-specific activities. And Dr. Sumbramony’s students used a complex equation to solve
economic problems.
Integration
The Integration principle was also used. For example, after her students worked in a pre-school
lab, Dr. Kelley facilitated an in-class discussion with students on their experiences, encouraging
them to share insights with one another. Dr. Wellington described to students how the skills they
are developing will be useful in the future. And H arrison and Dr. Sumbramony constantly asked
their students “What does this mean to you?” and, “Why is this important?”
Cycle of Instruction
In addition to the principles described above, each instructor used a cycle of instruction in their
courses. For example, as student groups responded to real-world scenarios (Problem-centered
principle) provided by Dr. Kelley in class (Application principle), other students learned from
those sharing their responses (Demonstration principle). This was repeated by several groups on
several occasions. Dr. Kelley facilitated the discussion by asking questions and also provided
feedback and insights to each student group and to the rest of the class on how to improve
responses and expand their knowledge related to the scenario.
In another example, when teaching how to solve a difficult economics-related problem (Problem-
centered principle), Dr. Sumbramony first worked through the problem using a complex equation
on the chalkboard (Demonstration principle). He then presented another similar problem and had
students use the equation to solve a portion of the problem. He then gave them another problem to
solve on their own for outside of class (Application principle).
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 8
Additional Themes
In addition to the instructors’ use of Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction, several themes
emerged as I analyzed the data for this study. This section briefly describe each of these themes.
Enthusiasm
The first theme that emerged was enthusiasm. For example, Dr. Kelley describes herself as
enthusiastic about child development, and in course evaluations, students described Dr. Kelley as
“enthusiastic and very effective,” and that Dr. Kelley had “enthusiasm and love of the subjects we
studied.” Perhaps this is why one student wrote, “I always look forward to class.” I personally
found Dr. Kelley to be very engaging and enthusiastic as I interviewed her and observed her
class.
Dr. Wellington also exhibited enthusiasm as part of his teaching, and his peers describe him as
engaging, energetic and enthusiastic. My observation confirms the presence of enthusiasm in his
presentation and communication style, and I thoroughly enjoyed my interview with him. This
enthusiasm is related to what Dr. Wellington calls his “stage presence,” which he attributes to his
experience as an opera performer during his time as a student.
Dr. Sumbramony also had high levels of enthusiasm, and in my interview, I was impressed with
his ability to speak with energy and passion. Students also noted this energy, describing him as
“energetic,” “very passionate,” and that his “activity and enthusiasm are astounding.”
Knowledgeable
In addition to enthusiasm, students noted that an instructor’s knowledge and expertise were
important to effective instruction. For example, one student wrote that Dr. Kelley “had the
experience and examples to back up what she was teaching.” Others wrote that she “really knew
the subject matter” and was “well prepared” for class. This perceived knowledge of child
development gave her teaching credibility in the eyes of the students. This theme was also found
in Suzan Harrison, whose students described her as “very knowledgeable in the subject,” and that
she “really knows her stuff!”
Organization
Instructor organization was also noted as key to effective teaching. For example, Dr. Wellington
mentioned, “I like a lot of structure,” and his course syllabus reflects this structure and appears to
be very clear and easy to follow. Suzan Harrison also exhibited clear organization, and in our
interview, she acknowledged “I work very, very hard and diligently to make sure I’m organized.”
There are several components to this organization. Harrison’s students also appreciated her
organization, and wrote that they liked the “learning objectives,” and the “outlines.” One student
appreciated that, “She is consistent with the structure of the class.” Harrison’s syllabus is also
quite organized and provides students with clear structure to the course.
Humor
Humor was another theme that emerged in the study. For example, after observing Dr.
Wellington in class, one if his peers wrote “the group laughter which followed (Dr. Wellington’s
humorous comments) gave evidence of a very positive rapport between teacher and students.” Dr.
Sumbramony’s was also very humorous, and students wrote that they “loved the humor,” that
“his humor was excellent,” and that the class was “entertaining.” In the course I observed, Dr.
Sumbramony told many jokes and some of the students even made their own jokes during the
class. Reflecting on this, Dr. Sumbramony mentioned, “I create a relaxed, enjoyable atmosphere,
(even though) we are dealing with difficult, complex things.” This relaxed, enjoyable atmosphere
seems to facilitate student engagement in the class.
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Compassion
Dr. Sumbramony took what he calls a “compassionate approach,” and his compassion for his
students was apparent. He provided them with individual one-on-onetime, even in courses that
have over 70 students. In these visits, he guided students through problems and assignments using
what he calls the Socratic method, asking questions that guided the students to solving problems
on their own. Students greatly appreciated this attention and were impressed with his love and
concern for their success. One wrote that “he take(s) an active stance in making sure each of us in
his class learned and understood the subject matter.” Another appreciated that he “was concerned
with each individual student and took time to help anyone who needed it.” Perhaps this is why
students wrote in their evaluations that “he has been my favorite teacher in the Econ department
by far” and that he “should definitely be the teacher of the year.” In every class, Dr. Sumbramony
sets appointments with students who are struggling and guides them through the content. He even
calls students at home if they have missed several classes. This compassion and personal interest
in each individual student certainly seems to increase student learning.
Challenging
Another theme that developed was an appreciation of a challenging course. For example,
Harrison works to be aware of her students and how they perform in her courses, and she makes
sure the course is reasonably difficult for the students, who noted that the challenging course
“pushed me to learn more” and “made sure we know exactly what we needed to know.”
Discussion
Problem-Centered
Previously, Duffy & Cunningham (1996) noted five ways that problems can be used: (1) the
problem as guide; (2) the problem as an integrator or test; (3) the problem as an example; (4) the
problem as a vehicle for process; and, (5) the problem as a stimulus for authentic activity. Merrill
(2002, 2007) seems to emphasize a gradual transition during an instructional sequence from using
problems as examples to using the problem as a vehicle for authentic activity. In this study,
problems were used by the instructors in a similar way- as examples and as vehicles for authentic
activity.
However, the size of the problems used varied greatly. For example, as described above, Dr.
Kelley directed teams of child development students to respond to parents’ complaints that had
come up in the past at the school’s child care lab. This is a relatively small problem and in class,
the discussion for each problem lasted roughly 6-7 minutes. However, the problem of dealing
with parent complaints can be seen as one component of the larger task of working with parents,
which is a component of the larger task of working as a child care professional. So, which of
these is a whole task or problem? The question is important because the use of at least 3 whole
tasks is described as vital to task-centered course (Merrill, 2009). But if the task or problem is so
large that three tasks cannot be included within the constraints of a single course, then what
should be done? How big should a problem be in problem-centered instruction?
An example of a very large whole problem or task is a market audit, which Dr. Wellington’s
marketing students perform. This problem is performed over the course of the semester because
the market audit is so large that there is not enough time to work through multiple whole tasks.
Interestingly, Wellington appears to use the cycle of instruction for each component of this whole
task, providing demonstrations and examples from current media and giving students feedback on
their application of each component. So, are these components of a market audit several whole
tasks in the course, or is the market audit? One could argue that the whole task of “working as a
marketing associate” is taught over the course of a curriculum, and that the components
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 10
associated with that task are taught throughout the curriculum. In both scenarios First Principles
are used and a whole task is performed by the students.
Perhaps the examples described above provide methods for implementing tasks in a real-world
context. Dr. Kelley used small whole problems (responses to pre-school cases) which included
student application, peer-peer demonstration, and instructor feedback and guidance, many times
throughout the course. However, in the pre-school lab, she used much larger whole problems
(student-generated lesson plans) which also included students application, peer-peer
demonstration and feedback and guidance. I would designate each of these as whole tasks of
different sizes, adapted to the context of the specific context in which the design takes place.
By nature, whole problems or tasks are components of larger tasks, and selecting the appropriate
“problem” must fit the constraints of the instructional context and be tailored to the needs and
prior knowledge of the students who will receive the instruction. However, there is little guidance
on how this can be effectively done, and much is left to the instructor to determine how large the
task should be based on the instructional context.
Activation
Three of the instructors in this study used activation strategies to varying degrees. However, some
of these strategies were more passive in nature. For example, Merrill wrote that learning is
promoted “when learners are directed to recall, relate, describe, or apply knowledge from relevant
past experience” (p. 46). This statement implies active participation by the students. However,
two of the three instructors who used activation in this study employed more passive strategies by
verbally reviewing previously learned materials at the beginning of a class or during lecture. Dr.
Sumbramony, did use an interesting active strategy for activating student prior learning. As noted
above, this strategy included asking questions to activate the graduate students’ prior knowledge.
His questions began very basic and gradually became more complex and abstract, finally moving
into the content of the course. This strategy appeared to allow the students to see the relationship
between the more fundamental principles of economics and the complex content being taught in
the course.
Cycle of Instruction
One interesting finding was the instructors’ use of a cycle of instruction including demonstration
of multiple whole task or problems and student applications of those whole tasks. Interestingly,
these cycles of instruction varied from course to course and from task to task. Cycles of
instruction varied from several cycles within a 50-minute class to cycles lasting several days.
These cycles appeared to change based on the size of the whole task or problem on which the
instruction was centered- the larger the task or problem, the longer the cycle appeared to take.
This seems to confirm the flexibility of these principles and the potential to adapt them to specific
needs and contexts.
I was impressed with how these professors use these principles of instruction seamlessly in their
teaching strategies. Instructors move between the phases of activation, demonstration, application
and integration fluidly many times during a single class. This fluidity highlights the dynamic
nature of these principles and provides examples of how to integrate them effectively in a course.
Additional Themes
The additional themes that emerged during the study provide great insight into how excellent
teachers personalize their instruction while naturally implementing First Principles. Many of
these additional characteristics and techniques appear to fit with what Keller (2008) has called
First Principles of Motivation, which he based on the ARCS model of motivation (Keller, 1987).
These principles are designed to increase student motivation to learn, and the instructors in this
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 11
study clearly used several of the components outlined. The professors gain and maintain
students’ Attention through the use of humor and enthusiastic teaching. They instill Confidence
of success in their students by challenging them and giving them compassionate guidance in their
studies. They also provide real-world experiences that give students satisfaction of Success
(Keller, 2008, p. 176-178).
These characteristics and techniques seem to act as facilitators of effective instruction based on
First Principles. First Principles alone would not appear to be as effective as First Principles with
these facilitating principles. Figure 2 highlights how these principles appear to work as
facilitators of First Principles.
Figure 2. The additional themes identified in this study appear to facilitate student movement through the phases of instruction.
This study confirms the existence of First Principles of Instruction and links the use of these
principles to high quality instruction. It is worth noting that these principles were used by teachers
in content areas that are very different in nature. The presence of these principles in several
different settings in higher education highlights the ubiquitous nature of First Principles and
shows that they can be present and utilized, “regardless of program or practice” (Merrill, 2002, p.
43). This study also suggests that recognized instructors naturally employ both principles of
instruction and principles of motivation in their teaching.
This study has discovered two things. First, it confirms the existence and use of First Principles of
Instruction and links their use to effective instruction in higher education. Second, it emphasizes
that the effectiveness of these principles is potentially enhanced through positive motivational
strategies and characteristics.
Because principles are general in nature, work must be done to “examine the specific problems
and best practices that can be applied in a given situation (Keller, 2008, p. 175).” Therefore,
future studies should identify how First Principles of Instruction function in specific learning
contexts. For example, work should be done to identify how First Principles of Instruction are
used in an online environment in higher education. Future research should also study the
interaction between First Principles of Instruction and First Principles of Motivation in a variety
of settings. Identifying how these motivational and instructional principles interact can give us
greater insight into designing effective and motivating instruction in many environments,
contexts.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 12
Conclusion
To bring life to Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction, we should observe how they are used in
real settings. This study provides some insight into how these principles can function in higher
education. To advance as a field, we should be willing to analyze how theory functions in realistic
settings and discover methods for using and personalizing instructional theories like First
Principles of Instruction so that they can be made more accessible to teachers and instructional
designers in many settings.
References
Association for Educational Communication and Technology, (2009).Knowledge Base. Retrieved
April 25, 2009 from http://www.aect.org/default.asp.
Collis, B., & Margaryan, A. (2005). Merrill plus: Blending corporate strategy and
instructional design. Educational Technology, 45(3), 54-58.
Duffy, T. M., & Cunningham, D. J. (1996). Constructivism: Implications for the design and
delivery of instruction. In D. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of research for educational
communications and technology (pp. 170-198). New York: Macmillan.Frick, T., Chadha,
R., Watson, C., Wang, Y., Green, P. (2009). College student perceptions of teaching and
learning quality. Educational Technology Research and Development, 57(5), 705-720.
Gall, M. D., Gall, J. P., & Borg, W. R. (2007). Educational research: An introduction.
Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.
Gardner, J., & Jeon, T. K. (2009). Creating task-centered instruction for web-based
instruction: Obstacles and solutions. Journal of Educational Technology Systems,
(38)1, pp. 21-34.
Glesne, C., & Peshkin, A. (1992). Becoming qualitative researchers. New York:
Longman.
Keller, J. M. (1987a). Development and use of the ARCS model of instructional design.
Journal of Instructional Development, 10(3), 2–10.Keller, J. M. (2008). First
principles of motivation to learn and e3-learning. Distance Education, 29(2), 175-
185.
Mendenhall, A., Buhanan, C. W., Suhaka, M., Mills, G., Gibson, G. V., & Merrill, M. D.
(2006). A task-centered approach to entrepreneurship. TechTrends, 50(4), 84-89.
Merrill, M. D. (2002). First principles of instruction. Educational Technology Research and
Development 50(3): 43-59.
Merrill, M. D. (2007). First principles of instruction: a synthesis. In R. A. Reiser & J. V.
Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology, 2nd Edition
(Vol. 2, pp. 62-71). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall.
Merrill, M. D. 2008. One page summary of First Principles of Instruction.
http://cito.byuh.edu/merrill/text/papers/FirstPrinciplesSummary.pdf. Accessed July 25,
2008
Merrill, M. D., Barclay, M., & van Schaak, A. (2008). Prescriptive principles for instructional
design. In J. M. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. J. G. van Merriënboer, & M. P. Driscoll (Eds.),
Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (pp. 173-184).
New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 13
About the Author
Dr. Joel Gardner is a faculty member at Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio. He has experience working as an instructional designer
at multiple institutions in higher education and has also worked as a
corporate trainer. Dr. Gardner has spent the last several years researching
and applying principles of instructional effectiveness.
Appendix 1
Codes and Themes Identified in Analysis
Code Theme
P-C Problem/Task-Centered Principle
Ac Activation Principle
D Demonstration Principle
Ap Application Principle
In Integration Principle
Enth Enthusiasm
Kn Knowledgeable
Org Organization
Hum Humor
Comp Compassion
Chal Challenging
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 14
Appendix 2
Detailed Description of How Merrill’s First Principles were Used
Problem/Task-Centered
All instructors used some form of real-world problems or tasks in their class. For example,
Dr. Kelley (Child Development)
In one class, students plan out and executing lesson plans in the university pre-school
lab.
In another class, students do home visits to the families of their students, attend parent
meetings and conferences and write reports on the meetings.
Students also work in small groups to respond to real world scenarios they might
encounter in their work as pre-school teachers.
Dr. Wellington (Marketing)
In one class, students assume the role of consultants for a real-world companies and
perform a marketing audit.
Suzan Harrison (Nutrition and Health)
Harrison shared real-world, personal examples of the nutrition and development
phenomena that she was teaching in lectures.
Harrison embodied a personal example of excellent fitness and nutrition, as noted by
her students.
In one class, students used what they had learned by analyzing the contents of infant
formula to see how well it matched important research knowledge.
Dr. Sumbramony (Economics)
Students solved economics problems using complex equations.
Activation
Dr. Wellington (Marketing)
When lecturing, he created an itinerary on the board that organized the class.
Referred to and built on the knowledge obtained in previous prerequisite courses.
Suzan Harrison (Nutrition and Health)
When beginning a lecture, she reviewed what was discussed in the previous class prior to
lecturing on new content.
She then previewed the key points of the day’s lecture, providing an organizing structure for
the content to be learned.
Dr. Sumbramony (Economics)
At beginning of the class period he asked questions to the students regarding more
fundamental principles of economics, slowly progressing to questions about more abstract,
complex principles, and finally moved into the content of the current class.
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 15
Demonstration
Dr. Kelley (Child Development)
Students learned from other students by observing and evaluating them as they planned out
and executed lesson plans in the pre-school lab.
Students listened to how other students responded to real world scenarios provided by Dr.
Kelley, and also listened to Dr. Kelley’s feedback on their responses.
Dr. Wellington (Marketing)
Students were given access to several high quality marketing audits performed by students in
previous semesters.
Dr. Wellington provided many relevant examples from the popular media that illustrate the
marketing audit steps to be applied by the students.
Suzan Harrison (Nutrition and Health)
Shared personal examples from her life of the nutrition phenomena and human
development concepts presented in the lecture.
Provided a personal example of excellent fitness and nutrition to her students.
Dr. Sumbramony (Economics)
Showed and worked through an example of how to use an equation to solve an
economics problem on the chalkboard.
Application
Dr. Kelley (Child Development)
Students planned out and executed lesson plans at the pre-school lab.
Students responded to real world scenarios provided by Dr. Kelley.
Dr. Wellington (Marketing)
Students performed a marketing audit, including several specific audit-specific
activities.
Suzan Harrison (Nutrition and Health)
Students went to the grocery store and analyzed the contents of infant formula to see
how it matched what was discussed in class.
Students tracked their own nutritional intake and compared it with what they had
learned in class.
Dr. Sumbramony (Economics)
Students used a complex equation solved an economic problem in class and then used the
equation to solve a similar problem on their own out of class.
Integration
Dr. Kelley (Child Development)
Dr. Kelley facilitated an in-class discussion with students on their experiences in the lab in
which students shared insights with one another.
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 16
Dr. Wellington (Marketing)
Facilitated interactive class discussions by posing engaging and sometimes off-beat questions
to help students to expand their knowledge of the subject.
Described to students how the skills they are developing will be useful in the future.
Suzan Harrison (Nutrition and Health)
Constantly asked students, “What does this mean to you?”
Dr. Sumbramony (Economics)
On several occasions asked students, “Why is this important?”
Cycle of Instruction
Dr. Kelley (Child Development)
Student groups responded to real-world scenarios provided by Dr. Kelley in class. Other
students learned from those sharing their responses while the sharing group applied their
knowledge to the scenario. This was repeated by several groups on several occasions. Dr.
Kelley facilitated the discussion by asking questions and also provided feedback and insights
to each student group and to the rest of the class on how to improve responses and expand
their knowledge related to the scenario.
Dr. Wellington (Marketing)
When teaching how to do each of the several specific market analysis tasks, Wellington
provided students with multiple examples of the market analysis task, including examples
from previous students and examples from the popular media. Students then performed the
market analysis task and were later given feedback from Dr. Wellington on how to improve
their analysis.
Suzan Harrison (Nutrition and Health)
In one class, Harrison directed students to read a nutritional case as a group and were given a
worksheet to guide them through the process of applying their knowledge to solve nutritional
problems. They then integrated their knowledge by presenting their solution to other groups.
Students also learned from each other in the sharing process. This cycle was repeated several
times.
Dr. Sumbramony (Economics)
When teaching how to solve a difficult economics-related problem, Dr. Sumbramony first
worked through the problem using a complex equation on the chalkboard. He then presented
another similar problem and had students use the equation to solve a portion of the problem.
He then gave them another problem to solve on their own for outside of class.
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 17
Editor’s Note: This is an interesting study of social dynamics in social media and online classrooms that
enable students to feel less intimidation and react freely compared to a traditional classroom setting.
Developing Trust and Openness in an Online Environment Christopher J. Devers
USA
Abstract
Like many innovative educational initiatives, online environments provide potentially unique
benefits, as well as costs, and, consequently, they should be studied systematically. This research
was a qualitative case study of an online course; the course, therefore, was the unit of analysis.
The participants were students in the course “Teaching and Learning about Africa” at a Midwest
United States university and at a South African university. Students in the Midwest U.S. and
South Africa were able to participate in their native country while interacting with students in the
other country. This study explored how trust and openness were developed in an online course.
Students described three themes that created trust and openness in the online environment--(a) the
way the professor framed the course, (b) the feeling of anonymity online, and (c) the ability to
interact using textual communication. Sociocultural theory served as the theoretical framework
for the study and was used to guide the interpretation of the findings.
Keywords: online, education, technology, synchronous, trust, openness, community, sociocultural,
distance, learning, communication.
Developing Trust and Openness in an Online Environment
Sociocultural theory has always posited a positive relationship between social development and
intellectual development. In 1916, for example, one of the early proponents of the sociocultural
perspective, John Dewey, argued that true social communication was inevitably educative.
Not only is social life identical with communication, but all communication (and hence
all genuine social life) is educative. To be a recipient of a communication is to have an
enlarged and changed experience. One shares in what another has thought and felt and in
so far, meagerly or amply, has his own attitude modified. Nor is the one who
communicates left unaffected. . . . . To formulate requires getting outside of the specific
communications, seeing it as another would see it, considering what points of contact it
has with the life of another so that it may be got into such form that he can appreciate its
meaning. (Dewey, 1916, p. 6)
Throughout the twentieth and into the twenty-first century, a cadre of sociocultural scholars from
array of disciplines and fields of study provided a wealth of empirical evidence to support claims
about the impact of social interaction on cognitive development (Rogoff, 1991; Saxe, 1991;
Doise, Mugny, & Perret-Clermont, 1975; Wegerif, 1999; Gauvain, 1995; Gauvain, 2001; Psaltis
& Duveen, 2007; Psaltis & Duveen, 2006; Garton & Pratt, 2001). Social interaction in the
twenty-first century is often quite different than social interaction in the past because it is
mediated by new technologies (Grinter & Eldridge, 2001, 2003; Lenhart, Hitlin, & Madden,
2005; Greenhow, Robelia, & Hughes, 2009). Students are now inundated with new mediums of
digital communication -- BlackBerry Messenger, Twitter, Facebook, FaceTime, Blogging, etc. As
more and more schools embrace communication technologies, as well as the increase of digital
bullying, exploring the components that influence trust and openness are critical. This case study
explored the components that contributed to trust and openness in a single online course.
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 18
Previous research supports the premise that online environments foster trust and openness.
Kehrwald (2008) suggests that it is “people” who ultimately dictate the success of the social
climate of online environments. Even with the advancements of technology, trust and openness
cannot be hard coded into an online setting. The instructor and participants must create a
community (Wenger, 1998, 2000) for trust and openness to grow. Within an online community,
instructor supported reflection and group reflection have shown to be effective for learning (Kim,
Hong, Bonk, & Lim, 2009). The nature of online courses enables instructors to play an active role
in group discussions (i.e., synchronous chatting, bulletin boards, etc.), while also supporting self-
reflection (i.e., assignments, reading reflections, etc.).
Merryfield (2003) found in her two-year studies of American teachers and cultural consultants
that online education offered unique advantages not found in traditional classrooms. Because
online education typically does not allow one to visually see other participants, language accents,
body language, and other nonverbal cues are removed from the conversation, which increases
equity (Collins & Berge, 1995; McComb, 1994; Ruberg & Taylor, 1995) and participation
(Johnson, 2006; Hartman, Neuwirth, Kiesler, Cochran, Palmquist, & Zubrow, 1995). Merryfield
(2003) coined the phrase “triggers of difference” for these nonverbal interaction cues that are
absent in online environments. Void of these clues (Lobel, Neubauer, & Swedburg, 2002),
students focus on the issues in the course, without other prejudices influencing the
communication (Vrasidas & Zembylas, 2003).
Along with creating an environment where visual cues are void, they also support thoughtful
dialogue. Some online education systems are developed around textual communication, which
research suggests supports higher order thinking (Lapadat, 2002) and more focused discussion
(Sins, Savelsbergh, Joolingen, & Hout-Wolters, 2010). Online environments provide instructors
the ability to monitor dialogue. Specifically, they are able help support a more equitable
community by providing each student talking time in the course (Citera, 1998). Additionally,
textual communication allows students time to think before responding (Beauvois, 1998;
Warschauer, 1996).
Digital communication is increasing at an incredible pace. Many universities and some K-12
institutions are rapidly adopting this new form of communication. Given the recent advancements
in technology, there is clearly a need for studies that investigate the relationship between
computer-mediated communication and trust and openness. In the Education field, studies that
focus on the factors that facilitate positive technology-mediated interactions in classroom settings
are especially needed. This article reports the results of one such study.
Overview of the Study
The online course took place using WebCT and met synchronously (two students mainly
participated asynchronously 1 ) one-and-a-half-hours once a week for one semester. During this
time, students participated in guided discussion, similar to that of face-to-face communication in
an online class chat room. The course was taught by a professor who is originally from South
Africa and has done research on the desegregation of public schools in post-apartheid South
Africa. The professor was stationed in South Africa while teaching the class. Students from the
United States of America were able to participate with other South African students for three
sessions. A guest lecturer from South Africa also participated in one session.
1 Due to other obligations, Susan participated in four synchronous discussions and Lucy participated in two
synchronous discussions; in the other weeks, they both participated asynchronously.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 19
Methodology
Design
The purpose of this study was to conduct research on online education and to use sociocultural
theory (Dewey, 1902, 1915, 1916; Freire, 1970) to interpret the findings. After data was collected
and analyzed, it became clear that sociocultural theory fits the phenomena that emerged (Geertz,
1973). This study was an empirical inquiry single descriptive case study (Stake, 1995; Yin, 2003)
that examined a single online course. For this project, a descriptive case study analysis (in-depth
description of this case) was conducted. Stake (1995) and Yin (2003) describe case study research
as an effort to understand a complex phenomenon within the context of real life events.
Participants
The participants in the study included students from two universities--a Midwest United States
university and a South African university. Although the majority of the course participants
attended the U.S. university, white students did not dominate the class. It was an unusually
diverse group compared to the typical courses in a College of Education. The students were from
different departments and varied by age, race, and gender. In order to maintain confidentiality,
each of the students was assigned a pseudonym.
Students
Participant Gender Race
(self-reported) Age Department
Degree Seeking
Interview
Laura F Black 24 Educational policy
studies
MA In person
Jason M White 25 African studies MA In person
Brendon M African American 33 History PhD In person
Susan F White 30 Political science PhD In person
Elizabeth F Asian Indian 21 Global studies in
education
PhD In person
Lucy F White 24 Not specified EdM Phone
Julie F half Mexican, half
Caucasian
21 Political science and
sociology
BA In person
Cindy F White/non-
Hispanic
29 Curriculum and
instruction
PhD In person
Annie F South African 21 Natural sciences BEd Phone
Felicity F South African Math literacy and
biology
BEd N/A
Professor and Technical Assistant
Name Gender Race Age Department Degree
Researcher M Caucasian 30 Curriculum and
instruction PhD
student
Professor M South African 36 Curriculum and
instruction PhD
Figure 1. Participants
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 20
The diverse experiences and viewpoints of the participants cultivated a valuable learning
environment (Dewey, 1916).
Data and Data Analysis
Systematic analysis procedures were used to analyze the qualitative data (Guba & Lincoln, 1994).
The data for the interview and open-ended questions were coded and analyzed according to
emergent themes and categories (Glasser & Strauss, 1967) using Nvivo software.
Semi-structured interviews: Interview data were transcribed from audio recordings, and coded to
categories using Nvivo. The codes were then organized to address the two main research
questions, creating both emergent themes and subthemes from the coded data.
WebCT class discussion and other online areas (e.g., bulletin boards, etc.): Freire (1970) provided
a framework for interpreting data from the online course. Dialogue, critical thinking, and
reflection are important components of critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970, pp. 70-72). These
concepts were used as analytic criteria for coding and selecting examples in support of categories
that emerged from data used for this study.
Individual interviews were conducted using an interview script (Patton, 1987) during the fifth
week and at the end of the course. In person interviews were conducted with six of the
participants; while the remaining two participant interviews were conducted over the phone.
Predetermined interview questions were used for both the fifth week and end of the course
interviews. Data were initially coded using the three main categories - cross-cultural, learning and
growth, and online. Once the data were coded using these data categories, themes emerged
related to the research question (Glasser & Strauss, 1967): What factors contributed to the
development of trust and openness?
Results
The interview data reveal three main themes, the “professor’s contribution to the course
framework,” a “feeling of anonymity,” and “textual communication” which contributed to
creating a trusting and open environment. Additionally, subthemes provided support for each of
the overarching themes. One to two student interview responses provided reinforcement for each
of the supporting subthemes. Each of the three major theme findings is presented in the sections
that follow.
Professor’s Contribution to Course Framework
Six out of eight American students’ interview data supported the main theme that the professor’s
contribution to the course created trust and openness. This theme is supported by two subthemes,
a “constructive environment” and “supportive dialogue.” Overall, the two subthemes provided
support for how the professor contributed to creating a trusting and open environment.
Constructive environment.
Brendon described that having the professor set up a constructive environment helped the
students be open and accepting of others.
Brendon: you must have an instructor that creates and cultivates that kind of environment, cause
if you don’t, it can’t exist, it’s the students in concert, with those are governing and running and
shaping the class, it takes two ends for that to happen . . . (Message ID No. M1-Z5-88Q post-
course interview)
Laura described how the professor framed the course in a way that contributed to an open
environment.
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 21
Laura: . . . . at the last session, the professor said “let’s just make sure that, we’re careful
about how we say things, to make sure that we’re not attacking each other’s ideas but
we’re just, saying what our opinion is, and so sometimes over, email or chat system, that
might not come across as clearly” . . . . (Message ID No. T3-J5-17E fifth week interview)
In the post-course interview, Laura stated:
Laura: I think he did a pretty good job regulating that, in the beginning of the class, I
believe he stated that he was trying to foster an environment where everyone felt
welcome in this online classroom, where everyone felt comfortable in voicing their
opinions on how they felt about certain issues. In a couple of instances, I think that the
conversation kind of got a little heated, and I think he did a good job again of quelling the
situation and, making sure that we all are being respectful of each other’s opinions . . . . I
think he did a good job of making sure that we’re all not attacking anyone particular,
someone might disagree with your idea, and we can voice that and we can discuss that,
but it’s not personal towards anyone, so, I think he did a good job of doing that. (Message
ID No. T3-Z5-44E post-course interview)
In both the fifth week interview and the post-course interview, Laura described how, from the
beginning, the professor structured the course in a way that helped cultivate an environment
where students felt open and comfortable. Further, she described how, at times, situations became
“heated,” but the professor kept the conversation controlled.
Supportive dialogue. Cindy described the benefit of having an instructor frame a safe online
environment. Specifically she details the value supportive dialogue.
Cindy: . . . I think it’s just the way, the instructor was pretty open to talking about just
about anything, and even if he disagreed, he’d be like well that’s your opinion, I might
not agree, but he wasn’t like no that’s wrong, that’s bad, I mean the instructor, you could
tell if he might not necessarily have of agreed with what you said, but at least he was
open to hearing you out, and letting you say what you thought, and even if he was
questioning it, then maybe he would question you a little further, and say okay, I might
not still agree with you, but at least I understand where you were coming from, and I
think that helped, set the mood for the rest, for the whole class, in that you felt, felt open
to say what you thought, because you knew the teacher wasn’t going to come down on
you . . . (Message ID No. K5-Z5-44P post-course interview)
The professor’s comments illustrate Cindy’s previous statement, by demonstrating how the
professor did not agree with a comment and was nonetheless constructive.
Professor: I like your earlier points, Jason, but I would not agree that “I” and “We” are
the same. Thanks for these points...let me move on to others. Who is ready? Thanks
Jason! (Message ID No K5-S3-92U chat session transcript)
Having a professor who constantly offered positive feedback throughout the class appeared to
have an impact on Cindy’s feeling safe. Elizabeth too described that the professor supported
dialogue.
Elizabeth: . . . he [the professor] is always giving us positive feedback, after every
single one of our contributions, commenting that was great or those are really good
points. I know that definitely helps, because even in a classroom setting, you don’t
have teachers saying that, like okay let’s go to the next person, but they don’t say that
was a great point, or they don’t really take the time to give you that kind of
encouragements, I think that having that positive feedback from a teacher is really
important. (Message ID No. T3-J5-17W fifth week interview)
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 22
The course framework and structure, implemented by the professor, helped create an atmosphere
where students felt safe and comfortable sharing their thoughts and personal experiences.
Both tactics, creating constructive environment and providing supportive dialogue, helped
establish trust and openness. While online settings offer the absence of “triggers of difference”
(Merryfield, 2003), it is still important to be sensitive when interacting online. When difficult
topics arose, it was important to remind students to be open to others’ viewpoints and to be
cautious of how things were said. For example, suggesting that students be sensitive to the exact
words that were used and asking students to clarify points they were making, can help foster an
open environment. Supportive dialogue also helped cultivate a trusting environment. Even when
disagreeing with students, providing encouraging comments proved beneficial. From the first day
of class through the end of the semester, creating a constructive environment and providing
supportive dialogue contributed to the development of trust and openness.
Feeling of Anonymity
As with the first main theme, six out of eight U.S. students discussed how the online environment
provided a sense of anonymity. Students described that since they were unable to visually
communicate with one another, they felt anonymous. The feeling of anonymity theme is
supported by the subthemes of feeling “hidden” and “free.” These two subthemes provided
support for the main theme of anonymity.
Hidden. Elizabeth’s response described how she felt more open due to the lack of visual triggers
associated with online environments.
Elizabeth: I think it in a way might be a good thing, just because we are forced to really
think about what they are saying, and you don’t make stereotypes or whatever about the
way people look and connect that to what they are saying, so maybe in a way, I think it
is a beneficial thing, maybe things like the tone would add to the class, but I think that,
so far, I feel like everybody’s been really good at expressing themselves pretty well, so
that definitely helps, I don’t feel like I’ve misunderstood anything, or I really don’t feel
like I am losing out on anything in the communication by not being able to see the
person. (Message ID No. H7-J5-17W fifth week interview)
As a result of feeling hidden, she thought that students were more open than they would have
been in a face-to-face course. In a fifth week and post-course interview question, Laura discussed
how an online environment contributed to a feeling of anonymity.
Laura: Well, I think people tend to be more honest when they are using online systems
simply because you don’t have that intimidation of being face-to-face with someone,
like you’re not looking at the professor per se or you’re not looking at the other
classmates per se, and so you might be a little more liberal about what you say knowing
that people aren’t literally staring and focusing in on you visually anyway, I would say
that for the most part, I think people are able to be more direct and be more up front
about what they want to say without feeling that tension to have to come up with the
right words right on the spot to say, I mean you can pretty much think out your
comment, type it, spell check it, make sure that it’s right before you post it, it’s a little
bit different feel than being in class. (Message ID No. R2-J5-17E fifth week interview)
In the post-course interview, Laura stated:
Laura: . . . . I think sometimes classes, face-to-face, say a person is shy, or not really an
extravert, you know, doesn’t really want to participate when other people are looking at
them speak, I think the online class is a way for those students to type freely, not
necessarily hide behind the screen, but it’s a forum where they can kind of voice their
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 23
opinion openly without having that intimidation of being in a classroom setting, like,
actual physical classroom setting. (Message ID No. R2-Z5-44E post-course interview)
Laura described in both interviews that online environments contributed to her feeling
anonymous, since she felt safe hidden behind her computer. A uniqueness of an online
environment is the absence of “triggers of difference” (Merryfield, 2003, p. 160) so students do
not have to deal with visual communication (e.g., body language, appearance, etc.). Merryfield
described triggers of difference as, “. . . visual and oral differences often subconsciously make
people uncomfortable or otherwise constrain people’s abilities to listen, interact, and learn from
others” (p. 160). The online course provided students with the perception of being hidden from
others and offered them a sense of freedom, both of which contributed to the feeling of
anonymity.
Freedom. Lucy explained how her involvement in the course and the feeling of anonymity
contributed to her participating more in class discussions.
Lucy: well obviously it wouldn’t be as flexible and honestly, you wouldn’t think as a
teacher I’d be afraid to talk up and stuff in class, but when there’s a big class, with people
I’m unfamiliar with, I’m not going to say a whole lot, I’m not going to kind of step out
there and say the things that I’ve been saying in this class, not that they’re controversial
really, I just wouldn’t be speaking up nearly as much and wouldn’t be giving my opinion,
I’d probably just be sitting there kind of soaking it all up and wouldn’t be speaking up as
much, since I’m somewhat anonymous on this . . . . nobody is there to look at me like I’m
crazy. (Message ID No. R2-J5-54B fifth week interview)
In Lucy’s response, she described that she participated more in the online setting, since there was
some degree of anonymity from not being seen. Jason also expressed that technology has a way
of helping people feel more “comfortable” than if they were in a face-to-face setting.
Jason: I think that the technology has a comfortableness, the technology will have a large
part in that, in terms of people, the more comfortable you are chatting, the easier it will be
to be extraverted into the class conversation. (Message ID No. T3-J5-12L fifth week
interview)
In the fifth week interview, Jason described again how online environment (technology) might
allow others to freely participate in the course.
Anonymity seemed to be an important factor in establishing trust. Specifically, providing an
environment where students were unable to view visual cues helped them open up within the
course (Merryfield, 2003). The online course also appeared to ease the fear of public speaking
and allowed students to communicate when otherwise they would not. The textual environment
provided a sense of freedom when chatting, which could be due to how prolific textual
communication has become over the last few years. Overall, the feeling of anonymity impacted
student’s perception and ultimately contributed to the development of trust and openness.
Textual Communication
The third main theme, textual communication, was described by six of the eight U.S. students as
beneficial in developing trust and openness. The subthemes, “thinking before responding,” “open
dialogue,” and lessening the “language barrier,’ all provided support for the main textual
communication theme. Overall, textual communication, with support from the three subthemes,
contributed to trust and openness.
Thinking before responding. Laura described that some students might be more communicative
in an online situation than they would be in a face-to-face course.
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 24
Laura: I think people are able to be more direct and be more up front about what they
want to say without feeling that tension to have to come up with the right words right on
the spot to say, you can pretty much think out your comment, type it, spell check it, make
sure that it’s right before you post it, it’s a little bit different feel than being in class.
(Message ID No. R2-J5-17E fifth week interview)
Laura explained that she predicted students would be more forthcoming, due to the use of textual
communication, instead of visual communication. During an interview question, Susan suggested
that using textual communication provides time to prepare.
Susan: So I think one of the good things about it, is that it gives people kind of a chance
to think before they blurt things out, when you are all sitting around in a classroom, I
think a lot of times people are kind of scared to talk, because they don’t know or there’re
the talkers and they say too much, and so it helps I think . . . . (Message ID No. U8-J5-
51H fifth week interview)
Because students had time to prepare their written response, Susan thought that an online
environment offered a place where they would feel at ease contributing to class discussions.
Open dialogue. Below, Laura described her perception of the advantages of textual
communication on the course.
Laura: . . . . I think the online class is a way for those students to type freely, not
necessarily hide behind the screen, but it’s a forum where they can kind of voice their
opinion openly without having that intimidation of being in a classroom setting, like,
actual physical classroom setting. (Message ID No. R2-Z5-44E post-course interview)
Laura described how the utilization of text for communication provided students with the
opportunity to think before responding. In addition, she also explained that students expressed
themselves freely using text. Lucy too, expressed how the online environment contributed to
students being open in their dialogue.
Lucy: . . . . you weren’t going to be sitting there seeing someone, or seeing their face or
getting into a verbal argument with them, you could write, you could type whatever you
want, and it’s not a big deal. (Message ID No. R2-Z5-18B post-course interview)
Both Lucy and Laura described how textual communication provided open dialogue, which
contributed to feelings of trust and perceptions of openness.
Language barrier. Below, Laura illustrated how textual communication was beneficial to those
who did not speak the language of instruction fluently.
Laura: I think one could potentially be a language barrier, sometimes international
students, their English might not be that good, they might know English very well, they
probably could type it just as fast as anybody else could, but it doesn’t come off the same,
because they don’t speak it as well, so the online component where we’re just typing our
answers, it seems like everybody, you know, is pretty much on the same level as far as,
speaking and being able to communicate with each other, so in that sense I could see it
being more beneficial to have it online. (Message ID No. A4-Z5-44E post-course
interview)
Laura recognized that some students found it easier to dialogue using a text based system than
speaking as they would in a face-to-face course. The advantage of being able to think before
responding contributed to students being open when discussing sensitive topics. Further, students
who struggle with the native language used in a course might find it easier to communicate using
text.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 25
The online course provided students the opportunity to carefully construct their responses as they
dialogued. Giving students the time to carefully construct responses could lead to richer
conversations, and cause students to feel more trusting and open. Generally, textual
communication is often slower than spoken communication and could be a contributing factor in
allowing students more time to construct responses. For students who verbally struggle with
language, using a chat system provides them with an alternative communication venue. Overall, a
textual dialogue offers some unique advantages that, when utilized well, can promote a trusting
and open environment.
Discussion
Developing trust and openness in online settings is challenging (Grabowski & Roberts, 1998). In
order to do this, the professor of this online course framed it (Kehrwald, 2008) in ways that
cultivated an atmosphere in which students felt open to discuss sensitive topics. The students
trusted the professor, as well as the other students in the class. The professor promoted trust and
openness (Kling & Courtright, 2004), while encouraging authentic education (Freire, 1970; Kim,
Hong, Bonk, & Lim, 2009) and appreciation for diversity. Dewey (1916) stated:
Lack of the free and equitable intercourse which springs from a variety of shared interests
makes intellectual stimulation unbalanced. Diversity of stimulation means novelty, and
novelty means challenge to thought. The more activity is restricted to a few definite lines,
as it is when there are rigid class lines preventing adequate interplay of experience--the
more action tends to become routine . . . . (p. 98)
Students, along with the professor, created an evolving collaborative environment that allowed
semi-structured content open to students’ interests and current cultural contexts. The professor
actively involved the students in creating an authentic educational atmosphere.
These case study findings suggest that a leading factor in developing trust and openness is based
on the instructor. On the first day class, it is important for an instructor to set an appropriate tone
for the course. One recommendation for online education is to be explicit about student
expectations and behavior for the course. For example, the syllabus should have a section
regarding online student conduct and those guidelines should be discussed during the first online
session. Discussing the expectations will give students an opportunity to resolve any concerns.
Additionally, throughout the course, the instructor should also participate and encourage
participation in a manner that the supports an inclusive and trusting environment. Specifically, the
instructor should be mindful of his/her communication and artfully monitor student
communication.
The online environment itself influenced students’ feelings of safety partly because of the
absence of triggers of differences (Merryfield, 2003). Students described that not being able to
see each other contributed to openness and trust. The anonymity created in the online
environment (Lobel, Neubauer, & Swedburg, 2002) helped lessen the impact stereotypes that are
often triggered by visual and oral communication (Collins & Berge, 1995; McComb, 1994;
Ruberg & Taylor, 1995). For example, because students did not see each other, they did not need
to be concerned with facial gestures or a lack of facility with English that prejudice in-person
interaction.
To help create anonymity at the beginning of the course, the instructor should encourage students
to not divulge a lot of revealing personal information. Many modern course management systems
allow students to upload pictures to represent an avatar -- when a student posts something online,
the avatar (picture) is displayed. During the first few weeks of the course, the instructor should
not allow students to upload personal photos, but rather have all the students use the same icon or
a few predetermined icons. Further, when students introduce themselves, they should be cautious
in reveling stereotypical personal information (i.e., religious beliefs, color, gender, etc). Limiting
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 26
pictures and personal information during the first few weeks will provide an opportunity to
develop an open and trusting environment, while dampening prejudice. Once the instructor and
students have developed a community, students should be encouraged to upload personal pictures
and reveal more personal information.
Since the course used textual communication (e.g., chatting, bulletin boards, etc.), students had
time to think about a response and sometimes revise the response before posting it for others to
see. Textual communication provided time to think before responding (Beauvois, 1998;
Warschauer, 1996) and gave less talkative students the opportunity to voice their opinions
(Citera, 1998). Students described that using a textual communication system provided the benefit
of quality dialogue over quantity. The speed of textual communication was slower than that of
auditory communication, but offered students the ability to type out a response, revise, and then
post it for others to read (Lapadat, 2002). Harasim’s (2000) research had similar results. Like
Harasim’s (2000) research, the data illustrated that this online course also generated high quality
dialogue.
When classes utilize textual communication as the main communication medium, it is important
remember that typing is considerably slower than speaking. Nonetheless, rich discussions can still
take place. Instructors should remind students to think carefully when answering questions, and to
be sure the words that they chose accurately portray their intended meaning. Even though
anonymity can be an advantage, not seeing others’ facial expressions and voice inflections might
make interoperating communication challenging, and therefore great finesse should be used while
conducting class discussions.
Similar to Dewey’s theory of social influence, the social atmosphere created by the students and
the professor in the online environment appeared to have enhanced “the quality of life” in the
group. Dewey (1916) theorized that social environments influence the activities and experiences
of the persons who participate in the group.
A being whose activities are associated with others has a social environment. What he does and
what he can do depends upon the expectations, demands, approvals, and condemnations of others.
A being connected with other beings cannot perform his own activities without taking the
activities of others into account. (p. 14)
Similarly, the environment of the online course impacted the experience and actions of the
students (Gerdes, 2010). Students described that both the professor and the online textual
communication cultivated a trusting and open atmosphere.
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About the Author
Christopher J. Devers is an assistant professor of learning and teaching in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego. His research focus is learning
and technology.
http://home.sandiego.edu/~devers
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 29
Editor’s Note: This valuable study shows how rapid development of a technology can be problematic where
materials are not adapted to take advantage of the pedagogical opportunities of the new medium.
Comparing Student Learning and Satisfaction between Learning Environments in Continuing Medical Education
Cheryl Fisher and William A. Sadera
USA
Abstract
The use of distance education in continuing medical education (CME) has become commonplace.
This rapid expansion has subsequently led to disintegration of CME course quality. In other
words, more and more CME is being offered over a distance without the benefit of empirically
based instructional design or consideration for appropriate pedagogy. This study was designed to
examine the differences in learning outcomes and student satisfaction in a distance-based video
cast CME course. The findings of this study support the need for a new pedagogical approach to
the design of CME and the need to make interaction an integral part of the course design.
Over the past decade, distance education has taken on a number of formats ranging from
completely online to augmenting classroom discussion with on-line chats, list-serves, audio and
video conferencing, and threaded discussions. Technology is not only transforming how we
deliver education and training but is expanding our capacity to respond to the needs for higher
education and training in a broader sense. With a long history of serving isolated and remote
learners, distance learning has now emerged as an effective, mainstream method of education and
training that provides flexible learning opportunities in response to learners’ needs. Now, as a key
component of our new way of learning, distance programs offer learners more control and access
to their learning opportunities which, in many cases, like continuing medical education (CME),
are becoming mandatory educational requirements. It is the purpose of this paper to report on a
research study that examined the differences in learning outcomes and student satisfaction in a
distance-based CME research course. This study compared two learning environments (face to
face and distance-based) in order to measure students’ learning experiences and the learning
outcomes.
Review of the Literature
Learning through continuing medical education is an important part of the life of every practicing
health care professional. It is imperative that today’s health care providers stay current in practice,
since patient outcomes are directly impacted by provider knowledge. However, many
organizations have questioned the design of CME courses and their effectiveness in the
promotion of quality patient care. One key area noted by the Accreditation Council for
Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), that can provide improvement in the delivery of
quality patient care, can be found in the restructuring and strengthening of current CME course
design. The ACCME noted that current CME course structures must be responsive and vigilant to
the health care provider’s educational needs.
Recently, a plethora of CME studies (Curran, Fleet, & Kirby, 2010; Hodgkin, 2009; Ruf, Berner,
Kriston, Maier, & Harter, 2008) had been conducted for better understanding of the field;
however, over the years the results of these studies have not been thoughtfully integrated to
advance or improve the field of CME. This pressure to expand has subsequently led to
disintegration of CME course quality. In other words, more and more CME is being made
available online without the benefit of empirically based instructional design or consideration for
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 30
appropriate pedagogy. Curran, et al., (2010) further noted that this lack of empirically based
instructional design has become a major weakness in terms of advancing or improving the quality
of CME.
Distance Learning and Continuing Medical Education
The availability of technology supported CME began emerging in the early 1990’s (Casebeer,
Kristofco, Strasser, Reilly, Krishnamoorthy, Rabin, Zheng, Karp & Myers, 2004). Since this time,
physicians, nurses and other health care professionals have continued to seek available
technology supported CME for the convenience and accessibility it has to offer. A recent
comprehensive review of CME available on the web found that the number of sites offering web-
based CME had risen from 4% to 33% between 2000 and 2009 (Sklar, 2010).
Telecommunications and distance technologies are not new, but with increased feasibility it is
transforming how we deliver education and training, and expanding our capacity to respond to the
requirements for keeping health professionals up to date. With a long history of serving isolated
and remote learners, distance learning has now emerged as an effective, mainstream delivery
method of education and training that provides flexible learning opportunities in response to
learners’ needs. For the rapidly expanding field to provide medical professionals the quality
courses required to maintain current knowledge for practice, sound instructional design principles
and CME research findings must be applied to course development.
In addition to the need for current knowledge by health professionals, Heller, Oros and Durney-
Crowley (2000) noted that distance-based nursing education has been driven by major
socioeconomic factors as well. Specifically, a faculty shortage has driven the rapid expansion of
online course offerings and entire Registered Nurse (RN) to Bachelor of Science in Nursing
(BSN) curricula (Mancuso-Murphy, 2007). It is important to note that the participants for these
courses are working adults and because of a nursing shortage, the profession is trying to offer the
convenience of technology supported continuing education to those actively working within the
profession. These factors have forced the profession to respond in a way that is going to continue
to be met via distance education because of the convenience and flexibility afforded through this
format.
Although the quantity and delivery modalities of CME have increased, most have not been
rigorously evaluated, few are based on sound educational principles, and most do not employ
strategies to optimize the learning opportunities afforded by new technology (Casebeer et al.,
2010). The need for CME is intertwined with the future of medical practice and the expansion in
scientific knowledge, increasingly sophisticated diagnostic technologies, and the evolving
complexity of clinical practice (Harris, Sklar, Amend, & Novalis-Marine, 2010; Weston,
Sciamanna, & Nash, 2008). The internet alone has led to rapid exploitation of CME with
hundreds of websites offering accredited online courses. The success of technology supported
CME is threatened by inadequate quality assurance and a lack of careful educational design
(Shortt, Guillemette, Duncan, & Kirby, 2010). Additionally, most offerings do not make use of
the unique ability of the technology to offer multiple paths to learning new material and the
capacity to support interactive participation (Sklar, 2007).
As technology advances and CME expands in the direction of distance-based courses, research is
needed to continually assess learning within these environments. In a review of 30 CME courses,
quality of content was the characteristic most important to participants and too little interaction
was the largest source of dissatisfaction (Casebeer et al., 2004). Cobb (2004) reported on nine
distance CME studies (Neafsey, 1997; Curran, Hockman, Gulliver, Landells, Hatcher, 2000;
Casebeer, Kristofco, Strasser, 2004; Francis, Mauriello, Phillips, Englebardt, Grayden, 2000) and
found that the distance format was effective in imparting new knowledge, while three of the
studies (Harrington & Walker, 2002; Chumoey-Jones, Dobbie & Alford, 2002; Wutoh, Boren &
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 31
Balas, 2004) found that distance methods were effective but not superior. One study found that
case-based distance courses were more effective than text-based formats and suggested that
increased satisfaction with this format may have been due to the interactive strategies that were
employed (Casebeer et al., 2004). This research shows that distance CME can be effective but it
is the design of these courses that needs to be carefully scrutinized for optimal learning
opportunities.
Pedagogy and the Adult Learner
The majority of distance-based CME credits can be obtained by reading, reviewing, or listening
to online learning materials or media and, in some instances, by completing an online quiz
(Kamel Boulos & Wheeler, 2007; Weston, et al., 2008); however, the design of these CME
programs is noted to be variable and often lacks sound pedagogical principles and appropriate
theoretical frameworks. These courses are often similar to face to face courses but lack genuine
interaction (Guan, Tregonning, & Keenan, 2008; Sargeant, Curran, Allen, Jarvis-Selinger, & Ho,
2006) because the technology is not appropriately integrated into the course design (Zimitat,
2001). Sikorski and Peters (1998) believe that high quality, distance learning opportunities could
provide medical professionals with new options for accessing the best educational programs that
medicine has to offer. It could also present new opportunities to interact with expert faculty,
integrate newly published or peer reviewed scientific information and clinical developments, and
improve the process of taking courses and tracking credits. Li, Paterniti, Co, & West (2010)
suggest that CME should be highly self-directed with content, learning methods, and learning
resources selected specifically to maintain or improve competencies for clinical practice. If
distance-based CME is designed appropriately, then greater opportunities for quality education
could be more readily available to the participants. The learning needs of these participants
should ideally be considered from their reality, as busy working professional adults with little
time for ineffective learning (Manning and Debakey, 2001).
The application of adult learning principles are most appropriate and indeed address key factors
for consideration when designing CME (Johnson & Aragon, 2003; Dolcourt, Zuckerman &
Warner 2006; Gaff, Aitken, Flouris, Metcalf & 2007). However, others claim that the population
participating in CME will benefit from a more in-depth theoretical framework that considers
cultural differences, cognitive style, and life experiences (Shannon, 2003). Building on these
experiences, Fox (1991) developed a model for learning in professional practice that was adapted
to a medical context. Fox’s model addresses several foci including knowing in action, reflection
in action, experimentation and application of evidence, and reflection on action as a means of
evaluation of the outcome of one’s action. The participants of CME are indeed adult learners and
the considerations for a sound theoretical approach to CME design should take into account the
experiences and complexities of these working professionals.
Current technologies have the potential of supporting exciting opportunities for CME offerings;
however, as mentioned earlier by (Curran, et al., 2010), Casebeer (2004), and Zimitat (2001), the
practice of incorporating research findings into practice continues to need further exploration.
Characteristics which foster the best delivery of distance-based CME still need to be employed
and further researched in order to develop a greater understanding of effective course delivery.
Evaluative research is essential to identify technologies and learning formats that are most
effective for facilitating learning and fostering practice change.
Technology supported CME is only going to continue to become more prevalent as health care
professionals demand convenience, accessibility, and increased options for obtaining continuing
education. It has been argued that distance-based CME offers the potential for creating a new
learning environment in which interaction, collaboration, and knowledge building are the
defining features (Curran, Kirby, Parsons & Lockyer, 2003). However, it cannot be assumed that
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 32
the provision of a technological infrastructure will somehow result in improved course outcomes
and guaranteed learning. Various factors seem to influence whether or not students engage in
interactive learning strategies, ranging from the pragmatic (for example, easy to use or access) to
the pedagogic (for example, the influence of assessment) (Oliver & Shaw, 2003). With increasing
use of technology among health care professionals, it follows that there would be increased need
for more well designed distance-based CME. One prediction for the future of hospital staff
development was that technology will greatly expand and provide new learning formats,
including distance learning and independent study. This prediction has proven to be true (Autti,
Autti, Vehmas, Laitalainen, & Kivisaari, 2007; Curran, et al., 2010; Harris, et al., 2010;
Premkumar et al., 2010).
Methodology
Research Design
This research used a two-group correlational design to assess the relationship between student
satisfaction and learning outcomes utilizing two learning environments: face to face and 14
distance locations participating by remote video cast. The data for this research was collected
using two instruments; a pre and post test and a satisfaction survey.
Group 1 Pretest Course Instruction (Face to Face) Knowledge Posttest
& MTSISS
Group 2 Pretest Course Instruction (Video Cast) Knowledge Posttest
& MTSISS
Figure 1: Research Design
Research Questions
To more specifically understand the difference in learning experiences (student learning and
student satisfaction) between the face to face and the video cast learning environments, the
following research questions were used to guide this investigation:
1. Is there a difference in pre and post-test knowledge scores within each learning environment?
2. Is there a difference in post-test knowledge scores when controlling for pre-test scores between learning environments?
3. Is there a difference between learning environments in student satisfaction scores?
Research Setting and Procedures
The setting for the study took place on the main campus of the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. As a part of its training mission, the NIH annually offers this
course, the Principles and Practices of Clinical Research (IPPCR). This course is a study
curriculum on how to effectively conduct clinical research on human subjects. The program trains
researchers in the process of protocol design and development beginning with study design
through the final phase of dissemination of findings. Upon successful completion of this course, a
certificate and continuing education units (CEUs) are awarded. This course is of interest to
physicians and other health professionals training for a career in clinical research. Nine hundred
and forty nine (949) participants were registered for the course overall with 350 in the face to face
lecture auditorium and the remaining 599 in multiple remote locations connected by live video.
The lecture content offered in this course included topics such as issues in randomization, design
of epidemiologic studies, study development, hypothesis testing, participant selection, statistical
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 33
methods, ethical issues, and human research subjects. A mock IRB exercise, regulatory issues,
and participant selection are some of the other lectures offered.
At the end of each lecture, the presenter provided participants the opportunity for questions and
answers. The NIH participants were asked first to come to the microphone to ask their questions
followed by the same opportunity for each remote location utilizing the live video technology.
Outside of this question and answer period, there are no other opportunities for interaction. Peer
to peer and any additional questions would be emailed to the instructor following the course
lecture.
Data collection procedure. In order to recruit participants, an invitation letter was emailed and
posted on the website a week prior to the start of the IPPCR course. At this time the pretest was
made available online for the participants to voluntarily complete. All course participants were
asked to participate in this study and were advised by email and through the course website that
this would not impact their grade in this course. After a two week period of availability, the
pretest was closed down; 108 participants had completed the test.
At the end of the course, the post test was made available online for two weeks. This online
multiple choice test was required in order to receive a certificate of completion. Of the 421 course
participants who completed the post test, all 108 of those who completed the pretest were
included. The pre-post tests were comprised of identical questions. Following the completion of
the course, a satisfaction survey was emailed to all course participants. This survey was
completely voluntary and the total number of respondents was 105.
Both face to face and distance-based participants received the same instructional experience
except for the fact that in the distance-based course the instructor was projected into the learning
environment through live video. A pilot study was conducted with the course offered prior to the
actual study. The results of the pilot did in fact reveal several research issues which were
addressed with the actual study.
Sample. Once permission to conduct this study was obtained from the NIH IRB, data collection
was implemented. A letter of invitation was emailed to all participants and posted on the course
website describing the importance and purpose of the study. Participation in the pre-test and
return of the satisfaction survey implied consent to participate in the study. The convenience
sample consisted of participants located in both the face to face (78) and the remote learning
environments (135). Due to the logistics in obtaining data, it was not possible to obtain one
single sample for this study. Therefore, the data was collected in the naturalistic setting of the
course and the subgroups were not mutually exclusive. The first sub-sample consisted of 108
medical professionals who volunteered to take the pre-post test. The second sub-sample consisted
of 105 medical professionals participating in the same course who volunteered to participate in
the satisfaction survey. It was not known if the participants in the pre-post test sample also
participated in the course survey; therefore, it cannot be assumed that the groups were mutually
exclusive. These samples were compared for similarities and differences in age, gender,
profession, computer experience and reasons for taking the course.
Descriptive statistics and Chi Square analysis was performed on the demographic data to
determine distribution between the remote and the local learning environments. These results
revealed no significant difference in age, gender, profession, or computer experience. However,
significant difference (p=.02) were noted in distribution of reasons for taking the course. Table 1
summarizes these results and notes the sample demographics by local and remote locations.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 34
Table 1
Demographics by Local and Remote Locations
Local Remote Significance
Age
21 – 35 41% 53% p = .17
36 – 46 27% 29%
Gender
Male 42% 62% p = .19
Female 60% 51%
Profession
MD 37% 55.5% p = .07
PhD 19% 11%
Other 44% 33%
Reason
Research 72% 72.6% p = .02*
Other 27% 27%
Comp Exp
Intermediate 72.6% 73% p = .08
Note. * = Significant at 0.05
The results of this analysis demonstrate that the local and remote groups were fairly similar with
the exception of the difference noted. This difference indicated that there was a difference
between groups in response to their reason for taking the course. The reasons included to learn
how to conduct research or for CME credits or other reasons such as fellowship requirements.
This analysis revealed that 73% of the local group participated in the course to learn how to
conduct research, whereas 85% of the remote group participated for this reason. These findings
are similar to the demographic characteristics reported in other studies in continuing medical
education (Curran, Hoekman, Guliver, Landellis, & Hatcher, 2000; Bisciglia & Turner, 2002).
Survey instruments
As noted, the data for this research was collected using two instruments; a pre and post test and a
satisfaction survey. Details about each of the instruments, their reliability and validation follow.
Pre-post test. The pre-post test used for this study was comprised of 79 multiple choice
questions compiled from each of the course lectures with each contributing two or three
questions. The test was available online to course participants 2 weeks prior and following
the course lectures.
A table of specifications was conducted on this instrument in order to determine if the
questions were evenly distributed across course objectives. The purpose of a table of
specification is to identify the achievement domains being measured and to ensure that a
representative sample of questions appear on the test (Chase, 1999). A table of specifications
provides evidence that a test has content validity and that it covers what should be covered.
Since this multiple choice test was constructed with questions from multiple contributors, this
table provided insight into the distribution of questions based on the course objectives. The
table of specifications revealed that the percentage of questions representing objectives 1 and
3 were slightly over that recommended and the number of questions for objectives 2 and 4
were slightly under that recommended. The percentage of recommended questions is
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 35
determined by the number of times the content is mentioned in the lecture, written in the
handout, or referred to in the textbook using a scoring table. Although all objectives were not
exactly met by the recommended percentage of test questions, all objectives were represented
by an acceptable number.
Student satisfaction survey. The student satisfaction survey, Measurement of Technology
Supported Instruction and Student Satisfaction (MTSISS), was administered at the end of the
course via the course website. This survey consisted of the following five sections:
demographics, technology and overall educational experience, interaction and feedback,
course materials and course resources and communication, learning styles and learning
activities.
The MTSISS Survey consisted of 31 questions and was adapted from an instrument created
by Picciano (2002) in order to evaluate student satisfaction, interaction, and performance in a
distance-based course. This instrument was modified to reflect the categories of best practices
for teaching using technology based on Chickering and Ehrman (1996, Implementing the
Seven Principles: Technology as a Lever. The modifications made to this instrument included
a regrouping of the questions into four categories based on best practices for technology
supported teaching and learning. Within this work, Chickering and Ehrman (1996), identify
the seven categories that promote teaching and learning in online and technology supported
environments and that have been shown to support student satisfaction when learning online.
To assess for inter-rater agreement, the survey was evaluated using a content validity index
(CVI). The purpose of CVI was to determine the extent to which the content of the measure
represents the content domain. The procedure for the CVI involved two experts who were
asked to judge the specific items or behaviors included in the measure in terms of their
relevance, sufficiency, and clarity in representing the concepts. The experts used for this
index were both informatics nurses with experience as distance learning instructors. The CVI
was then used to quantify the extent of agreement between the experts. The CVI measures the
proportion of items given a rating of 3 or 4 by both experts. If all items are given ratings of 3
or 4 by both experts, interrater agreement will be perfect and the value of the CVI will be
1.00. The CVI score for this instrument was 0.72 which was considered a good rating.
Section I of the survey (questions 1-3) sought to establish participants’ demographic
information. This included their location when taking the course, age, gender, and profession.
Section II (questions 4-11) sought to determine the participants experience with technology
and their overall educational experience in the course. This section asked questions regarding
ease or difficulty using the technology for this course along with other questions related to
their level of satisfaction with the course in general. The following rating scale was used;
strongly decreased = 1, somewhat decreased = 2, about the same = 3, somewhat increased =
4, and strongly increased = 5.
Section III (questions 12-20) sought to collect data relative to interaction and feedback in the
course and the level of engagement the participants felt with their group or the course
instructor. The reliability for this section of the survey was 0.87 (Cronbach alpha). The
following five point Likert-type rating scale was used: strongly decreased = 1, somewhat
decreased = 2, about the same = 3, somewhat increased = 4, and strongly increased = 5.
Section IV of the survey looked at the ease of use and availability of course resources
(questions 21-25). This section of the survey sought to determine if the learners found course
materials and documents readily accessible. The reliability for this section of the survey was
0.67 (Cronbach alpha). The following five point Likert-type rating scale was used: never = 1,
seldom = 2, sometimes = 3, often = 4, and always = 5.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 36
The final section of the survey, section V (questions 26-31), addressed communication,
learning styles, and learning activities. These questions sought to determine if learning styles
and personal experiences were addressed in the course, if problem solving activities helped to
meet personal goals, and if opportunities for feedback and instructional activities were
incorporated in the course. The reliability for this section of the survey was 0.78 (Cronbach
alpha). The following five point Likert-type rating scale was used: never = 1, seldom = 2,
sometimes = 3, often = 4, and always = 5.
Results
Is there a difference in pre- and post-test knowledge scores within each learning environment?
Data generated from the pre-post knowledge test was used to address this question. A series of
three paired t-tests were computed to determine if there were differences between pre- and post-
test scores. Results of the paired t-test showed a significant difference (p= <.001) between the two
test scores for both learning environments. Results of this analysis are presented in Table 2.
It was expected that the scores would increase after the students participated in the course. This
analysis revealed that there were significant differences noted between both the local and remote
groups in mean scores. The results demonstrate that learning did take place as a result of course
participation.
Table 2
T-Test Comparison of Pre-post Test Scores
Df Mean SD t p
All (n=108)
Pre-test score 107 59.26 11.75 20.04 .001*
Post-test score 86.56 9.34
Face to Face Environment (n=40)
Pre-test score 39 47.58 8.86 18.62 .001*
Post-test score 85.93 10.08
Remote Environment (n=68)
Pre-test score 67 45.76 9.51 28.23 .001*
Post-test 86.93 8.94
Note. * = Significant at < 0.05
Is there a difference in post-test scores when controlling for pre-test scores when comparing
learning environments?
The data collected from the pre-post knowledge test was used to address this question. A one way
ANOVA was computed to determine if there was a significant difference between the two
learning environments in the post-test scores. The results showed that there was no significant
difference between the learning environments on the post-test scores when controlling for the pre-
test scores. This analysis shows no differential improvement in scores by environment. Results of
this analysis are presented in Table 3.
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 37
Table 3
Post-test Scores Adjusted for Pre-test Scores
N Mean SE
N=108
Local Group 40 85.8 1.5
Remote Group 68 87.0 1.1
Note. Group (Local vs. Remote) effect F (1,105) =.420; p=.519
This finding demonstrates that the learning location had no significant impact on test scores.
These results are in line with similar findings of no significant difference (Wetzel, Radtke &
Stern, 1994; Machtmes & Asher, 2000).
Is there a difference between learning environments on student satisfaction scores?
The results of the MTSISS Survey were examined in order to answer this question. Section III
(interaction and feedback), section IV (course materials and course resources) and section V
(communication, learning styles and learning activities) of the survey were analyzed using a
series of independent t-tests. An overall satisfaction score was also computed by combining
scores from the above three sections of the survey.
Analysis of this data showed no significant difference between groups’ level of overall
satisfaction with regard to interaction and course feedback (p = .66); course materials and course
resources (p = .63); or communication, learning styles, and learning activities (p = .97). Results of
this analysis are presented in Table 4.
Further analysis looked at group differences at the item level. This analysis found that there was
significant differences between groups when asked about student perceptions of interaction with
other students (p = .03) and when asked about the motivation for students to participate (p = .03).
This was possibly due to the lack of opportunities for interactions based on the course design.
Table 4
Group Comparison on Section III, IV, and V of the MTSISS Survey
N Mean SD t p
Interaction and Feedback *
Local Group 37 3.1 .53 1.12 . 66
Remote Group 59 3.0 .59 1.14
Course Materials and Resources **
Local Group 40 4.21 .55 1.17 . 610
Remote Group 60 4.08 .57 1.18
Communication, Learning Styles and Learning Activities *
Local Group 39 3.25 .60 .55 . 97
Remote Group 60 3.33 .62 .55
Note. * = Rated using a 5-point scale (1-Strongly Decreased, 5-Strongly Increased);
** = Rated using a 5-point scale (1-Never, 5-Always).
When evaluating the overall student satisfaction with the course (using grouped means of all three
sections of the survey), results of an independent t-test revealed that there were no significant
differences between the face to face and the remote learning environments; this demonstrates that
the students were just as satisfied with the overall learning experience in the face to face location
as they were in the remote locations.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 38
However, upon further analysis using Pearson’s Chi-Square, some significant differences were
revealed between location and the students’ perceptions of interaction with the instructor. This
analysis was used with individual items because the items were treated as ordered categories
rather than as continuous measures. This analysis revealed a significant difference between
learning location and the quality of interaction with the instructor. It was also noted that there was
a significant difference between learning location and the perception of instructor availability for
feedback. The motivation to participate was also noted as a significant finding. This is important
to note because interaction is profoundly documented as being a critical factor in course design
(Zimitat, 2001; Harden, 2005; Sadera, Robinson, Song & Midon, 2009). This finding could be
related to students desiring more interaction and more feedback from the instructors, however
there features were not built into the course design.
Conclusion
The demand for flexible and convenient educational programs to support life long learning and
career development in the field of continuing medical education (CME) is increasing.
Additionally, continuing education developers have an opportunity and obligation to enhance the
professional advancement of health professionals (American Nurses Association, 2000).
Distance-based learning, as an instructional format, can respond to these demands by offering a
flexible and convenient learning opportunity which can be a constructive educational experience
with positive outcomes for the participants. Distance-based CME offers the potential for creating
a new learning environment in which interaction, collaboration, and knowledge building are the
defining features (Curran, Kirby, Parsons, Lockyer, 2003). However, integration, application, and
research of these pedagogical approaches are limited in CME. As the health care environment
continues to evolve, professionals’ needs for continuing education are changing as well. Since the
traditional formal delivery of CME remains popular, practitioners are finding that they have little
time to leave their practice to attend CME programs (Barnes, 2007). Although current research in
the field of CME has focused on learning outcomes, most ignored theory regarding course design
in distance-based learning formats and outcomes specific to the impact on changes in practice.
Although the literature strongly supports no significant difference in learning outcomes between
distance and face to face environments (Johnson, Aragon, Shaik & Palma-Rivas, 2000; Shachar
& Neumann, 2003; Frydenberg, 2007), the CME literature supports this finding providing the
courses are designed using appropriate pedagogy and appropriate application of learning theory.
It is evident from this study that several design aspects of this course should be questioned to
further analyze best practices for the purpose of enhancing quality and effectiveness in this
course. The issue of a lack of student to faculty and student to student interaction, for example,
were identified as deficits in this course. It is known from previous research (Wutoh, Boren &
Balas, 2004; Zimitat, 2001; Harden, 2005) that the incorporation of collaborative opportunities
into the course design will improve instructional quality overall. Furthermore, student to student
and student to faculty interaction are principles of best practices according to Chickering and
Ehrman (1996). What is not clear, however, is whether or not interaction is a design factor critical
to improving course quality in CME. The findings of this study support a demand for
consideration of a new pedagogical approach to the design of CME.
With little existing research in the CME literature focused on pedagogical design, it is critical to
pursue further research in this area in order to establish sound design principles. Additionally,
advances in educational research must be applied to ensure instructional best practices as the
CME field continues to evolve. The literature identified that pedagogical best practices are not
customarily applied in CME environments and that the proper use of technology for collaboration
and learning requires further investigation to determine the effectiveness when incorporated into
CME learning environments.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 39
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About the Authors
Cheryl A. Fisher, RN, EdD is Program Director for Professional Development for Nursing and Patient Care Services at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda,
Maryland. She received her doctorate in Instructional Technology from Towson University and
has a postgraduate certificate in nursing informatics from the University of Maryland and a post
graduate certificate in nursing education from George Mason University. Primary areas of
research interest are in course and program evaluation from both the staff development and the
patient education perspective. [email protected].
William A. Sadera, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Technology and Literacy at Towson University. He obtained his doctorate in Curriculum and
Instruction from Iowa State University. Primary areas of interest include online learning, online
learning success factors, instructional design and effective classroom technology integration.
E-mail: [email protected].
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 43
Editor’s Note: Distance Learning is attractive for busy mid-career professionals because they can manage
their own learning using chunks of time between professional and personal commitments. This paper provides a theoretical for a work-life learning balance and ensure sufficient time to achieve criterion performance.
Distance learners’ Work Life Learning Balance Margarida Romero
Spain
Abstract
Adult learners’ time is delimited by family, work and social activities that are in competition.
Considering these potential time allocation conflicts, work-life balance aims to find the “balance
work and leisure/family activities” (Bratton & Gold, 2003). The current need for permanent
knowledge update and the spread of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
have promoted the lifelong learning (LLL) among adults. Therefore, the learning activity is a new
temporal pattern to integrate in their lives. Time spent in academic processes could be a source of
conflicts for long life learners because of the introduction of a third time to the work-life balance
-the academic or learning time- added to the professional and social/family temporal patterns. For
this reason, we introduce the concept of Work-Life Learning Balance (WLLB) to refer to the
balance of the professional, family and academic activities. We introduce, in this paper, the
implications of the WLLB for students’ enrolled in distance education that implies the
relationship between individual/social temporalities and the external/internal regulation factors
We observe that, in distance learning situations, the temporal flexibility implies a higher
requirement of students’ time regulation competencies., concerning both the planning and
regulation of the academic time-on-task and the ability to maintain the activity focus in a context
of increasing temporal permeability between work, family/social life, academic activities and
multitasking.
Keywords: work-life balance, work-life learning balance, e-learning, CSCL, e-learning quality, time
flexibility, time use, time-on-task, time quality; learner’ time.
Introduction
A continuum of learning throughout life or Life-Long Learning (LLL) is a major concern for the
competitively European Economic Area (EEA), which faces not only a global economic
competitiveness, but also demographic changes and rapid technological progresses. In this
context, “LLL is an essential policy for the development of citizenship, social cohesion and
employment” (EC, 2000, p.4). The recognised need for increasing formal and informal learning
opportunities for all the citizenship throughout life poses an enormous challenge in terms of
accessibility to learning sources. The European University Association (2008) highlights the
needs to respond to the increasingly diverse demand of lifelong learners. For this reason "flexible
and transparent learning paths need to be in place for all learners to access and succeed in higher
education in all its different forms" (p.5). This challenge involves not only the development of
learning solutions but also the reconsideration of the work-life learning balance and the
development of time flexible solutions combining face-to-face and e-learning as efficiently as
possible. We will first explain distance learning temporal flexibility before introducing the
learners’ work-life learning balance model.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 44
Distance Learning Temporal Flexibility
E-learning and blended learning (b-learning) solutions allow students to pursue a part or the
whole of their learning activities in a distance learning context. In the last years, we have
observed an increase in e-learning and b-learning programs in a wide range of academic fields,
and at the same time, an increase of the e-learning and b-learning population (Allen & Seaman,
2007; Alpergin, 2007; Educaweb, 2009; Waits & Lewis, 2003). However, the drop-out rates in
these contexts are higher than those found in traditional learning contexts (Berling, 2010; Carr,
2000) where students and professors meet in the traditional classroom. Considering time as an
important factor in the learning process, we could observe a major difference in the temporalities
of the face-to-face modality and the online learning modality. In the face-to-face class, “ a group
of people starts at the same time, studies the same materials at the same pace, and ends at the
same time” (Downes, 1998, p. 1). In the online learning context, temporal flexibility is higher.
Collis and Moonen (2001) consider the temporal flexibility in terms of institutional constraints,
instructional design characteristics and the students’ pace of the students. Bates (2005) considers
the temporal affordances of the Computer Learning Environments, distinguishing the
synchronous and asynchronous modalities. We can consider that virtual education based on
Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALNs) allows higher learning time flexibility than
synchronous learning solutions introducing specific temporal constraints for the students.
Despite all the advantages of temporal flexibility in online learning context, this high degree of
temporal self-regulation could lead the less regulated students to fail to devote enough time-on-
task. Time scarcity has been considered by one of the major factors in e-learning failure. For this
reason, and despite the temporal flexibility, we should consider that e-learning can be spaceless,
but not timeless.
Considering the time scarcity of the online learners, and the temporal flexibilities of the virtual
campus, one of the major challenges of LLL is to balance the online learner’s time-on-task and
the temporal flexibility. Students’ time-on-task should be considered within the work-life balance
(WLB) objective.
LLL under the work-life learning balance (WLLB) objective is the consideration of working and
family arrangements and policies which assist citizens in combining their lifelong learning
engagements with their employment and their social and family life. Traditionally, WLLB has
been studied under the perspective of combining both professional and family lives, but the
consideration of the need for a continuum of learning throughout life or Lifelong Learning (LLL)
introduces a new variable in the balance equation that needs to be solved in order to avoid the
failure cases related to lack of (qualitative) time for LLL.
Distance Learners’ Work-Life Learning Balance (WLLB)
WLLB involves a consideration of time as an individual resource within different social
temporalities or rhythms. We introduce the different temporal frameworks; first, a traditional
face-to-face student and the second, a distance learner’s WLLB; important differences between
the professional, family, social and learning times are shown.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 45
Figure 1. Face-to-face WLLB
In Figure 1 we represent the WLLB in a context of face-to-face learning. In this situation, work,
family/social and learning times are generally not overlapping in terms of time and space. When
the learner devotes time for his/her learning activity in university, he/she could not combine at the
same time professional and family life. The temporal patterns of the face-to-face learner tend to
be mutually exclusive because of the different spaces where each of the activities is developed.
Face-to-face students go to work at a well-defined place, attend university at another and spend
time with their families and friends in a different, separate space. Commuting time between these
different locations is also one of the activities where the face-to-face lifelong learners allocate
part of their busy schedule.
Figure 2. Distance education WLLB
In the figure 2 and 3, we introduce the WLLB in the context of distance lifelong learners. In this
situation, adult learners search for balancing their family/social and professional temporal pattern
constraints with a distance learning flexible time that allows them to combine their different
temporalities (Romero, 2010). In the context of distance education, the learning times could be
included in the work and family/social context situation, introducing in some cases an overlap of
temporal patterns.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 46
Figure 3. Distance education and distance work WLLB
If distance learners are also distance workers (figure 3), the residence of the adult lifelong learner
is the main location for the three activities, allowing him/her to switch between them at the semae
place, and consequently increasing the multitask opportunities (Allan & Lewis, 2009).
Distance Learners’ Work-Life Learning Balance (WLLB)
In the context of WLLB, we propose the analysis of the individual and social temporalities
interdependence under the consideration of Self-Regulated Learning theories (Zimmerman &
Schunk, 1989) in order to analyse the internal and external regulations of students’ time.
In a distance learning situation, learners should regulate their academic learning times within the
temporal flexibility margin of the learning activities proposed by the teacher, who must take into
consideration the temporalities he considers in the course planning, the temporality of the
information presentation and the frequency of interaction (Shi, Magjuka & Bonk, 2006). The time
allocation and regulation competency is essential for distance learners’ evolving in a context of
overlapping of the professional, family/social and learning times. In a distance learning context
we can consider a reduction of the external temporal regulation, leading to an increase of the
internal need for temporal regulation and flexibility.
Figure 4. Face-to-face Work-Life Learning Balance
external regulation of time use
The figure 5 represents the need for a high degree of internal regulation in the context of time-
flexible distance education. A lower degree of external regulation allows a higher degree of
temporal flexibility of the online learners, who should be able to regulate their time use across
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 47
their different work-life learning activities. In this context, distance learners with lower self
regulatory competencies could fail to allocate the quantity and quality of time required by their
academic activities. Quantity refers to the number of hours devoted to the learning task; quality
refers to the cognitive state of the students that will limit their focus, intensity and continuity of
attention on the task. The ability to avoid multitasking in distance learning situations is essential
to maintain the focus and avoid the cognitive load and memory reduction of the multitask
situations (Hembrooke & Gay, 2003).
Figure 5. Distance education Work-Life Learning Balance
internal regulation of time use
Time Regulation Competency of Distance Learners
Online learners should develop a high capacity for self regulated learning because of the lower
external regulation of the distance learning courses and activities. One of the self regulatory
competencies the online learners should develop for succeeding in virtual campuses is the
temporal regulation competency (usually referred under the popular term of time management).
This concerns the learners’ competencies to plan his/her time-on-task, to set goals, to self regulate
academic times in individual learning activities and regulate those of their teammates’ during
collective online learning activities. The temporal regulation competency is essential because of
the temporal flexibility of distance education (Thorpe, 2006) and the learners’ responsibility for
allocating his/her academic time-on-task. In addition to these temporal regulation requirements
we should consider the increase of the potential introduction of interruptions in the learning
process caused by the spread of the ICTs in all the temporal spheres of the adult lifelong learners’
activities: the professional, the academic and the family/social spheres. The reason for the
increase of learning time interruption could be the argumentation of the potential permeability of
other social groups (family, professional groups, etc.) by the use of ICTs, therefore making
everyone potentially available anytime for communication. In this regard, ICTs are blurring the
frontier between the social spheres and allowing, e.g., to receive family messages in the
professional context, but also to introduce the professional sphere in the family one (Tremblay &
Genin, 2009). The capability to being focused despite the porosity between the different social
groups in a context of increasingly potential multitasking, will be one of the key challenges of the
adult lifelong learner to reach a balance between his/her professional activity, his/her family and
social times and his/her achievement in distance learning activities. Developing the lifelong
learners’ temporal regulation competencies should then be considered as one of the strategic
objectives for the online universities while supporting their adult learners’ achievement and well-
being in the reach of the work-life learning balance.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 48
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classroom. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 15(1), 46-65.
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en cotutelle européenne. UTM & UAB. Editions Européenes Universitaires, Saarbrücken:
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About the Author:
Dr. Margarida Romero is Associate Director of E-learning at Esade Law & Business School. She holds a European Ph.D. in educational psychology from Université de Toulouse
(France) and Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain).
Contact her at: [email protected]
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 49
Editor’s Note: Instructional design is much more than organized presentation of content. It requires
knowledge of the learner’s previous experiences and motivation; communication skills, supportive learning environments, and knowledge of learning styles and how people learn. The discussion that follows provides useful data about adult learners in an online setting.
Internal and External Factors that Influence Adult Learners in an Online Setting
Lara Henry USA
Abstract
Online learning is the current distance learning of choice and has increased dramatically. Various
studies have been conducted to determine how and why some students complete an online course
while others do not. A conclusive answer has not been discovered. To add to the body of
information, a survey was conducted of current doctoral students at a large online university to
determine if internal factors or external factors were more influential for student completion of
the course. The results indicated internal factors were the most indicative for student completion
of online coursework.
Keywords: online, online learning, distance learning, online coursework, internal factors, external
factors, adult learners, internet, web-based learning, higher education
Introduction
Distance learning has long been a part of higher education, but was conveyed through
correspondence or videos in years past. It was not considered a mainstay of a higher education
community. In the 1980s, traditional universities, particularly in Canada and Australia, began
experimenting with educational technology, particularly computers, in order to fill a need for
education to be delivered to sparsely populated areas of the country (Power & Gould-Morven,
2011). Since its inception online learning has increased dramatically particularly within the last
ten years. The face of many higher-education institutions have changed significantly with many
more adult students enrolling and opting to be involved in online courses to further their
education, and also, the addition of many adjunct professors to facilitate the courses. Although
many adult students begin online learning programs for various reasons, they do not always finish
the program started. In attempts to understand how to increase graduation or retention rates,
researchers have approached the issue from two perspectives: how the presentation of the online
class affects completion rates and what specific factors influence students completing online
courses. Studies previously conducted determined there are two types of factors – internal and
external - as well as potential individual characteristics. When trying to determine which factors
are most likely going to influence a student’s ability to complete an online course, internal factors
would appear to be most effective because of the nature of the online course and the need for such
a high degree of personal motivation. The purpose of this study will be to examine doctoral
students involved in online courses responses to determine if internal factors are of more overall
importance than external factors.
Review of Literature
Distance learning has long been a part of education with some suggesting the first distance
education experience being Saint Paul and his letters to the Corinthians (Power & Gould-Morven,
2011). Modern distance learning began at the University of London in 1858 with correspondence
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 50
education (Power & Gould-Morven, 2011) and continued to grow with the addition of recorded
classes through television (Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia & Jones, 2009). Online learning is
distance learning in its current form and for the purpose of this study is defined as asynchronous
internet-based learning (Maeroff, 2003 as stated in Power & Gould-Morven, 2011). According to
the Department of Education (2009), online learning is the fastest growing trend, with regard to
educational technology, within higher education as well as k-12 education settings.
Overall, adult learners are the most common students of online learning most likely because it
allows students to maintain employment and other family responsibilities while being able to
conveniently continue with their education with a flexible schedule, low travel costs, and enables
students to interact with teachers and students from around the world (Park & Choi, 2009; Hung,
Chou, Chen, & Own, 2010). The Department of Education conducted a meta-analysis of studies
conducted from 1996-2008 in 2009 in order to convey overall findings for online learning
because of its exponential growth. When beginning the study, it was quickly learned that there is
very little reliable research on k-12 grade in regards to online learning instead the focus of
researchers has been higher education. The meta-analysis conducted by the Department of
Education determined that students in online settings, particularly higher education settings,
performed modestly better than students found in a traditional face-to-face class. At the same
time, many students do not finish online courses and high drop-out rates are of concern to higher
education institutions even as, paradoxically, more students turn to online learning (Park & Choi,
2009; Aragon & Johnson, 2008). This finding begs the question of what makes the online student
successful and it has been asked by several researchers in various forms.
There have been several studies conducted to address this question, but each has a different
approach to the question and generally has a small sample from one area. In several cases, the
studies occurred in higher education settings outside of the United States. Because of this, it is
impossible to generalize the information and make applicable to all online students. However,
the studies conducted do provide a starting point. With the rise of internet usage, Mahoney (2003
as cited in Hung et. al., 2010) determined through study that self-management of learning and
student’s internet comfort level were the two best predictors of student success in the online
classroom. The information provided was based on self-reports which can be viewed as
unreliable. In 2007, Roper asked graduates who were taking 80 percent of more of their courses
online with a grade point average of 3.50 or better to answer open-ended survey questions to
describe what techniques they each found most useful to complete the courses and stories of their
experiences. With the completion of the survey, the students’ answers could be formed into
seven basic tips:
1. the use of time-management strategies 2. making the most out of online discussions 3. using the information learned in the class in order to retain it 4. asking questions 5. given the opportunity to convey which instructional techniques were the most useful 6. making connections with fellow students 7. maintaining motivation (Roper, 2007).
The students of Roper’s survey (2007) found interaction with students through email and
discussion boards of great importance for completion of online courses. As with Mahoney’s
2003 study, the information presented is based solely on self-reporting aspects making
generalization more difficult.
In 2010, Ma and Yuen conducted a study stating online learning success could be found through a
social attachment theory concept based on the communities of practice theory stating
“engagement in social practice is the fundamental process by which humans learn” (p.210).
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 51
Through a survey of current online students taking an English course, Ma and Yuen (2010)
determined having social attachments promoted within the online setting was found to be highly
effective in retaining and completion of online courses. The self-regulation of motivation model
suggests that there are two kinds of motivation essential for completing an online course and
neither are connected to social attachments suggested by Ma and Yuen (2010). In contrast, they
are goal-defined motivation or value and expectancy of learning and experience-defined or
whether the class is interesting (Sansone, Fraughton, Zachary, Butner, & Heiner, 2011). Using
this model Sansone et. al. (2011) determined that a personal interest in computers would maintain
a higher level of engagement in the online course indicating.
Aragon and Johnson (2008) conducted a study not based in theories such as social attachment or
goal-defined motivation, but to determine if there were differences found between completers and
non-completers of an online course based on demographics, enrollment, academic, and self-
directed learning characteristics. The results showed no significant differences based on age,
gender, ethnicity, financial aid eligibility, and developmental course placement, but significant
differences based on gender (66% of females completed compared to 52% of males similar to a
finding by Park and Choi in 2009), grade point average (completers had higher GPA than non-
completers), and how many online courses students were currently enrolled (higher number of
courses for completers compared to non-completers) (Aragon & Johnson, 2008). The non-
completers involved in the study by Aragon and Johnson (2008) were also asked to provide
reasons for their not completing the online courses and five overall reasons were given: personal
time constraints, unhappy with course design and instructor communication, technology issues,
institutional issues and the format did not match their learning style. With the results of this
study, Aragon and Johnson maintained their earlier stance that the most successful online
environments
1. address individual differences 2. motivate the student 3. avoid information overload 4. create a real-life context 5. encourage social interaction 6. provide hands-on activities 7. encourage student reflection
(Johnson & Aragon, 2003 as cited in Aragon & Johnson, 2008, p. 155).
Aragon and Johnson (2008) go on to state that advisors should determine if students will be able
to complete an online course and if not, steer them to a traditional format. How to best determine
if students were ready for online courses was not addressed only that advisors should do so
(Aragon & Johnson, 2008). Hung et. al. (2010) also addressed the need to determine if students
can successfully complete an online course before allowing them to be enrolled. Through a
study, an Online Learning Readiness Scale was validated for five dimensions: self-directed
learning, motivation for learning, computer/Internet self-efficacy, learning control, and online
communication self-efficacy (Hung, et. al., 2010). Through self-reports, Hung et. al. (2010)
discovered a statistical difference based on current grade; the higher the grade the higher
readiness level based on the five dimensions of the Online Learning Readiness Scale. While
criteria were provided, how to best implement and determine student readiness was not presented
by Hung et. al. (2010).
Park and Choi (2009) conducted a study specifically to determine what factors- internal, external
or individual characteristics- most influenced adult students’ decision to complete or drop out of
an online learning class. The external factors of family and organizational support, individual
characteristics age, gender, educational background, and employment status and internal factor of
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 52
motivation, particularly relevance and satisfaction, were chosen to be included because they were
often cited in previous studies discussed in the literature review (Park & Choi, 2009). The results
indicated a statistical difference in perceptions of drop out and persistent adult students with
regard to family and organizational support and satisfaction and relevance of the course with
persistent students citing a higher level of all compared to drop out students. Park and Choi
(2009) stated that the framework of family support, organizational support, satisfaction, and
relevance can be used as predictors for students’ decisions to drop out or persist in their studies.
It is within the concepts presented by Park and Choi (2009) that the current study was drawn and
conducted.
Method
The participants of this study were students currently pursuing their Educational Specialists (EdS)
or Doctorate in Education (EdD) through an online or blended program at a southeastern college
that has one of the largest online colleges in the United States. Students ranged in age from 30-69
with a little over half currently teaching today. Forty students currently in one of two courses
were emailed a link to an online survey in May 2011 and asked to volunteer to answer the
questions anonymously to be used for the research project.
The online questionnaire to report students’ responses on factors influencing completion of
online courses utilized quantitative descriptive research sometimes called survey research, the
same type of research used in many reviewed studies, and while one cannot draw conclusions
about relationships it can often provide valuable information on opinions and attitudes of both
students and teachers (Gall, Gall & Borg, 2007; Glatthorn & Joyner, 2005). For this particular
survey, students were asked to provide gender, age, current program of study, and whether they
were currently teaching. Students were then asked to rate 20 questions on internal and external
factors influencing completion of online courses using a Likert scale. The internal (social
integration, academic integration, technology issues, and lack of motivation) and external
(scheduling conflicts, family issues, financial problems, managerial support, and personal issues)
factors presented within the survey were taken from Park and Choi’s 2009 study. Participants
were also asked to provide any additional responses that were not included, but none did so.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 53
Results
Of the 40 surveys requested, 15 surveys were completed and the results are as follows:
I complete coursework
Strongly disagree
Disagree Agree Strongly agree
n/a
1. because of my own personal
enjoyment
6.7% 20% 60% 13.3% -
2. for future enhancements in pay - 13.3% 33.3% 53.3% -
3. for opportunity to interact with
peers through discussion
6.7% 20% 53.3% 6.7% 13.3%
4. because of family support 6.7% 13.3% 53.3% 26.7% -
5. because of the support of my co-
workers
20% 26.7% 33.3% 13.3% 6.7%
6. because of encouragement from
immediate supervisor
26.7% 40% 20% 6.7% 6.7%
7. even when personal issues occur - - 40% 60% -
8. at personal financial costs 6.7% 6.7% 46.7% 40% -
9. because of a love of computers and
technology
40% 46.7% 6.7% 6.7% -
10. to enhance my knowledge of a
subject
- - 40% 60% -
11. because of instructor feedback and
correspondence
6.7% 33.3% 40% 13.3% 6.7%
12. because of the usability of
Blackboard
13.3% 46.7% 26.7% 6.7% 6.7%
13. because I like to share ideas with
others
- 20% 60% 20% -
14. because I am open to new ideas - - 60% 40% -
15. because of personally developed
time management strategies
- 13.3% 46.7% 40% -
16. for sense of accomplishment - - 40% 60% -
17. because of additional help found
through online writing tutors
26.7% 46.7% 6.7% - 20%
18. out of respect for the attending
university
13.3% 20% 46.7% 13.3% 6.7%
19. to achieve a personal goal - - 13.3% 66.7% 20%
20. because of personal interest the
instructors have shown
6.7% 33.5% 33.5% 26.7% -
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 54
The items surveyed are ranked for which are considered the most important. Each item is also
identified as being internal or external.
I complete coursework to achieve a personal goal. (internal)
I complete coursework for a sense of accomplishment. (internal)
I complete coursework to enhance my knowledge of a subject. (internal)
I complete coursework even when personal issues occur. (external)
I complete coursework for personal enjoyment. (internal)
I complete coursework because I like to share ideas with others. (internal)
I complete coursework because I am open to new ideas. (internal)
I complete coursework for future enhancements in pay. (external)
I complete coursework for opportunity to interact with peers through discussion. (internal)
I complete coursework because of family support. (External)
I complete coursework at personal financial costs. (external)
I complete coursework because of instructor feedback and correspondence. (external)
I complete coursework because of personally developed time management strategies. (internal)
I complete coursework out of respect for the attending university. (external)
I complete coursework because of support for my co-workers. (external)
I complete coursework because of personal interests the instructors have shown. (external)
I complete coursework because of the usability of Blackboard. (external)
I complete coursework because of encouragement of immediate supervisor. (external)
I complete coursework because of a love of computers and technology. (internal)
I complete coursework because of additional help found through online writing tutors. (external)
Discussion
The purpose of this research was to add to the body of research regarding online learning
retention. The findings support the hypothesis that internal factors are more influential toward
completion of online courses than external factors based on Park and Choi’s 2009 study.
Students rated personal goals and sense of accomplishment the two highest reasons for
completion of courses, strongly indicating internal factors. One interesting result was the higher
score of future enhancement in pay and completing the course regardless of personal issues both
external factors being ranked in the middle of various internal factors. However, personal issues
could also be viewed as an internal factor it was included as external based on Park and Choi’s
study in 2009. Pay enhancements, while an external factor, could be influenced by internal
factors such as providing for ones’ family more effectively. Also interestingly, love of computers
and technology, the motivating factors for online learning presented by Sansone et. al. (2011),
and time management strategies, the highest motivating factor presented by Mahoney (2003) and
Roper (2007), were the two lowest scored internal factors in the study. Because of the nature of
this study and the use of a brief survey, the researcher was not able to cross-examine the results
by gender, age, program of study, or current teaching position. With two prior studies indicating
females are more likely to complete online courses, it would have been interesting to view the
rankings by gender. Future studies could also cross-examine the results based on the program of
study particularly any difference between bachelors, masters, and doctorate programs. A study
such as this could indicate if students with higher internal motivation continually do well in
online courses compared to students who do not or if there is a difference within the three levels
of study.
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 55
Conclusion
The results of the current study cannot be generalized to a large population as with other similar
studies because of the small sample size and the nature of the research design: descriptive
research. Many past research studies also occurred in schools outside of the United States thus
making comparative statements more difficult to make. It can be added to body of research
stating that internal factors provide more motivation to students to complete an online course.
Aragon and Johnson (2009) determined through the results of their study that students need to be
screened and prepared to take an online course because of the nature of its delivery. The results
of this study along with other such as Park and Choi (2009) would indicate that students may
need to determine their locus of control, either internal or external, before taking an online course
in order to be successful. College textbooks, such as Carol Kanar’s The Confident Student (2010),
provide online resources for students to use to determine their locus of control. Higher education
administrators should perhaps take this into consideration and have advisors trained to help direct
students to the type of instruction that best suits them. In addition they should be providing
information to students and access to resources such as those found through Kanar’s (2010) book
in order to help college students determine which instruction type would be best suited.
References
Aragon, S. R. & Johnson E. S. (2008). Factors influencing completion and noncompletion of
community college online courses. The American Journal of Distance Education, 22(3),
146-158.
Gall, M. D., Gall, J. P., & Borg, W. R. (2010). Educational Research: An Introduction (8th ed.).
New York: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN: 978-0-205-48849-0.
Glatthorn, A., & Joyner, R. L. (2005). Writing the Winning Dissertation: A step-by-step guide.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Hung, M.-L., Chou, C., Chen, C.-H., Own, Z.-Y. (2010). Learner readiness for online-learning:
Scale development and student perceptions. Computers & Education, 55(3), 1080-1090.
Kanar, C.C. (2010). The Confident Student, 7th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
ISBN: 978-0-618-76643-7
Ma, W.W.K. & Yuen, A. H. K. (2011). Understanding online knowledge sharing: An
interpersonal relationship perspective. Computers & Education, 56(1), 210-219.
Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., Bakia, M. & Jones, K. (2010). Evaluation of evidence-based
practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies. US
Department of Education Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development Policy
and Program Studies Services. Retrieved from
http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf
on May 13, 2011.
Park, J-H. & Choi, H. J. (2009). Factors influencing adult learners’ decision to drop out or persist
in online learning. Educational Technology and Society, 12(4), 207-217. Retrieved from
EBSCO.
Power, M. & Gould-Morven, A. (2011). Head of gold, feet of clay: The online learning paradox.
International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(2), 19-38.
Roper, A. R. (2007). How students develop online learning skills. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 1, 62-
65. Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eqm07110.pdf
on April 7, 2011.
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Sansone, C., Fraughton, T., Zachary, J. L., Butner, J., & Heiner, C. (2011). Self-regulation of
motivation when learning online: The importance of who, why and how. Educational
Technology Research and Development, 59(2), 199-212.
About the Author
Lara Henry is currently an online doctoral student at Liberty University. Beginning in the fall 2011, the author will be returning to teach seventh grade social studies while completing her
Educational Doctorate program of study with an emphasis in Curriculum and Instruction.
Email: [email protected]
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 57
Editor’s Note: distance learning media can cross national, cultural and language boundaries. This provides
additional challenges for effective design and management of collaborative learning experiences.
Managing Borderless Collaboration in Asia: Commitment, Coordination and Communication
Juvy Lizette Gervacio Phillipines
Abstract
Managing online collaboration is challenging, especially when members are not only separated
by space and time but they also come from different culture, language, context and institutions.
However, given a common goal, proper coordination and effective communication tools, a
borderless collaboration can be successful and effective.
The paper aims to look into how online tutors can collaborate to effectively and efficiently
achieve a desired goal. Specifically, it aims to: a) describe how online collaboration is effectively
implemented by tutoring communities; b) describe the coordination employed in planning,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation for effective collaboration; c) determine the effective
communication tools to manage and sustain collaboration; and d) identify the challenges and
lessons to maintain and sustain online collaboration.
Introduction
In the era of information, communication and technology, everything has become borderless.
People can now communicate better and faster. Moreover, it made working together cost
effective and more efficient. Online collaboration happens when members of virtual communities
commit themselves to a certain goal and they work together through the use of online
communication tools. Not only does it deliver desired outcomes, there is also the meeting of
cultures and minds which makes collaborative activities fruitful and interesting
However, managing online collaboration is a challenging one, especially when members are not
only separated by space and time but they also come from different backgrounds, culture,
language, context and institutions. But given a common goal and effective communication tools,
borderless collaboration can be successful and effective.
According to Siemens, the “management and marshaling of resources to achieve desired
outcomes is a significant challenge. Moreover, diverse teams of varying viewpoints are a critical
structure for completely exploring ideas.” (Siemens 2005).
Hence, in order to ensure the success of any online collaborative activity, it is important to
consider how the project is managed from planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
In online collaboration, there are important ingredients and strategies that need to be employed in
order to ensure success.
Objectives
The paper aims to look into how online collaboration in Asia is managed efficiently and
effectively. Specifically, it aims to: a) look into how the eLearning Development and
Implementation (eLDI) and eskills Asia programs is being managed as a collaborative project
among different members of the Asia network; b) describe how online collaboration is effectively
implemented by tutoring communities; c) describe the coordination employed in the planning,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation for effective collaboration; d) determine the effective
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 58
communication tools to manage and sustain collaboration; and e) identify the challenges and
lessons to maintain and sustain online collaboration.
Framework of the Study
Good planning and preparation for a collaborative project and continued involvement during the
entire phase of project management contributes to the success of a collaborative activity. Palloff
and Pratt notes that online collaboration undergoes several phases, namely: set the stage, create
the environment, model the process, guide the process and evaluate the process. (Palloff and
Pratt, 2005).
Figure 1. Framework of the Study
Figure 1 shows the framework of the study. The framework illustrates how online collaboration
could be managed success from planning, implementation to monitoring and evaluation. Three
C’s are important for an online collaboration to be successful, namely: commitment to achieve
the goals, coordination of activities and schedules, and use of effective online communications
tools.
Commitment
Clear Goals. In Project Planning, the goal of the activity should be clearly defined. It is important
that members of the team should have a clear understanding of the desired output and outcome of
the program. The members are introduced with each other and they are expected to have
knowledge of what to do. The goal is a commitment that all members should strive to achieve.
Coordination
The role of a coordinator or a program manager should also be clear. The coordinator manages
the entire program and ensures that by the goal is achieved. Each member of the team must be
able to contribute to the task on hand. It is important that even if they work independently, they
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 59
all work towards a shared goal or a commitment. Hence, coordination regarding the different
tasks of the teams should be communicated clearly.
Tasking. One important aspect is coordination is the assigning of tasks or responsibilities to the
members of the team. All the tasks of the members should be clearly spelled out to them. When
necessary, a manual or a “terms of reference” is provided which illustrates the work schedule, and
the activities to be done before, during and after the work.
Qualification. The coordinator ensures that all the members meet the requirements for them to be
part of the team. In online collaboration, it is important that the members have excellent written
communication skills since they interact with people coming from different culture, language,
background, etc.
Moreover, they must also have the knowledge on the use of appropriate technology in order to
interact with each other.
Content expertise is also an important requirement for the program to be successful.
Communication
The use of a common language is very important in online collaboration. In an environment
where the different members of the team come from different countries, it is important that
members use a common language in a level that is understood by everyone. Moreover, netiquette
is also important to emphasize.
Communication Tools. Interaction is done through the use of relevant online communication
tools, whether done synchronously or asynchronously. Interaction could be done through chats,
forum, instant messengers, videoconferencing, among others. In all levels of interaction, it is
assumed that all the members have access and knowledge in using these tools.
Learning Management System/Technology. Technologies used are crucial in managing global
learning communities which may include the use of a learning management system. Every
member of the online team should have quality access to technology because lack of
technological access can hamper success of the project.
Monitoring and Evaluation.
Monitoring is an on-going process during the project implementation stage. On the other hand,
evaluation occurs periodically, typically when the project has been completed. Compared to
monitoring, it has a broader perspective as it challenges the original assumption of the project
design. It focuses on the project’s progress towards realizing its purpose and goal.
In online collaboration, it is important that there is monitoring to ensure that the project is on the
right track. It is the task of the coordinator or manager to monitor the activities. At the end of the
project, an evaluation is also needed to determine how the program could be improved and
determine lessons from the activity.
Methodology
This paper is based on the experiences of the author in managing online collaboration in Asia.
Specifically, it documents the processes in managing online teams from planning, implementation
to monitoring and evaluation. Moreover, it discusses the factors that contribute to the success of
online collaboration and lessons from the good practices which can be adapted in managing
online collaboration.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 60
Managing Online Collaboration in Asia: Approaches and Strategies
Project Description
In 2009, the German International Cooperation (GiZ, formerly InWEnt, Capacity Building
International, Germany) and the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) mutually
agreed to “contribute to enhance e-learning worldwide, especially in South-East-Asia and the
Philippines.” Both organizations agreed to promote further development of e-skills training
programs and e-learning technologies in order “to build a people-centered, inclusive and
development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share
information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full
potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their quality of life, premised
on the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and respecting fully and
upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights” as stated in the WSIS Declaration (§ A1)
(InWEnt and UPOU Memorandum of Understanding, February 2009).
The Commitment (Goal of the Project)
The main Goal of the Project is to implement two elearning programs; namely: 1) eLearning
Development and Implementation Asia (eLDI) program; and 2) e-skills courses.
The eLearning Development and Implementation (eLDI) Program. The eLDI Asia is an eight-
month blended course consisting of two face to face workshops and six online modules, namely:
Instructional Design, Content Development, Interactivity, eLearning Technology, eLearning
Management and Tutoring for eLearning communities. The course consists of approximately 50
hours face to face workshops and 200 hours online.
The participants are entitled to a certificate from the course. They also have the option to take an
exam being undertaken by the University of Furtwangen, Germany. If they pass the written
examination, and their eLearning projects are assessed satisfactorily, then they are entitled to get
credit units for it. Moreover, they are also given a certificate of expertise on “New Learning
Technologies.”
The eLearning-skills Courses (e-skills). The e-skills courses are conducted purely online. These
are composed of six modules which is similar with the eLDI modules except for Interactivity that
is replaced by eLearning Strategy. Each module is taken online for 4 weeks. Certificate is also
issued to participants who complete the course successfully.
The Course Participants. The eLDI program trained 20 participants from developing countries
from Asia, namely: Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines and Vietnam.
Most of the participants are from the academe, government and private sectors who are into
capacity building, or involved in the use of ICT for learning.
Unlike in the eLDI program where participants are the same all throughout the course, the eskills
modules were offered separately. Hence, participants have the option to apply for courses they are
interested in or take all six courses. There were about 20-25 participants from Asia for each
module.
Even in the application and selection of participants, the activity is already on going in
collaboration with the members of the network which is composed of those who have previously
taken the courses. Announcements and application forms are prepared and distributed to all
members of the network and also posted in the Global Campus 21 E-Academy site of GiZ and the
UPOU website.
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 61
Even if the submission of application is centralized, the focal persons from each country are
contacted to provide more information about the applicants and make necessary
recommendations.
Coordination
Planning. In any collaborative project, it is important to have a plan. The budget is ensured and
negotiated to ensure that the activity has the appropriate funding. During the planning phase,
tutors are already identified based on their knowledge and ability to communicate online
effectively. Since almost all of them have participated in previous elearning programs, the tutors
are selected based on their online performance. Their ability to complete the tasks communicate
effectively online is very important. If possible, tutors and co-tutors/assistant tutors do not
necessarily come from one country. The tutors are asked for their availability on the tutorial’s
dates and they confirm it through email.
Table 1
Program Content and Support eLDI and e-skills
Modules/Phases eLDI Schedul
e
e-skills Schedule
Support
Project Coordinator
Finance Officer
Facilitators
Course Manager
Finance Officer
WS I – Face to Face 1 week None
Online phase Umbrella Tutors
(eLDI)
Toolbox Support
LMS (GC21) Support
LMS (GC21)
Support
eLearning Strategy None None 3 weeks Tutors (2)
ID Instructional
Design
4 weeks Tutors (2) 4 weeks Tutors (2)
CD Content
Development
4 weeks Tutors (2) 4 weeks Tutors (2)
INT Interactivity 4 weeks Tutors (2) None Tutors (2)
eLT eLearning
Technology
4 weeks Tutors (2) 4 weeks Tutors (2)
eLM eLearning
Management
4 weeks Tutors (2) 4 weeks Tutors (2)
TeL Tutoring for
eLearning
Communities
4 weeks Tutors (2) 4 weeks Tutors (2)
WS II – Face to
Face
1 week Facilitators None
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 62
Table 1 shows the program content and the support for the eLDI and eskills courses. The tutors
collaborate with each other in order to achieve the goal of the program. For the eLDI, there are
about 17 tutors working together online in order to provide tutoring and support to the
participants. On the other hand, there are 15 tutors for the eskills courses.
The Tutorial Team
For the eLDI Asia 2009, the members of the tutorial team who collaborated in order to achieve
success came from Cambodia, India, Mongolia, Philippines and Sri Lanka. Most of them finished
the eLDI or the eskills courses. They were selected based on their knowledge of the content,
excellent communication skills and their familiarity with eLearning. They normally start as
assistant tutors where they learn how to tutor and manage their courses. They are coached by the
main tutor and by umbrella tutors on the use of communication tools and how to give feedback on
the tasks of participants.
Umbrella Tutors – They are often referred to as main tutors or umbrella tutors for the eLDI
course. They ensure smooth transition of the course from one module to the next. They orient the
tutors about the activities, guide them on their online games, and monitor the overall performance
of the tutors. They also ensure that tutors collaborate effectively by always reminding tutors to
work as teams.
Module Tutors - There are two tutors for each module with the idea that the assistant tutors is
being trained to eventually become part of the pool of tutors of the network. They provide
tutoring to the participants for four weeks. They are also expected to allot two more weeks for
preparation and report preparation. The two tutors are expected to work together. In case there are
disagreements, the umbrella tutors and the course manager will try to find a way to settle the
issue.
Toolbox Support – These are the tutors who provide support in using several online tools used
such as authoring tools, photo-editing tools, flash animation, among others. They are expected to
work closely with the module tutors.
Learning Management Support – They are in charge of maintaining the working environment
such as updating the news and uploading the course materials for each module.
Course Manager – The manager oversees the overall implementation of the activities, providing
online guidance, coaching, support and leadership.
Handbook of Tutors
In order to ensure that all the tutors are aware of their duties and responsibilities, a Tutorial
Handbook is provided to all the tutors. The manual contains all the necessary information on the
course such as the dates, the tutors and email addresses. It also specifies the duties and
responsibilities of tutors and assistant tutors every week, including how to track the progress of
the participants. The handbook also contains some suggested activities including the deadlines.
The tutors are also provided an email address which they use during the entire duration of the
project.
Contracts
Before the start of the activity, the tutors are required to submit their short resume. Their contracts
are prepared which provides a list of their deliverables. The tutors are asked to sign, scan and
email the contract to the coordinator.
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 63
The Tutors’ Lounge
One of the important elements of doing collaborative activity is the creation of a virtual “Tutors’
Lounge” where all the tutors interact and submit reports. The Tutors’ Lounge is a virtual working
environment where tutors can meet and discuss and upload reports. This is where collaboration is
done. (Please see Figure 2.)
The tutors lounge provides the communication tools features such as chat and forum. Moreover, it
provides a submission area where all reports are expected to be uploaded.
Figure 2. The Tutors’ Lounge
Communication Tools
Several communication tools were used in the collaboration. These are chats, forum, pinboard
and the document pool.
Chat – A group chat is conducted to provide opportunity for the tutors to introduce themselves
and get to know each other. This is conducted in the Tutors’ Lounge. During the chat, they are
given an orientation of the activity and if they have questions related to the tutors’ handbook, the
participants, and their tasks. Before the start of each module, the tutors are again provided
another orientation of their tasks.
If there are tasks that are not clear, the course manager explains it to the tutors. Moreover, the
tutors are also provided an overall picture of the participants., e.g. very active, quite, etc. It is also
important to ask the tutors to provide some online games to the participants in order to provide a
better online learning environment.
Forum – This is one on the interactive tools that is used in online collaboration. In the forum,
tutors discussed topics that are related to effective tutoring, assessment, providing feedback,
among others. It also provides an opportunity for members to share information about themselves
such are their recent activities, travels, photos, among others.
Pinboard – This is the area where all the announcements are made.
Document Pool – This is the one of the most important part of the Tutors’ Lounge. This is where
the tutors upload all their reports. They complete the participants tracking form, and provide a
personal assessment about how they tutored the course.
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 64
Learning Management System and Technologies. To facilitate the online collaboration, the eLDI
and eskills online phase are conducted through the use of Global Campus 21 e-Academy, a
learning management system of GiZ. This is also where the Tutors’ Lounge is hosted.
Monitoring and Evaluation
During the online phase, tutors are monitored through the Tutors’ Lounge, and how they conduct
online tutoring. In cases where there are differences among the tutors, the course coordinator or
manager will provide them guidance on how to settle the issue. Moreover, if there are
disagreements with the course participants, proper communication is also done in order to
minimize disturbance in the online classes.
The tutors are required to complete the participants track in order to monitor the performance of
each participant. Moreover, they also need to submit two reports such as the Joint Module Tutors
Report and a Personal Tutoring Work- log.
Joint Module Tutors Report – For module tutors, they are asked to write a report of their
experiences, impression on the module, suggestions for forum threads and/or chat discussions,
exercises, among others.
Personal Tutoring Work log – This is where the tutors write down their activities every week, the
number of hours for these activities, the strengths and weaknesses of the tutor as well as the
challenges encountered and suggestions to improve the course.
An online evaluation form is also sent to the participants to complete. This includes questions on
how effective their tutors are in their jobs. The results are conveyed to the tutors so they have
feedback on how they did their job.
Conclusion and Lessons Learned
Managing online collaboration is a challenging but fruitful one. From planning, implementation
to monitoring and evaluation, there are three elements that are important.
The paper identified three Cs for a successful online collaboration. It is important that members
of the collaborative program should have clear idea and understanding of the goals or
commitment so that the collaboration would be successful.
In achieving the goal, it is important to have efficient coordination of the activities. Schedules,
tasks, activities and output should be explained clear. Constant monitoring is also necessary to
minimize problems.
Communication is equally important since it includes the tools that are used to ensure that
collaboration is successful. Synchronous and asynchronous forms or communication are
important for coordination.
Finally, members of a collaborative activity are not only tasked to deliver a certain goal, but they
are also expected to learn from the whole process. The interplay of knowledge, experiences and
culture provides a very rich outcome to the members of the team. They learn how to work
together and appreciate the value of teamwork. Moreover, they also understand the value of
intercultural communication.
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 65
References:
Palloff Rene, M. and Pratt K. (2005). Learning Together in Community: Collaboration Online,
20 th Online Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning. Retrieved 14 April 2011 from
http://www.oakland.k12.mi.us/Portals/0/Learning/04_1127.pdf.
Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: Learning Theory for the Digital Age. International Journal of
Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1), January 2005. Retrieved 03 March 2011,
from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/index.htm
About the Author
Juvy Lizette Gervacio, is Assistant Professor, Master of Public Management Program, Faculty of Management and
Development Studies, University of the Philippine Open
University. She is also Project Coordinator and Course Manager
of the eLearning Development and Implementation (eLDI) Asia
and e-skills Asia. These programs are jointly implemented by the
UPOU and German International Cooperation (GiZ).
She facilitates face- to-face workshops on elearning in Germany,
Egypt, Vietnam, Mongolia and the Philippines; and tutored online
courses to members of partner networks in Africa, Latin America,
and Caucasus region.
She has also presented her experiences on managing online
courses at the Online Educa Berlin and regularly attends the
yearly event. In 2010, her paper entitled: “Tutors and Learners
Without Borders: In a Relationship but it’s Complicated” won
silver award for Best Paper at the Asian Association of Open
Universities Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Ms. Gervacio is also a member of the Advisory Committee of the
European-based Open ECB-Check (Quality label for e-learning in
capacity building/development).
She finished her Master of Public Management from the
University of Potsdam, Germany in 2000, and Master of Arts in
Demography from the University of the Philippines. She also
obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from the
University of the Philippines- Baguio.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 66
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Editor’s Note: This study compares the impact of group size on effectiveness of online cooperative learning
groups.
The Impact of Smaller and Larger Online Group Conferences on Student Achievement
Stafford A. Griffith
Jamacia
Abstract
This paper reports on a study undertaken with 24 students enrolled in a graduate course taught
online as part of a Master of Education degree programme. The purpose was to ascertain whether
the use of smaller cooperative learning groups of students would result in higher levels of
achievement compared with larger cooperative learning groups. The study utilised a
counterbalanced design which rotated students assigned to smaller and larger cooperative
learning groups for the first and second half of the one-semester course. The difference between
the mean achievement scores of students in the two types of groups was analysed using a t-test of
significance. In order to examine whether there was any gender difference in achievement based
on type of group, the difference between the mean achievement of males and females in smaller
and larger cooperative learning groups was also analysed using a t-test of significance. No
significant difference was found in the mean performance of students in smaller and larger
cooperative learning groups. Neither was any significant difference found in gender achievement
in the two types of cooperative learning groups. The findings raise questions about whether there
was any additional benefit to be derived from reducing the size of cooperative learning groups.
Keywords: University; online instruction; online learning; cooperative learning; cooperative learning
groups; small groups; gender; social interdependence; participation; research design.
Introduction
The School of Education, University of the West Indies, offers graduate courses and programmes
both face to face and online. A course or programme may be offered in either, or both, of these
modes. The use of cooperative learning groups in delivering the online courses is considered to be
one of the effective ways of assisting students to optimise their learning. This is in keeping with
the social interdependence theory which predicts that individuals working in a cooperative group
will have higher levels of achievement than individuals working alone (Deutsch, 1949, 1962;
Johnson & Johnson, 1989; Johnson & Johnson, 2009). This study sought to ascertain whether
additional benefits would be derived from smaller cooperative learning groups compared with
larger ones.
Review of the Literature
The use of computer-mediated communication as a teaching and learning tool has increased
dramatically in recent years (Li, 2002). The prospect of actually earning a degree without
travelling to a campus has opened up enormous possibilities for a large number of students
(Braun, 2008). A 2010 Sloan Consortium report revealed that in the United States alone, over 4.6
million students were taking at least one online course during the fall term of 2008 (Allen &
Seaman, 2010).
With the rapid growth in the number of online course offerings, many studies have been
focussing on the effectiveness of this delivery mode (Carswell, Thomas, Petre, Price & Richards,
2000; Chao, Saj & Hamilton, 2010; Coates & Humphreys, 2001; Eom, Wen, & Ashill, 2006;
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 68
Fjermestad, 2004; Gretes & Green, 2000; Koenig, 2010; Ogunleyle, 2010; Tinnerman, 2006).
Cooperative learning has emerged as an important instructional method for effective online
learning.
The term cooperative learning is often used interchangeably in the literature with that of
collaborative learning (Resta & Laferrière, 2007; Shibley & Zimmaro, 2002; Tschannen-Moran
& Woolfolk Hoy, 2000). This often creates some confusion. However, Roschelle and Teasley
(1995) explained that “collaboration" is distinguished from "cooperation", the critical difference
is that cooperative work is accomplished by the division of labour among participants where each
person is responsible for a portion of the problem solving while collaboration involves the mutual
engagement of participants in a coordinated effort to solve the problem together.
Cooperative learning involves a structured process that requires learners to work together on a
particular task, and in doing so, share information and encourage and support each other
(Coppola, 1996; Slavin, 1986). The teacher designs the exercises, activities, experiences or
problems that the learners must engage. These are often well structured and may include
objectives, time constraints, detailed formats for presentations, and even evaluation guidelines for
undertaking the task (Cranton, 1996).
In essence, therefore, cooperative learning emphasizes the accomplishment of the task through a
division of labour. The experience is fairly structured and the teacher remains in control of the
content and procedures. In collaborative learning, the emphasis is more on the process of working
together to develop a shared understanding. The teacher establishes the circumstances or
environment for the group process and participates in it. Both collaborative and cooperative
learning share a number of commonalities, one of which is that students participate in the learning
activities in small groups and work together to maximise their own and each other’s learning
(Johnson & Johnson, 1996).
In the cooperative learning approach, each member of the group is assigned a role so as to
organise the responsibilities of each person towards accomplishing the given task (Lyon, 2002).
The instructor explains the task to be undertaken, maintains group interaction, and provides
assistance in overcoming academic-related problems as the group seeks to accomplish the task
(Felder, 1996). The cooperative group is considered most useful in cases where the acquisition of
basic knowledge is a primary objective (Blosser, 1993).
Three important types of learning groups have been identified by Johnson, Johnson and Smith
(1991): informal cooperative learning groups which involve the ad hoc or temporary assignment
of students together, within a single class session; formal cooperative learning groups which are
teams established to complete a specific task, working together for one or several class sessions;
and base groups which are long-term groups, usually existing over the course of a semester,
providing members with support, encouragement, and assistance in completing course
requirements. In a study of student participation in an online graduate course, Griffith (2009)
noted that the groups to which students were assigned exemplified the combined attributes of the
three types of groups. Although students were assigned to groups for the duration of the course
and performed the functions of the base group as previously described, they also served the
functions identified for the formal learning group in working together over a period to complete,
jointly, specific tasks and assignments. Additionally, they engaged in activities associated with
the informal group by working within specific class sessions to focus on materials to be learned
and to undertake the other related activities of the informal learning group. Griffith (2009) posited
that the classification of cooperative learning groups as either formal, informal or base groups
may be more relevant to groups that are involved in a course delivered face to face than to groups
established for online delivery that might well assume attributes of more than one of the three
aforementioned types of groups.
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 69
There is general agreement in the literature that small group size is an essential characteristic of
collaborative and cooperative learning. Small groups allow members to participate freely, by
contributing their ideas and benefitting from critical responses which conduce to effective
learning (Althauser & Matuga, 1998). In the literature reviewed, the number of learners
recommended for the cooperative learning group varied, ranging from 20 to 3 (Brown & Atkins,
1988; Bennett, Howe & Truswell, 2002; Ngeow, 1998).
Ngeow (1998) recommended learning groups of between three and five. Following a review of
the pertinent literature on group size, Bennett, Howe and Truswell (2002) concluded that “it
seems that groups of three to six are the most widely advocated” (p. 9). Steeples, Goodyear and
Mellar (1994), in a study of the use of computer-mediated communication in learning in Higher
Education noted that even when students were assigned to large groups, they spontaneously set
up smaller conferences. It would be useful to ascertain whether learning groups of three to five
students as recommended by Ngeow (1998) produced levels of achievement greater than those
with larger numbers as this may have implications for the adoption of practices that optimise
student learning in online programmes.
Social interdependence theory clearly predicts that cooperative learning groups will have higher
levels of achievement than individuals working individualistically (Bertucci, Conte, Johnson &
Johnson, 2010; Deutsch, 1962; Johnson & Johnson, 1989). But, as Bertucci, Conte, Johnson and
Johnson (2010), explained, “the theory does not consider the size of the group important” (p.
257). There is some research evidence to suggest that as the cooperative learning group increases,
the higher the level of achievement. Seta, Paulus and Schkade (1976), for example, found that
groups of four performed at a higher level than groups of two. However, Bertucci et al. (2010)
posit that increasing the size of the cooperative learning group is likely to lead to declining levels
of achievement. According to the authors:
Given the problems of group members’ level of social skills, the interference between
teamwork and taskwork, and the degree of members’ loafing, it may be expected that as
the size of the group increases, the lower the group members’ achievement will be.
(p. 259)
Bertucci et al. (2010) reported on a study which sought, inter alia, to examine the effects of group
size on achievement. The sample for the study comprised 31 males and 31 females seventh-grade
students. Nine males and 9 females were assigned to individualistic learning conditions; 10 males
and 10 females were assigned to work in pairs and 12 males and 12 females were assigned to
work in groups of four. Students’ achievement was assessed at the end of each of three
curriculum units. It was found that cooperative pairs and cooperative groups of four achieved
significantly higher than individuals working alone. This was in keeping with social
interdependence theory and the expectations of the researchers. However, it was found that,
contrary to the expectations of the researchers, students working in groups of four did not achieve
higher results than students working in pairs. The authors concluded that “at the end of the study,
group size did not seem to influence the relationship between cooperation and achievement” (p.
267).
The groups of interest in the study undertaken by Bertucci, Conte, Johnson and Johnson (2010)
comprised two and four students, respectively. But would learning groups that that are constituted
differently provide results that are different?
A study Egerbladh and Sjödin (1981) which included the examination of retention levels among
individuals, dyads and triads found that there was no significant different in retention levels for
those who had worked in different groups. Jackson (1980) also reported no statistically significant
difference in achievement levels of large and small groups. Here, the groups were made up of
two, four, six and eight students, respectively. Additionally, a meta-analysis of within-class
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 70
grouping (Lou et al., 1996), found no difference in achievement for groups of 6 to 10, compared
with ungrouped classes which constituted larger groupings.
There is a growing but inconclusive body of literature on gender and achievement in learning
groups. A few studies point to the fact that gender can have an impact on achievement in small
groups (Denessen, Veenman, Dobbelsteen & Van Schilt, 2008; Wood, 1987; Webb, 1984).
Although Wood (1987) found that all-male groups performed better than all-female groups,
Denessen et al. (2008) found evidence that girls in small groups outperformed boys.
Myaskovsky, Unikel, and Dew (2005) found that the performance of mixed-gender and same-
gender groups was equally good while Harskamp, Ding and Suhre (2008), found that males
outperformed females in mixed-gender pairs. Given the inclusive nature of the findings of the
research on gender and achievement in groups, Denessen et al. (2008) concluded that:
Researchers need to study gender effects on group functioning and achievement to clarify
the mixed empirical findings on this topic in which boys sometimes outperform girls…,
girls sometimes outperform boys…, and researchers have found no statistically
significant differences….(p. 380)
Research Questions
The purpose of this research was to ascertain whether smaller cooperative learning groups of
students would produce higher levels of achievement compared with larger cooperative learning
groups. The researcher was also interested in whether gender would affect achievement in smaller
and larger cooperative learning groups.
The following three research questions guided this study:
1. Is there a significant difference in the achievement levels of students participating in an online course through smaller cooperative learning groups compared with those
participating through larger cooperative learning groups?
2. Is there a significant difference in the achievement levels of male and female students participating in an online course through smaller cooperative learning groups?
3. Is there a significant difference in the achievement levels of male and female students participating in an online course through larger cooperative learning groups?
Procedures
Sample
All 24 students in the Master of Education programme taking the online course in Issues in
Internal Assessment in the January to May, 2009 semester, were included in the study. The entire
course was delivered asynchronously over a 13 week period through web-based communication.
The students who participated in the course were connected, remotely, from locations in seven
different Caribbean countries: Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands,
Dominica, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. All 24 students
had participated in at least two online courses in the previous semester.
Method
Prior to the start of the course, each student was provided with two critical resource documents.
These were (i) a 168-page research report on Practices, Problems and Proposals of School Based
Assessment by Desmond Broomes and (ii) a 271 page Study Guide and Resource Manual for
Issues in Internal Assessment prepared by the instructor. Part I of the latter document contained a
description of the course, including rationale, objectives, content, schedule, teaching methods,
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 71
course assessment and prescribed and recommended readings. Part II contained a collection of
materials from various published and non-published sources which, collectively, covered the
content and objectives of the course.
The course was defined as a 39-hour, 3-credit graduate course. It comprised five Units, each of
which was subdivided into a number of topics or issues. The duration of a Unit varied between
two and three weeks, depending on its level of demand.
The instructor devoted a significant proportion of the time during the first week to the
clarification of how students were assigned to smaller and larger groups for the first and second
half of the course. The remaining time during the first week was devoted to an instructor-led
conference aimed at revising critical concepts covered in a previous course in Educational and
Psychological Measurement which was a pre-requisite for the course in Issues in Internal
Assessment.
A counterbalanced design was used in this study. The 24 students in the class were divided into
six Clusters, each comprising four students. These Clusters were labelled 1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, 2B and
2C. Clusters 1A, 1B, 1C were assigned to smaller group conferences for the first half of the
course and to larger group conferences for the second half of the course. On the other hand,
Clusters 2A, 2B and 2C were assigned to larger group conferences for the first half of the course
and to smaller group conferences for the second half of the course.
Essentially, four conferences were set up for the first half, or Part I, of the course. Three of the
four conferences were smaller group conferences to which Clusters 1A, 1B and 1C were
separately assigned. The fourth was a larger group conference to which Clusters 2A, 2B and 2C
were assigned as a single, combined group. As was the case for the first half of the course, four
conferences were set up for the second half, or Part II, of the course. Three of these conferences
were smaller group conferences to which Clusters 2A, 2B and 2C, respectively, were separately
assigned, having been rotated from the larger group conference to which they had been assigned
for Part I of the course. Clusters 1A, 1B and 1C were assigned to the fourth conference as a
single, combined group, having been rotated from the smaller group conferences to which they
had been separately assigned for Part I of the course. Table 1 summarises the allocation of
Clusters to smaller and larger groups for Parts I and II of the course.
Table 1
Allocation of Clusters to Smaller and Larger Groups for Parts I and II of the Course
Part Week No. Cluster Assignment
I 2 - 7 1A, 1B, 1C Small Group
2A, 2B, 2C Large Group
II 8 - 13 2A, 2B, 2C Small Group
1A, 1B, 1C Large Group
Student Moderators were used for all conferences. The Moderator was required to
provide guidance by identifying the particular focus to be pursued. In this role, the
Moderator posed questions to guide the online discussion and stimulated and encouraged
discussion on the topic under consideration. The reliance on student Moderators has
received much support in the literature (Griffith, 2009; Hara, Bonk & Angeli, 2000; Leh,
2000; Poole, 2000; Tagg, 1994; Veen, Lam & Taconis, 1998). Following a review of the
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 72
research literature, Seo (2007) noted that “student moderators can lead discussions more
effectively and foster greater student comprehension than the instructor because student
moderators better understand their peers’ way of thinking” (p. 22).
For the larger group conferences, the Moderator was drawn from one of the three Clusters
comprising the group. The other three members of the Cluster, from which the Moderator was
drawn, served as Researchers. All eight members of the other two Clusters in the larger group
conferences served as Discussants. The Researchers were required to find and post relevant
materials, including materials from various websites and to give a summary of their content and
their importance to the topic under discussion. The Discussants were each required to participate,
fully, in the discussions by responding to the Moderator’s questions, making contributions to
advance the discussions, and commenting on the contributions of other participants.
For the Clusters in the smaller group conferences, one of the four members served as the
Moderator while the other three assumed the combined roles of Researcher and Discussant.
At the end of Part I of the course, students were given a 30-item four-option multiple-choice test
constructed by the instructor to measure achievement on that part of the course. At the end of Part
II of the course, a similar test, measuring achievement on the second part of the course, was
administered. Given the nature of the design used in the study, each of the 24 students obtained
test scores as a participant in a smaller group conference and as a participant in a larger group
conference.
Results
This study was concerned with whether there was a significant difference between the
achievement levels of students in smaller cooperative learning groups and those in larger
cooperative learning groups. It was concerned, as well, with whether gender affected performance
in smaller and larger groups. The study was not concerned with whether students performed
better in Part 1 or Part II of the test.
Under the circumstances, the primary interest of the researcher was in the means of the scores
obtained by students when participating in (a) smaller cooperative learning groups and (b) larger
cooperative learning groups. Given the concern about gender performance, the researcher was
also interested in the means of scores of male and female students participating in (a) smaller
cooperative learning groups and (b) larger cooperative learning groups.
The 24 students in the class comprised 8 males and 16 females. The combined Clusters 1A, 1B
and 1C, accounted for 5 of the 8 males, while the combined Clusters 2A, 2B and 2C, accounted
for the other 3. Seven of the 16 females were included in the combined Clusters 1A, 1B and 1C
while the other 9 were included in the combined Clusters 2A, 2B and 2C. Table 2 summarises the
distribution of the scores of the 24 students, by gender, when they participated in the smaller and
larger cooperative learning groups.
The Cluster ID’s shown in Tables 2 were designed to link students to the Clusters to which they
were assigned. For example, 1A/1 represents student number 1 in Cluster 1A while ID 2C/4
represents student number 4 in Cluster 2C (see Table 1 for a summary of how Clusters of students
were allocated to smaller and larger groups for each Part of the course).
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 73
Table 2
Distribution of Scores Obtained for Parts I and II of the Course by Students Participating in Smaller and Larger Group Conferences
Tests Gender
Students in Smaller Group
Conferences
Students in Larger Group
Conferences
Cluster ID Score Obtained Cluster ID Score Obtained
Part I of
Course Male
1A/1
1B/1
1B/2
1B/3
1C/1
26
28
27
30
29
2A/1
2C/1
2C/2
25
28
26
Female
1A/2
1A/3
1A/4
1B/4
1C/2
1C/3
1C/4
26
25
26
24
25
30
26
2A/2
2A/3
2A/4
2B/1
2B/2
2B/3
2B/4
2C/3
2C/4
26
25
30
28
29
26
29
26
26
Part II of
Course Male
2A/1
2C/1
2C/2
13
20
17
1A/1
1B/1
1B/2
1B/2
1C/1
16
17
18
19
21
Female
2A/2
2A/3
2A/4
2B/1
2B/2
2B/3
2B/4
2C/3
2C/4
22
14
23
20
18
15
19
16
22
1A/2
1A/3
1A/4
1B/4
1C/2
1C/3
1C/4
13
18
20
15
17
21
24
Table 3 shows the means and standard deviations of achievement scores, by gender, for students
who participated in the smaller and larger cooperative learning group conferences in the online
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 74
course. The overall mean score of 22.54 and related standard deviation of 5.13 for the students
when they participated in the smaller cooperative learning groups do not appear to be much
different from the overall mean score of 22.21 and related standard deviation of 5.35 for students
when they participated in the larger cooperative learning groups.
Table 3
Mean and Standard Deviation of Achievement Scores by Gender for Students Participating in Smaller Group and Larger Group Conferences
Groups Gender Part I Part II Overall
Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
Smaller
Group
Male 28.00 1.58 16.67 3.51 23.75 6.27
Female 26.00 1.92 18.78 3.27 21.94 4.57
Total 26.83 1.99 18.25 3.31 22.54 5.13
Larger
Group
Male 26.33 1.53 18.20 1.92 21.25 4.53
Female 27.22 1.79 16.86 3.02 22.69 5.79
Total 27.00 1.71 17.42 2.61 22.21 5.35
The overall mean 23.75 and standard deviation of 6.27 for the males when participating in the
smaller cooperative learning group conferences showed marginal differences from the mean of
21.94 and standard deviation of 4.57 obtained for females when participating in similar
conferences. Based on a consideration of the means in particular, it may be concluded that, in the
smaller cooperative learning groups, males achieved marginally higher than females.
However, the obverse may be concluded for the larger cooperative groups based on the overall
means of male and female achievement in that group. In the larger learning groups, females
achieved marginally higher than males. The mean and standard deviation of scores for females
were 22.69 and 5.79, respectively, while for males they were 21.25 and 4.53, respectively.
Further analyses were undertaken specifically to test the significance of differences between the
means obtained for the variables of interest. More particularly three null hypotheses were tested:
1. There is a no significant difference between the mean scores of students who participated in the smaller cooperative learning groups and those who participated in
the larger cooperative learning groups.
2. There is no significant difference between the mean scores of male and female students who participate in the smaller cooperative learning groups.
3. There is no significant difference between the mean scores of male and female students who participate in the larger cooperative learning groups.
A t-test of the significance of the difference between each of the pairs of means of interest was
undertaken with the aid of Microsoft Office Excel 2007. Black (2005, p. 406), pointed to the
usefulness of the t-test which was devised for testing differences between means for small
samples of less than 30. The test of homogeneity of variance (based on the F-distribution) for the
distribution of scores that yielded the pairs of means which were compared in this study indicated
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 75
that they were sufficiently homogenous (p > .05) to use the t-test unaltered (see Black, 2005, p.
419).
The results are the t-tests for the difference between the overall mean scores of students who
participated in the smaller cooperative learning groups and those who participated in the larger
cooperative learning groups are presented in Table 4. The table shows a calculated t-value of 0.22
which is less than the critical t-value of 2.01 for the two-tailed test and a p-value of 0.83 which
far exceeds the α of 0.05 set for the test of significance. This clearly indicates that the first
hypothesis which states that there is no significant difference between the means cannot be
rejected.
Table 4
Test of Significance of Difference between Mean Achievement of Students in Smaller and Larger Cooperative Learning Groups
Smaller Group Larger Group
Mean 22.54167 22.20833
Variance 26.34601 28.60688
Observations 24 24
Pooled Variance 27.47645
Hypothesized
Mean Difference 0
df 46
t Stat 0.220287
P(T<=t) one-tail 0.413311
t Critical one-tail 1.67866
P(T<=t) two-tail 0.826622
t Critical two-tail 2.012896
The procedures followed in testing the significance of the difference between the mean scores of
male and female students who participated in the smaller cooperative learning groups were
similar to those followed in testing the significance of the difference between the overall means
obtained for students who participated in the smaller and larger cooperative learning groups. The
results are presented in Table 5.
The calculated t-value of 0.81 is less than the critical t-value of 2.07 and the p-value of 0.43 for
the two-tailed test far exceeds the α of 0.05. Therefore, the hypothesis that there is no significant
difference between the means cannot be rejected.
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 76
Table 5
Test of Significance of Gender Difference in Achievement for Students in Smaller Cooperative Learning Groups
Male Female
Mean 23.75 21.9375
Variance 39.35714 20.8625
Observations 8 16
Pooled Variance 26.74716
Hypothesized Mean Difference 0
df 22
t Stat 0.809354
P(T<=t) one-tail 0.213489
t Critical one-tail 1.717144
P(T<=t) two-tail 0.426979
t Critical two-tail 2.073873
The procedures followed in testing the significance of the difference between the mean scores of
male and female students who participated in the larger cooperative learning groups, were similar
to those followed for the other two hypotheses. The results are provided in Table 6.
Table 6
Test of Significance of Gender Difference in Achievement for Students in Larger Group Cooperative Learning Groups
Male Female
Mean 21.25 22.6875
Variance 20.5 33.5625
Observations 8 16
Pooled Variance 29.40625
Hypothesized Mean Difference 0
df 22
t Stat -0.61219
P(T<=t) one-tail 0.273343
t Critical one-tail 1.717144
P(T<=t) two-tail 0.546687
t Critical two-tail 2.073873
Again, the calculated t-value of -0.61 is less than the critical t-value of 2.07 and the p-value of
0.55 for the two-tailed test far exceeds the set α of 0.05. Therefore, the hypothesis that there is no
significant difference between the means cannot be rejected.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 77
Discussion
This research sought to ascertain whether students in a smaller cooperative learning group would
perform better than students in a larger cooperative learning group. The level of achievement of
cooperative learning groups of four students was compared with that of groups of 12. The
findings suggest that there was no significant difference in the achievement levels of the larger
and smaller cooperative learning groups. The findings further suggest that gender achievement
was not affected by group size.
The findings of this study are in sync with those of the Bertucci, Conte, Johnson and Johnson
(2010) who found that group size did not affect achievement: students working in groups of four
did not achieve higher results than students working in pairs. These findings accord, as well, with
that of a number of other studies which considered the effects of group size on achievement levels
in different settings. These include the work of Jackson (1980) who reported no statistically
significant difference in achievement levels of large and small groups and Egerbladh and Sjödin
(1981) who found that there was no significant different in retention levels for those who had
worked in groups of different sizes.
The findings concerning the impact of group size on gender achievement was inconclusive. The
small gender differences found were not significant. Denessen et al. (2008) pointed to the
inconclusiveness of research on gender and achievement in groups - boys outperform girls in
some instances while in others girls outperform boys and “researchers have found no statistically
significant differences” (p. 380). In this study, no statistically significant differences were found.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The current study supports the findings of a number of earlier studies that the size of the
cooperative learning group does not affect achievement. It adds to the inconclusive nature of the
findings on gender and achievement in groups – this time due to the lack of significance of the
small gender differences observed.
There is evidently the need for additional research that will help to shed further light on the
relationship between size of the cooperative learning group and levels of achievement. This is
particularly important for online learning in higher education where cooperative learning groups
are frequently organized on the understanding that they will help to improve student learning. The
challenge is to find out what size of group will optimise learning and whether gender is a factor in
to be considered.
The current study was undertaken with a sample of 24 students in a single graduate course offered
in one semester. The number of females in the two counterbalanced groups used in the study was
much larger than the number of males. The size of the sample would no doubt have affected the
stability of the variance between small and large group achievement, and between male and
female achievement. It is often challenging to find large classes for graduate courses in many
university settings. Nevertheless, more comprehensive studies with larger samples would
generate more stable variances and allow for more conclusive results. Effort should be made to
undertake such studies. It may be useful to continue the probe of the relationship between group
size and gender achievement. The small, but non-significant, gender difference in achievement
associated with group size that was noted in this study signals the need for such additional
research.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 78
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About the Author
Stafford A. Griffith is Professor of Research, Measurement and Evaluation in the School of Education at the Mona Campus (Jamaica) of the University of the West Indies. Professor Griffith
holds graduate degrees in education with specialized study in research, measurement and
evaluation, and curriculum development. He also holds a LL.B. degree. Professor Griffith has
approximately 42 years of combined work experience in teaching, curriculum development,
measurement and evaluation, and programme planning and management. He previously served as
Pro-Registrar of the Caribbean Examinations Council. Professor Griffith’s research interests
include public examinations, large scale testing programmes, formative assessment, assessment in
a constructivist learning environment and online learning.
E-Mail: [email protected]
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May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 81
Editor’s Note. This article is last because it changes the theme to the future. Dr. Santally’s previous articles
in this Journal are world-class in exploration and development of learning objects. This article includes learning objects, but looks at the broader field of Open Educational (Digital) Resources shared through Creative Commons licensing.
Quality Assurance and Open Educational Resources in Online Courseware Development and Delivery
Mohammad Issack SANTALLY Mauritius
Abstract
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are gaining momentum in education and throughout diverse
academic communities. However, the quality element is still a concern for many. This article
discusses the quality element with respect to the courseware design, development and delivery
when OERs are used. A case study of a course is presented and it is argued that the quality
element with respect to OERs encompasses much more than the mere quality assurance of the
content that is being available. The issue of quality needs to be addressed in the broader quality
assurance framework for courseware development.
Introduction
The issue of quality assurance (QA) has increasingly become a priority for Higher Education
institutions. As universities compete to attract more students, but also to attract financing through
various projects, quality represents one of the main criteria for ensuring a significant share of the
educational market (Abdous 2009, p. 281). Guaranteeing quality, however, is not always an easy
process, first and foremost because the very concept of "quality" is disputed and many different,
contextual definitions are used (Mihai 2009).
The main barrier to such an innovative way of using OERs to reconceptualise the educational
process in traditional universities are the quality assurance procedures that need to be 'strictly'
followed. In a traditional lecture, quality is believed to be maintained if the lecturer spends 3
hours in the classroom irrespective of what he does or not. This is proved by the log book in
which he signs. In another context, quality is maintained if students' results follow the normal
distribution and if academic/administrative records related to the course are duly kept.
Furthermore, quality is considered maintained if feedback forms are given, at the end of the
semester, to students who fill in most of the time in a subjective way. This perspective of viewing
quality poses a problem for bringing innovation and creativity in the learning process. Quality is a
non-referential concept and quality assurance techniques that are applicable in behaviorist
learning environments are not compatible in socio-constructivist ones. The quality framework
that can be applied depends on the learning design approach to be adopted. Quality assurance
needs to be an ongoing and iterative activity and student feedback on their own learning
(problems encountered, things that were easily understood, communication problems and other
related issues) contribute towards making them better learners and develop the required
competencies.
This paper looks at the issue of quality assurance when OERs are used for courseware
development purposes. It is clear that the main issue surrounding OERs use relates to the phase
when the content is being developed while the other phases will normally fall into the existing
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 82
quality assurance mechanisms of institutions. However, this perspective of viewing quality
depends on the granularity of the OER being used.
An Overview of OERs
Open educational resources are defined by the Wikipedia community as being basically content,
instructional approaches, activities and other resources, available for free and that are believed to
be useful in educational contexts. The idea behind the concept is to promote access to education
to a wider audience, especially those from deprived regions of the world, where the open
resources can be freely reused, improved and repurposed to fit in different contexts. The term
open educational resource was first defined as “the open provision of educational resources,
enabled by information and communication technologies, for consultation, use and adaptation by
a community of users for non-commercial purposes” (Johnstone, 2005). The definition of OER
now most often used is: “open educational resources are digitised materials offered freely and
openly for educators, students and self-learners to use and reuse for teaching, learning and
research”.
Open educational resources are therefore basically learning objects which are open and which
may be governed by alternate licensing standards such as Creative Commons. However, some
definitions of open educational resources go beyond the classic definitions learning objects. It
can basically be any resource that is available in an open access manner and that can be used in
an educational context. It can be anything from a blog post to a complete website which has no
relation to educational contexts, but which can indeed be repurposed to fit any context. This is
precisely where the issues of quality come into light as the authenticity and integrity of such
materials can hardly be verified.
While materials can be produced, published, shared and accessed by anyone at a low cost, well
defined OER projects within an educational context does cost a lot in terms of funding and effort
needed to build, implement and sustain those initiatives. For instance, the OpenLearn Project of
the Open University in the UK had a budget of almost USD 5 million a year for the first two
years (OECD, 2007). On the other hand, from the same source, it is mentioned that the OCW
project of the University of the Western Cape in South Africa runs its operation with three staff
and approximately USD 44000 a year. While it is important to point out that real costs can be met
with resources other than money, most initiatives need to raise some money some of the time
(OECD, 2007).
OERs are also available in a variety of formats and in a variety of repositories using different
types of standards. Resources can be available in portable document formats (PDF), compressed
formats (ZIP, RAR), hypertext and/or animation/movie formats. This variety adds both to the
flexibility as well as the complexity
There are also a number of barriers that have been reported with respect to the creation, use and
adoption of OERS such as lack of support from management level, lack of staff reward system,
lack of skills and lack of time from the educator’s community. This definitely impacts on the
sustainability of OER initiatives and in the course of time leads to a decrease in the perceived
quality levels of such content.
Quality in OERs
From Creation to Consumption and Dissemination
Open Educational Resources provide instructors with an innovative way to conceptualise courses.
The philosophy behind it is that courseware development becomes a distributed and a split 3-
phased approach. This means that the development of content can be done by anyone, anywhere
and at any point in time, thus becoming the first phase of the process. The instructor involved in
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 83
the use of OERs has practically no control over this phase but has access to a range of tools than
can give him access to content having been developed in that phase. A simple example would be
to use a search engine to look for related content or to access OER repositories. The other phase
would be to build-up the course from the content available manually or through the help of
courseware building tools. The third phase would be the delivery and dissemination of the course
content in a face-to-face classroom or via an e-learning platform. The instructor might have
control on both phase 2 and 3 or on only one of them. This approach being an innovative way in
itself, is set however to be a “disruptive process” in well-established traditional educational
systems especially with respect to the quality issue.
Issues of quality in educational processes normally arise in terms of
The content – its selection, aggregation and presentation The pedagogical approach used The delivery of the course Students’ satisfaction, performance and acquired competencies
The most obvious issue of quality in OER-based courseware development process relates only to
the content development phase on which the author has no particular control. This is where most
of the concerns related to quality assurance lies. Traditionally speaking, reliable sources of
academic information were only books, and published research (journal articles and conference
papers) as well as from the academic’s philosophical perception of things (academic freedom).
With the democratisation of access to content and the removal of publishing constraints via the
web, reliability of information presented in content has been of great concerns to educational
authorities. In this context we wish to highlight a very simple fact that out of ten consecutive
searches that were tried on different topics on Wikipedia returned a number of resources which
warned on the top about the reliability of the content (information) being presented to the user.
Furthermore, most searches done on Google for particular information would most likely return
Wikipedia as one of the top 5 sources.
The fact that OERs came into the limelight more or less with the emergence of Web 2.0 era
(contrary to the Learning Objects Concept) contributed to the significance of the concerns
regarding QA issues. Therefore academics and instructors using OERs need to have a well-
established set of guidelines that would provide a framework for the search and use of freely
available content from the Web. De-facto trusted sites like the OpenLearn platform, Connexions
and Curriki, just to name a few would greatly help but it is in fact very difficult for an institution
to control such activities of their staff. One possibility would be for OERs to form an integral part
of the institution’s courseware development policies rather than being used on piece-meal basis
by individual academics.
It is important to note that peer-reviewing has over the years proved useful in research-related
quality assurance systems. With the concept of collaborative editing through wiki technologies,
the concept of peer-reviewing has been very much the motor for those promoting an approach
based of OER development through communities of practice. However, the issue that remains
contradictive is the impersonation issue. While there are ways to counter this, sites like Wikipedia
and others will definitely encounter difficulties to enforce identity checks for its users. One recent
article on the web also mentioned the declining number of people who were involved in
‘watching’ of pages and their content on Wikipedia.
One possibility to counter the above problem is therefore to completely rethink (re-engineer) the
pedagogical approaches used when designing courses using OERs. When courses are fully
content-oriented, it is obvious that quality assurance processes will focus mainly on the content
being used and presented to the users. However, if the content is not the central focus, but an
element in a broader pedagogical scenario, then the whole quality assurance issue takes a
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 84
different perspective. The concept of project/activity-based learning that focus on the
development of a set of skills and competencies by the student through socio-constructivist
models can be useful. Quality assurance will in this case be a process that ensures the learning
path of the learner will lead to the desired outcomes. In doing so, using a variety of available
contents on the web which are labelled as OER is not a problem as the learners will develop
higher order cognitive skills where they can synthesize, argue and discuss on the contents rather
than adopting them to be factual information. However, again as was mentioned earlier, this
different perspective can be disruptive to the traditional organisational processes of QA.
Case-Study of OER-Based Coursware and the Issue of Quality
In this section we shall describe a course on Educational Technologies developed at the
University of Mauritius that incorporated OERs. We will look at how the course fit in the existing
quality assurance frameworks of the university and where some adaptations were needed. To
mount a course from OERs, there are two possible practices namely the bottom up approach or
the top down system. In the bottom up approach the course developer has a broad idea of what he
or she wants to deliver in a course and what outcomes he or she wants the learners to achieve. In
this approach, the course developer will mainly look at what is available and then fine-tune his
syllabus, learning outcomes and the design of the learning activities and assessment instruments
accordingly. The top down system on the hand follows a more classic approach of course design
where the syllabus and outcomes are duly approved by a course committee and then the course
designer has to meet the specific elements that were approved beforehand. When using OERs the
bottom up approach is more appropriate as it allows for flexibility in the process.
This is a foundation course targeted at students who are enrolled on bachelor programmes of the
University but who have an interest in education. They might be aspiring teachers, educators or
looking for a future career in an educational context. The course is not compulsory and is offered
as a general education module (GEM). The course has no written exams and the evaluation is
done through a set of assignments consisting of a mini project, forum participation and
completion of self-learning activities. The course was developed from a set of learning units
selected from the OpenLearn platform of the Open University of the UK. The course was
developed using the bottom up approach as describe in the paragraph above. The course was a 6-
credit module spread over two semesters. This is equivalent to 90 hours of classroom teaching.
The main aim of the course was to introduce learners to the basic concepts of pedagogy and the
use of ICT/digital media in teaching and learning.
With this requirement in hand, the course developer tries to look for suitable content from OER
repositories. Given that the University of Mauritius was during that period involved in the
SIDECAP project in partnership with the Open University of the UK, the OpenLearn platform
was chosen for this experiment with Open Education Resources. With respect to the four
elements that constitute a ‘quality framework’ as per our conception of education, we try to
analyse the process related to the design, development and delivery of the course on Educational
Technologies in the next paragraph.
The Content – its selection, aggregation and presentation
Course development is not only about writing of content. The content is just one of the elements
that constitute a course, yet a very important one. Starting with the course outline, course aims
and goals as the benchmark, an in-depth analysis of related content on the OpenLearn platform is
done by the course developers. Another element that is determinant in the choice of already
available content is the number of learning hours of the units being selected.
The quality of content is based on a mutual trust (between the academic community) given that
OpenLearn content already undergo prior phases of review (through LabSpace) before being
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 85
posted online. These reviews ensure integrity, accuracy and relevance of the content and its
sources. However, when independent OpenLearn units are being selected to form part of a course,
there is a need to make sure if the content of the different units are compatible and homogenous.
This can be a quality issue even if the individual chunks of content are high quality since it does
not necessarily guarantee the final product will be of the same standard unless compatibility and
homogeneity of content is ensured.
The Pedagogical Approach Used
In a course, the content is no longer the central element. Even if a course is built from non-OER
material, learners will still look for further content in libraries or online through content
repositories or simple web search. The pedagogical approach used to ensure the learning
outcomes are achieved is also important in determining the quality of the course. Therefore OERs
can unjustly suffer from the quality debate given that OERs (in the form of content) do not
necessarily contain an underlying recommended pedagogical approach. Therefore in judging the
quality of an overall course, the pedagogical approach to be used depends on the type of content
and vice-versa.
In the Educational Technologies course, there is no written assessment and learners are assessed
purely through continuous methods such as online participation in discussion forums, completion
of learning activities and a final practical mini-project where they need to develop a simple
educational website. In this case, it is therefore important to choose content that will allow the
learners to carry out the practical activities and to achieve the projected learning outcomes.
Course Delivery
Quality of a course is also intrinsically linked to the way it is delivered and the type and
efficiency of support that learners receive. When we talk of the use of Open Educational
Resources reference is usually made to the design and delivery of online courses rather than in the
traditional face-to-face scenarios. Online courses need to have a well-structured course delivery
plan as well as an operational framework for learner support. Without this framework, any online
course irrespective of whether OERs are used or not is bound to fail and this definitely impacts on
the perceived quality of the course.
The Educational Technologies online course receives an average enrolment of 150-200 students
yearly. The learners have access to a number of different online support forums, regular Skype
chats and a tutor is allocated for each batch of 50 learners. When using OERs it is also important
that the tutors go through the course in detail prior to the delivery so as to master the different
aspects of the course. Students also have access to a set of online interactive tutorials that have
been developed as supplementary support materials to assist them in the learning process.
Students’ Satisfaction, performance and acquired competencies
Another important element that adds credibility to the quality assurance process is the feedback
obtained from the learners in terms of their satisfaction, their own perception of the quality of
their learning experience, their performances in assessment activities as well as the competencies
and skills acquired with respect to the targets that were initially set.
The element of student feedback throughout the course in a formative way provides better insight
for course developers and tutors to know what they have got right and wrong and this gives them
the opportunity to mend some issues during the course of delivery itself. Student satisfaction is
also an element to be taken into account when judging the quality of a course. Student satisfaction
can however be seen as a complex issue that can often be guided by subjective appraisal by
learners.
In the Educational Technologies course student feedback, satisfaction, their performance and the
competencies they demonstrated were taken as a holistic unit in order to get an objective
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
May 2011 Vol. 8. No. 5. 86
feedback on the perceived quality on the course outcomes. Throughout the course, students
participate on forums, regularly enter journal reflections and carry out self-assessment as well as
tutor marked activities. At the end of the course, they are asked to provide feedback in terms of
answering open-ended questions rather than filling standard feedback sheets.
Conclusion
The issue of quality has been constantly raised in debates surrounding the use of OERs in
education. However, it is clear that quality needs to be seen in a holistic way and needs not only
focus on the content but on the learning environment as one entity that consists of the learning
content, the pedagogical approaches, delivery and support mechanisms and students
achievements and perception of the learning experience. We show in this article using a case
study of a course that has been mounted using OERs that each of these factors discussed are
interdependent and intrinsic to the preservation of the overall quality of a course.
References
Abdous, M. (2009). E-learning quality assurance: a process-oriented lifecycle model. Quality
Assurance in Education. 17 (3). 281-295
Johnstone, S. (2005), “Open Educational Resources and Open Content, Background Note”,
International Institute for Educational Planning, Internet Discussion Forum on Open
Educational Resources, Open Content for Higher Education.
Mihai (2009). Teaching European Studies Online: The Challenge of Quality Assurance.
European Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning. http://www.eurodl.org [retrieved 5
January 2011]
OECD (2007). Giving Knowledge for Free: The Emergence of Open Educational Resources.
Paris, France: OECD Publishing. 2007.
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/35/7/38654317.pdf [retrieved 5 January 2011]
About the Author
Mohammad Issack SANTALLY is from the Virtual Centre for Innovative Learning Technologies at the University of Mauritius.
Email: [email protected]
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- Table of Contents – May 2011
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- Editorial: itdl.org
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- 1
- 1
- Donald G. Perrin
- Donald G. Perrin
- Donald G. Perrin
- How Award-winning Professors in Higher Education Use Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction
- How Award-winning Professors in Higher Education Use Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction
- How Award-winning Professors in Higher Education Use Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction
- 3
- 3
- Joel L. Gardner
- Joel L. Gardner
- Joel L. Gardner
- Developing Trust and Openness in an Online Environment
- Developing Trust and Openness in an Online Environment
- Developing Trust and Openness in an Online Environment
- 17
- 17
- Christopher J. Devers
- Christopher J. Devers
- Christopher J. Devers
- Comparing Student Learning and Satisfaction between Learning Environments in Continuing Medical Education
- Comparing Student Learning and Satisfaction between Learning Environments in Continuing Medical Education
- Comparing Student Learning and Satisfaction between Learning Environments in Continuing Medical Education
- 29
- 29
- Cheryl Fisher and William A. Sadera
- Cheryl Fisher and William A. Sadera
- Cheryl Fisher and William A. Sadera
- Distance learners’ Work Life Learning Balance
- Distance learners’ Work Life Learning Balance
- Distance learners’ Work Life Learning Balance
- 43
- 43
- Margarida Romero
- Margarida Romero
- Margarida Romero
- Internal and External Factors that Influence Adult Learners in an Online Setting
- Internal and External Factors that Influence Adult Learners in an Online Setting
- Internal and External Factors that Influence Adult Learners in an Online Setting
- 49
- 49
- Lara Henry
- Lara Henry
- Lara Henry
- Managing Borderless Collaboration in Asia: Commitment, Coordination and Communication
- Managing Borderless Collaboration in Asia: Commitment, Coordination and Communication
- Managing Borderless Collaboration in Asia: Commitment, Coordination and Communication
- 57
- 57
- Juvy Lizette Gervacio
- Juvy Lizette Gervacio
- Juvy Lizette Gervacio
- The Impact of Smaller and Larger Online Group Conferences on Student Achievement
- The Impact of Smaller and Larger Online Group Conferences on Student Achievement
- The Impact of Smaller and Larger Online Group Conferences on Student Achievement
- 67
- 67
- Stafford A. Griffith
- Stafford A. Griffith
- Stafford A. Griffith
- Quality Assurance and Open Educational Resources in Online Courseware Development and Delivery
- Quality Assurance and Open Educational Resources in Online Courseware Development and Delivery
- Quality Assurance and Open Educational Resources in Online Courseware Development and Delivery
- 81
- 81
- Mohammad Issack SANTALLY
- Mohammad Issack SANTALLY
- Mohammad Issack SANTALLY
- Editorial
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- Donald G. Perrin
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- Editor’s Note: Translating theory into practice is difficult without activity models, concrete examples and a consistent strategy for observing and recording data. Dr. Gardner’s observations give strong support for efficacy of Merrill’s first principles of instruction to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning.
- How Award
- How Award
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- winning Professors in Higher Education Use Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction
- Joel L. Gardner
- USA
- Abstract
- There is increasing evidence that using Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction as part of an instructional strategy increases learning. However, these principles are written in general terms, and little is written about how these principles function in the real world. Knowing how these principles are currently used in the real world would extend our understanding of the principles and provide insight into how they can be implemented. Therefore, a study was conducted to determine how four award-winning in
- Keywords: teaching, higher education, instructional theory, first principles of instruction, instructional principle, learning theory
- Note: Names of schools and people in this article are pseudonyms.
- Introduction
- One current theory of instruction is Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction (Merrill, 2002, 2007, 2008), which proposes five foundational principles of instruction which, when used, are proposed to increase student learning. Merrill states the following principles: (1) Task/Problem-Centered – learning is increased when instruction is centered on real-world problems or tasks; (2) Activation – learning increases when learners recall or demonstrate relevant prior learning and recall or are given a way to or
- Figure 1. Instruction can follow a cycle of instruction centered on real-world tasks beginning with activation and continuing through integration.
- There is some evidence that these principles increase learning. Thomson (2002) reported a study in which an online Excel spreadsheet course using First Principles was compared with a traditional online course teaching Excel. Basing the course on real-world tasks and using the four-phase cycle of instruction caused a 30% student improvement in performance accuracy using Excel, including a 41% improvement in the time taken to complete tasks (p.8). In a separate study, Frick (2009) discovered a significant cor
- Study Purpose
- Principles are intentionally general and to be used effectively must be tailored to specific contexts, problems and situations (Merrill, 2002; Keller, 2008). Because these principles are written in a general form, it can be difficult to interpret and apply these principles to a real-world setting, and guidance on how to implement these principles is needed (Merrill, 2007). Because effective practice can contribute to and help build theory (
- Principles are intentionally general and to be used effectively must be tailored to specific contexts, problems and situations (Merrill, 2002; Keller, 2008). Because these principles are written in a general form, it can be difficult to interpret and apply these principles to a real-world setting, and guidance on how to implement these principles is needed (Merrill, 2007). Because effective practice can contribute to and help build theory (
- http://www.aect.org/
- http://www.aect.org/
- ), it would be beneficial to study how these principles are used successfully by expert teachers. To date there have been no studies that report how award-winning instructors are using Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction in higher education. Therefore, I studied four award-winning professors in higher education with the goal of discovering methods of instruction that adhere to Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction. The guiding question in the design of the study is, “How do effective, award-winnin
- Method
- The study took place at a large western university. To ensure that I studied quality instruction, I selected four professors who had been recognized in previous years as the teachers of the year for the entire university. This recognition is very prestigious and is awarded to one of several
- hundred instructors for outstanding teaching at the university. Awardees are experienced instructors who were considered and selected based on the recommendations of their peers and the feedback of past students. It was assumed, and later confirmed, that the instructors selected for this study effectively apply some or all of Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction. Potential participants were identified from an online list showing past award winners on the university website. They were contacted twice vi
- The Researcher
- An important aspect of my relationship to these instructors was my employment as an instructional designer in the university’s center for teaching. In this role, I supported several departments at the university in developing and managing course content in Blackboard Vista, the university’s Course Management System. Because I worked directly with professors at the university, I was particularly well-positioned to gather relevant knowledge for this study.
- The purpose of this study was to find out how instructors use First Principles of Instruction in higher education. To gain a rich understanding of the instructors’ teaching strategies, I followed the advice of Glesne (1992) and gathered data from several sources: an interview with each instructor (which was recorded and later transcribed), an observation of the instructor in a teaching setting, and documents provided by the professor relating to their teaching philosophy and strategy. These documents inclu
- Data were analyzed using thematic analysis (Glesne, 1992; Gall, Gall & Borg, 2007). I searched for any reference in the sources that referred to the use of any of the five First Principles of Instruction. In addition to themes directly related to First Principles, several other themes and patterns emerged from the data. Appendix 1 demonstrates the codes and associated themes that emerged during the study. All documents and transcripts were coded according to these themes and were then analyzed and are desc
- Results: Instructors’ Use of First Principles of Instruction
- This section describes the findings of the data, which were analyzed using thematic analysis and grouped into categories defined by First Principles and other themes that emerged during the study. The instructors included in this study are described to provide context for who was studied. Instructor use of Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction is described. Themes that emerged during the analysis but were not specific to First Principles of Instruction are also described. The findings are presented as a
- Study Participants
- Dr. Linda Kelley
- Dr. Linda Kelley is a professor in the department of Family, Consumer, and Human Development. She began her career as a kindergarten teacher and has earned graduate degrees in child development. She has worked with small children throughout her career and chose to take a position as a professor and director of a student-teaching preschool lab because her “three favorite populations are parents, little children and college students.”
- In student evaluations, students described Dr. Kelley as “very approachable and friendly,” and “enthusiastic.” In the class I observed, she arranged the classroom in a circle and spent time
- chatting and laughing with the students before and after the class. Students described the class as “a comfortable conversation where we could discuss anything.” The nature of her relationship with students appears to be comfortable and enjoyable to Dr. Kelley and to her students.
- Dr. Bretton Wellington
- Dr. Bretton Wellington is a professor of Marketing in the School of Business at the university. He began his studies at San Jose State where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Marketing. After earning an MBA from Santa Clara University and a Ph. D. in Marketing from Arizona State University, he taught briefly in Arizona and afterward took a position at the university where he has taught for nearly 17 years. Most of his research focuses on the market diffusion of renewable energy and clean technologies. Dr.
- Suzan Harrison
- Suzan Harrison is an instructor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the university. She was born and raised in the community surrounding the university and earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from the program at the university. Before taking a position as professor, she worked in many positions in the field of nutrition, including an outpatient dietician at the local hospital, a dietary manager for patients in a nursing home, and even worked with diabetics and clients with eating disor
- Dr. Pradeep Sumbramony
- Dr. Pradeep Sumbramony is a professor in the Department of Economics in the School of Business at the university. He began his education at Calcutta University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics. He later earned a PhD in Economics from Chicago University and afterward came to the university as professor. He has taught at the university for over 33 years and has received many awards for excellence in teaching and mentorship. Students described Dr. Sumbramony as “enthusiastic,” “very entertainin
- Instructor Use of First Principles of Instruction
- The instructors’ use of First Principles of Instruction is described below. Results are presented according to the themes associated with each principle, and discussion of the findings follows the presentation of the findings. It is worth noting that each instructor used all of the principles, including the cycle of instruction. The only exception was that Dr. Kelley was not observed to use the activation principle. Instructors’ use of these principles is described briefly below. A more detailed list of how
- Problem/Task-Centered
- All instructors used some form of real-world problems or tasks in their class. For example, in a child development class, Dr. Kelley directed students to plan out and executing lesson plans in the university pre-school lab. In a marketing class, Dr. Wellington directed students to assume the role of consultants for a real-world company and perform a marketing audit for that company.
- And in a nutrition class, Harrison shared real-world, personal examples of the nutrition and development phenomena that she was teaching in lectures and directed students to track and apply nutrition principles to their own lives.
- Activation
- Most of the instructors also used Activation strategies. For example, when lecturing, Dr. Wellington referred to and built on the knowledge that students had obtained in previous prerequisite courses. In addition, when beginning a lecture, Harrison reviewed what was discussed in the previous class prior to lecturing on new content. And at the beginning of the class period, Dr. Sumbramony asked questions to the students regarding previously learned fundamental principles of economics, slowly progressing to q
- Demonstration
- The instructors also used the Demonstration principle in their courses. In Dr. Kelley’s child development course, Students learned from other students by observing and evaluating them as they planned out and executed lesson plans in the pre-school lab. In lectures, Dr. Wellington provided his marketing students with many relevant examples from the popular media that illustrate the marketing audit steps to be applied by the students. And Dr. Sumbramony used the chalkboard to work through many examples of how
- Application
- The application principle was also used by the instructors. For example, Dr. Kelley’s child development students responded to real-world cases during a class discussion. Dr. Wellington’s students performed a marketing audit over the course of a semester, including several specific audit-specific activities. And Dr. Sumbramony’s students used a complex equation to solve economic problems.
- Integration
- The Integration principle was also used. For example, after her students worked in a pre-school lab, Dr. Kelley facilitated an in-class discussion with students on their experiences, encouraging them to share insights with one another. Dr. Wellington described to students how the skills they are developing will be useful in the future. And H arrison and Dr. Sumbramony constantly asked their students “What does this mean to you?” and, “Why is this important?”
- Cycle of Instruction
- In addition to the principles described above, each instructor used a cycle of instruction in their courses. For example, as student groups responded to real-world scenarios (Problem-centered principle) provided by Dr. Kelley in class (Application principle), other students learned from those sharing their responses (Demonstration principle). This was repeated by several groups on several occasions. Dr. Kelley facilitated the discussion by asking questions and also provided feedback and insights to each stu
- In another example, when teaching how to solve a difficult economics-related problem (Problem-centered principle), Dr. Sumbramony first worked through the problem using a complex equation on the chalkboard (Demonstration principle). He then presented another similar problem and had students use the equation to solve a portion of the problem. He then gave them another problem to solve on their own for outside of class (Application principle).
- Additional Themes
- In addition to the instructors’ use of Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction, several themes emerged as I analyzed the data for this study. This section briefly describe each of these themes.
- Enthusiasm
- The first theme that emerged was enthusiasm. For example, Dr. Kelley describes herself as enthusiastic about child development, and in course evaluations, students described Dr. Kelley as “enthusiastic and very effective,” and that Dr. Kelley had “enthusiasm and love of the subjects we studied.” Perhaps this is why one student wrote, “I always look forward to class.” I personally found Dr. Kelley to be very engaging and enthusiastic as I interviewed her and observed her class.
- Dr. Wellington also exhibited enthusiasm as part of his teaching, and his peers describe him as engaging, energetic and enthusiastic. My observation confirms the presence of enthusiasm in his presentation and communication style, and I thoroughly enjoyed my interview with him. This enthusiasm is related to what Dr. Wellington calls his “stage presence,” which he attributes to his experience as an opera performer during his time as a student.
- Dr. Sumbramony also had high levels of enthusiasm, and in my interview, I was impressed with his ability to speak with energy and passion. Students also noted this energy, describing him as “energetic,” “very passionate,” and that his “activity and enthusiasm are astounding.”
- Knowledgeable
- In addition to enthusiasm, students noted that an instructor’s knowledge and expertise were important to effective instruction. For example, one student wrote that Dr. Kelley “had the experience and examples to back up what she was teaching.” Others wrote that she “really knew the subject matter” and was “well prepared” for class. This perceived knowledge of child development gave her teaching credibility in the eyes of the students. This theme was also found in Suzan Harrison, whose students described her
- Organization
- Instructor organization was also noted as key to effective teaching. For example, Dr. Wellington mentioned, “I like a lot of structure,” and his course syllabus reflects this structure and appears to be very clear and easy to follow. Suzan Harrison also exhibited clear organization, and in our interview, she acknowledged “I work very, very hard and diligently to make sure I’m organized.” There are several components to this organization. Harrison’s students also appreciated her organization, and wrote that
- Humor
- Humor was another theme that emerged in the study. For example, after observing Dr. Wellington in class, one if his peers wrote “the group laughter which followed (Dr. Wellington’s humorous comments) gave evidence of a very positive rapport between teacher and students.” Dr. Sumbramony’s was also very humorous, and students wrote that they “loved the humor,” that “his humor was excellent,” and that the class was “entertaining.” In the course I observed, Dr. Sumbramony told many jokes and some of the student
- Compassion
- Dr. Sumbramony took what he calls a “compassionate approach,” and his compassion for his students was apparent. He provided them with individual one-on-onetime, even in courses that have over 70 students. In these visits, he guided students through problems and assignments using what he calls the Socratic method, asking questions that guided the students to solving problems on their own. Students greatly appreciated this attention and were impressed with his love and concern for their success. One wrote tha
- Challenging
- Another theme that developed was an appreciation of a challenging course. For example, Harrison works to be aware of her students and how they perform in her courses, and she makes sure the course is reasonably difficult for the students, who noted that the challenging course “pushed me to learn more” and “made sure we know exactly what we needed to know.”
- Discussion
- Problem-Centered
- Previously, Duffy & Cunningham (1996) noted five ways that problems can be used: (1) the problem as guide; (2) the problem as an integrator or test; (3) the problem as an example; (4) the problem as a vehicle for process; and, (5) the problem as a stimulus for authentic activity. Merrill (2002, 2007) seems to emphasize a gradual transition during an instructional sequence from using problems as examples to using the problem as a vehicle for authentic activity. In this study, problems were used by the instru
- However, the size of the problems used varied greatly. For example, as described above, Dr. Kelley directed teams of child development students to respond to parents’ complaints that had come up in the past at the school’s child care lab. This is a relatively small problem and in class, the discussion for each problem lasted roughly 6-7 minutes. However, the problem of dealing with parent complaints can be seen as one component of the larger task of working with parents, which is a component of the larger t
- An example of a very large whole problem or task is a market audit, which Dr. Wellington’s marketing students perform. This problem is performed over the course of the semester because the market audit is so large that there is not enough time to work through multiple whole tasks. Interestingly, Wellington appears to use the cycle of instruction for each component of this whole task, providing demonstrations and examples from current media and giving students feedback on their application of each component.
- associated with that task are taught throughout the curriculum. In both scenarios First Principles are used and a whole task is performed by the students.
- Perhaps the examples described above provide methods for implementing tasks in a real-world context. Dr. Kelley used small whole problems (responses to pre-school cases) which included student application, peer-peer demonstration, and instructor feedback and guidance, many times throughout the course. However, in the pre-school lab, she used much larger whole problems (student-generated lesson plans) which also included students application, peer-peer demonstration and feedback and guidance. I would designa
- By nature, whole problems or tasks are components of larger tasks, and selecting the appropriate “problem” must fit the constraints of the instructional context and be tailored to the needs and prior knowledge of the students who will receive the instruction. However, there is little guidance on how this can be effectively done, and much is left to the instructor to determine how large the task should be based on the instructional context.
- Activation
- Three of the instructors in this study used activation strategies to varying degrees. However, some of these strategies were more passive in nature. For example, Merrill wrote that learning is promoted “when learners are directed to recall, relate, describe, or apply knowledge from relevant past experience” (p. 46). This statement implies active participation by the students. However, two of the three instructors who used activation in this study employed more passive strategies by verbally reviewing previo
- Cycle of Instruction
- One interesting finding was the instructors’ use of a cycle of instruction including demonstration of multiple whole task or problems and student applications of those whole tasks. Interestingly, these cycles of instruction varied from course to course and from task to task. Cycles of instruction varied from several cycles within a 50-minute class to cycles lasting several days. These cycles appeared to change based on the size of the whole task or problem on which the instruction was centered- the larger t
- I was impressed with how these professors use these principles of instruction seamlessly in their teaching strategies. Instructors move between the phases of activation, demonstration, application and integration fluidly many times during a single class. This fluidity highlights the dynamic nature of these principles and provides examples of how to integrate them effectively in a course.
- Additional Themes
- The additional themes that emerged during the study provide great insight into how excellent teachers personalize their instruction while naturally implementing First Principles. Many of these additional characteristics and techniques appear to fit with what Keller (2008) has called First Principles of Motivation, which he based on the ARCS model of motivation (Keller, 1987). These principles are designed to increase student motivation to learn, and the instructors in this
- study clearly used several of the components outlined. The professors gain and maintain students’ Attention through the use of humor and enthusiastic teaching. They instill Confidence of success in their students by challenging them and giving them compassionate guidance in their studies. They also provide real-world experiences that give students satisfaction of Success (Keller, 2008, p. 176-178).
- These characteristics and techniques seem to act as facilitators of effective instruction based on First Principles. First Principles alone would not appear to be as effective as First Principles with these facilitating principles. Figure 2 highlights how these principles appear to work as facilitators of First Principles.
- Figure 2. The additional themes identified in this study appear to facilitate student movement through the phases of instruction.
- This study confirms the existence of First Principles of Instruction and links the use of these principles to high quality instruction. It is worth noting that these principles were used by teachers in content areas that are very different in nature. The presence of these principles in several different settings in higher education highlights the ubiquitous nature of First Principles and shows that they can be present and utilized, “regardless of program or practice” (Merrill, 2002, p. 43). This study also
- This study has discovered two things. First, it confirms the existence and use of First Principles of Instruction and links their use to effective instruction in higher education. Second, it emphasizes that the effectiveness of these principles is potentially enhanced through positive motivational strategies and characteristics.
- Because principles are general in nature, work must be done to “examine the specific problems and best practices that can be applied in a given situation (Keller, 2008, p. 175).” Therefore, future studies should identify how First Principles of Instruction function in specific learning contexts. For example, work should be done to identify how First Principles of Instruction are used in an online environment in higher education. Future research should also study the interaction between First Principles of I
- Conclusion
- To bring life to Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction, we should observe how they are used in real settings. This study provides some insight into how these principles can function in higher education. To advance as a field, we should be willing to analyze how theory functions in realistic settings and discover methods for using and personalizing instructional theories like First Principles of Instruction so that they can be made more accessible to teachers and instructional designers in many settings.
- References
- Association for Educational Communication and Technology, (2009).Knowledge Base. Retrieved April 25, 2009 from http://www.aect.org/default.asp.
- Collis, B., & Margaryan, A. (2005). Merrill plus: Blending corporate strategy and instructional design. Educational Technology, 45(3), 54-58.
- Duffy, T. M., & Cunningham, D. J. (1996). Constructivism: Implications for the design and delivery of instruction. In D. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of research for educational communications and technology (pp. 170-198). New York: Macmillan.Frick, T., Chadha, R., Watson, C., Wang, Y., Green, P. (2009). College student perceptions of teaching and learning quality. Educational Technology Research and Development, 57(5), 705-720.
- Gall, M. D., Gall, J. P., & Borg, W. R. (2007). Educational research: An introduction.
- Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.
- Gardner, J., & Jeon, T. K. (2009). Creating task-centered instruction for web-based instruction: Obstacles and solutions. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, (38)1, pp. 21-34.
- Glesne, C., & Peshkin, A. (1992). Becoming qualitative researchers. New York: Longman.
- Keller, J. M. (1987a). Development and use of the ARCS model of instructional design. Journal of Instructional Development, 10(3), 2–10.Keller, J. M. (2008). First principles of motivation to learn and e3-learning. Distance Education, 29(2), 175-185.
- Mendenhall, A., Buhanan, C. W., Suhaka, M., Mills, G., Gibson, G. V., & Merrill, M. D. (2006). A task-centered approach to entrepreneurship. TechTrends, 50(4), 84-89.
- Merrill, M. D. (2002). First principles of instruction. Educational Technology Research and Development 50(3): 43-59.
- Merrill, M. D. (2007). First principles of instruction: a synthesis. In R. A. Reiser & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology, 2nd Edition (Vol. 2, pp. 62-71). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall.
- Merrill, M. D. 2008. One page summary of First Principles of Instruction.
- Merrill, M. D. 2008. One page summary of First Principles of Instruction.
- http://cito.byuh.edu/merrill/text/papers/FirstPrinciplesSummary.pdf
- http://cito.byuh.edu/merrill/text/papers/FirstPrinciplesSummary.pdf
- . Accessed July 25, 2008
- Merrill, M. D., Barclay, M., & van Schaak, A. (2008). Prescriptive principles for instructional design. In J. M. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. J. G. van Merriënboer, & M. P. Driscoll (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (pp. 173-184). New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
- About the Author
- Dr. Joel Gardner is a faculty member at Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio. He has experience working as an instructional designer at multiple institutions in higher education and has also worked as a corporate trainer. Dr. Gardner has spent the last several years researching and applying principles of instructional effectiveness.
- Dr. Joel Gardner is a faculty member at Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio. He has experience working as an instructional designer at multiple institutions in higher education and has also worked as a corporate trainer. Dr. Gardner has spent the last several years researching and applying principles of instructional effectiveness.
- [email protected]
- Appendix 1
- Codes and Themes Identified in Analysis
- Codes and Themes Identified in Analysis
- Code
- Code
- Code
- Code
- Theme
- Theme
- Span
- P-C
- P-C
- P-C
- Problem/Task-Centered Principle
- Problem/Task-Centered Principle
- Span
- Ac
- Ac
- Ac
- Activation Principle
- Activation Principle
- Span
- D
- D
- D
- Demonstration Principle
- Demonstration Principle
- Span
- Ap
- Ap
- Ap
- Application Principle
- Application Principle
- Span
- In
- In
- In
- Integration Principle
- Integration Principle
- Span
- Enth
- Enth
- Enth
- Enthusiasm
- Enthusiasm
- Span
- Kn
- Kn
- Kn
- Knowledgeable
- Knowledgeable
- Span
- Org
- Org
- Org
- Organization
- Organization
- Span
- Hum
- Hum
- Hum
- Humor
- Humor
- Span
- Comp
- Comp
- Comp
- Compassion
- Compassion
- Span
- Chal
- Chal
- Chal
- Challenging
- Challenging
- Span
- Appendix 2
- Detailed Description of How Merrill’s First Principles were Used
- Problem/Task-Centered
- All instructors used some form of real-world problems or tasks in their class. For example,
- Dr. Kelley (Child Development)
- In one class, students plan out and executing lesson plans in the university pre-school lab.
- In another class, students do home visits to the families of their students, attend parent meetings and conferences and write reports on the meetings.
- Students also work in small groups to respond to real world scenarios they might encounter in their work as pre-school teachers.
- Dr. Wellington (Marketing)
- In one class, students assume the role of consultants for a real-world companies and perform a marketing audit.
- Suzan Harrison (Nutrition and Health)
- Harrison shared real-world, personal examples of the nutrition and development phenomena that she was teaching in lectures.
- Harrison embodied a personal example of excellent fitness and nutrition, as noted by her students.
- In one class, students used what they had learned by analyzing the contents of infant formula to see how well it matched important research knowledge.
- Dr. Sumbramony (Economics)
- Students solved economics problems using complex equations.
- Activation
- Dr. Wellington (Marketing)
- When lecturing, he created an itinerary on the board that organized the class.
- Referred to and built on the knowledge obtained in previous prerequisite courses.
- Suzan Harrison (Nutrition and Health)
- When beginning a lecture, she reviewed what was discussed in the previous class prior to lecturing on new content.
- She then previewed the key points of the day’s lecture, providing an organizing structure for the content to be learned.
- Dr. Sumbramony (Economics)
- At beginning of the class period he asked questions to the students regarding more fundamental principles of economics, slowly progressing to questions about more abstract, complex principles, and finally moved into the content of the current class.
- Demonstration
- Dr. Kelley (Child Development)
- Students learned from other students by observing and evaluating them as they planned out and executed lesson plans in the pre-school lab.
- Students listened to how other students responded to real world scenarios provided by Dr. Kelley, and also listened to Dr. Kelley’s feedback on their responses.
- Dr. Wellington (Marketing)
- Students were given access to several high quality marketing audits performed by students in previous semesters.
- Dr. Wellington provided many relevant examples from the popular media that illustrate the marketing audit steps to be applied by the students.
- Suzan Harrison (Nutrition and Health)
- Shared personal examples from her life of the nutrition phenomena and human development concepts presented in the lecture.
- Provided a personal example of excellent fitness and nutrition to her students.
- Dr. Sumbramony (Economics)
- Showed and worked through an example of how to use an equation to solve an economics problem on the chalkboard.
- Application
- Dr. Kelley (Child Development)
- Students planned out and executed lesson plans at the pre-school lab.
- Students responded to real world scenarios provided by Dr. Kelley.
- Dr. Wellington (Marketing)
- Students performed a marketing audit, including several specific audit-specific activities.
- Suzan Harrison (Nutrition and Health)
- Students went to the grocery store and analyzed the contents of infant formula to see how it matched what was discussed in class.
- Students tracked their own nutritional intake and compared it with what they had learned in class.
- Dr. Sumbramony (Economics)
- Students used a complex equation solved an economic problem in class and then used the equation to solve a similar problem on their own out of class.
- Integration
- Dr. Kelley (Child Development)
- Dr. Kelley facilitated an in-class discussion with students on their experiences in the lab in which students shared insights with one another.
- Dr. Wellington (Marketing)
- Facilitated interactive class discussions by posing engaging and sometimes off-beat questions to help students to expand their knowledge of the subject.
- Described to students how the skills they are developing will be useful in the future.
- Suzan Harrison (Nutrition and Health)
- Constantly asked students, “What does this mean to you?”
- Dr. Sumbramony (Economics)
- On several occasions asked students, “Why is this important?”
- Cycle of Instruction
- Dr. Kelley (Child Development)
- Student groups responded to real-world scenarios provided by Dr. Kelley in class. Other students learned from those sharing their responses while the sharing group applied their knowledge to the scenario. This was repeated by several groups on several occasions. Dr. Kelley facilitated the discussion by asking questions and also provided feedback and insights to each student group and to the rest of the class on how to improve responses and expand their knowledge related to the scenario.
- Dr. Wellington (Marketing)
- When teaching how to do each of the several specific market analysis tasks, Wellington provided students with multiple examples of the market analysis task, including examples from previous students and examples from the popular media. Students then performed the market analysis task and were later given feedback from Dr. Wellington on how to improve their analysis.
- Suzan Harrison (Nutrition and Health)
- In one class, Harrison directed students to read a nutritional case as a group and were given a worksheet to guide them through the process of applying their knowledge to solve nutritional problems. They then integrated their knowledge by presenting their solution to other groups. Students also learned from each other in the sharing process. This cycle was repeated several times.
- Dr. Sumbramony (Economics)
- When teaching how to solve a difficult economics-related problem, Dr. Sumbramony first worked through the problem using a complex equation on the chalkboard. He then presented another similar problem and had students use the equation to solve a portion of the problem. He then gave them another problem to solve on their own for outside of class.
- Editor’s Note: This is an interesting study of social dynamics in social media and online classrooms that enable students to feel less intimidation and react freely compared to a traditional classroom setting.
- Developing Trust and Openness in an Online Environment
- Christopher J. Devers
- USA
- Abstract
- Like many innovative educational initiatives, online environments provide potentially unique benefits, as well as costs, and, consequently, they should be studied systematically. This research was a qualitative case study of an online course; the course, therefore, was the unit of analysis. The participants were students in the course “Teaching and Learning about Africa” at a Midwest United States university and at a South African university. Students in the Midwest U.S. and South Africa were able to partic
- Keywords: online, education, technology, synchronous, trust, openness, community, sociocultural, distance, learning, communication.
- Developing Trust and Openness in an Online Environment
- Sociocultural theory has always posited a positive relationship between social development and intellectual development. In 1916, for example, one of the early proponents of the sociocultural perspective, John Dewey, argued that true social communication was inevitably educative.
- Not only is social life identical with communication, but all communication (and hence all genuine social life) is educative. To be a recipient of a communication is to have an enlarged and changed experience. One shares in what another has thought and felt and in so far, meagerly or amply, has his own attitude modified. Nor is the one who communicates left unaffected. . . . . To formulate requires getting outside of the specific communications, seeing it as another would see it, considering what points of
- Throughout the twentieth and into the twenty-first century, a cadre of sociocultural scholars from array of disciplines and fields of study provided a wealth of empirical evidence to support claims about the impact of social interaction on cognitive development (Rogoff, 1991; Saxe, 1991; Doise, Mugny, & Perret-Clermont, 1975; Wegerif, 1999; Gauvain, 1995; Gauvain, 2001; Psaltis & Duveen, 2007; Psaltis & Duveen, 2006; Garton & Pratt, 2001). Social interaction in the twenty-first century is often quite differ
- Previous research supports the premise that online environments foster trust and openness. Kehrwald (2008) suggests that it is “people” who ultimately dictate the success of the social climate of online environments. Even with the advancements of technology, trust and openness cannot be hard coded into an online setting. The instructor and participants must create a community (Wenger, 1998, 2000) for trust and openness to grow. Within an online community, instructor supported reflection and group reflection
- Merryfield (2003) found in her two-year studies of American teachers and cultural consultants that online education offered unique advantages not found in traditional classrooms. Because online education typically does not allow one to visually see other participants, language accents, body language, and other nonverbal cues are removed from the conversation, which increases equity (Collins & Berge, 1995; McComb, 1994; Ruberg & Taylor, 1995) and participation (Johnson, 2006; Hartman, Neuwirth, Kiesler, Coch
- Along with creating an environment where visual cues are void, they also support thoughtful dialogue. Some online education systems are developed around textual communication, which research suggests supports higher order thinking (Lapadat, 2002) and more focused discussion (Sins, Savelsbergh, Joolingen, & Hout-Wolters, 2010). Online environments provide instructors the ability to monitor dialogue. Specifically, they are able help support a more equitable community by providing each student talking time in
- Digital communication is increasing at an incredible pace. Many universities and some K-12 institutions are rapidly adopting this new form of communication. Given the recent advancements in technology, there is clearly a need for studies that investigate the relationship between computer-mediated communication and trust and openness. In the Education field, studies that focus on the factors that facilitate positive technology-mediated interactions in classroom settings are especially needed. This article re
- Overview of the Study
- The online course took place using WebCT and met synchronously (two students mainly participated asynchronously1) one-and-a-half-hours once a week for one semester. During this time, students participated in guided discussion, similar to that of face-to-face communication in an online class chat room. The course was taught by a professor who is originally from South Africa and has done research on the desegregation of public schools in post-apartheid South Africa. The professor was stationed in South Africa
- 1 Due to other obligations, Susan participated in four synchronous discussions and Lucy participated in two synchronous discussions; in the other weeks, they both participated asynchronously.
- 1 Due to other obligations, Susan participated in four synchronous discussions and Lucy participated in two synchronous discussions; in the other weeks, they both participated asynchronously.
- Methodology
- Design
- The purpose of this study was to conduct research on online education and to use sociocultural theory (Dewey, 1902, 1915, 1916; Freire, 1970) to interpret the findings. After data was collected and analyzed, it became clear that sociocultural theory fits the phenomena that emerged (Geertz, 1973). This study was an empirical inquiry single descriptive case study (Stake, 1995; Yin, 2003) that examined a single online course. For this project, a descriptive case study analysis (in-depth description of this cas
- Participants
- The participants in the study included students from two universities--a Midwest United States university and a South African university. Although the majority of the course participants attended the U.S. university, white students did not dominate the class. It was an unusually diverse group compared to the typical courses in a College of Education. The students were from different departments and varied by age, race, and gender. In order to maintain confidentiality, each of the students was assigned a pse
- Students
- Students
- Students
- Students
- Span
- Participant
- Participant
- Participant
- Gender
- Gender
- Race (self-reported)
- Race (self-reported)
- Age
- Age
- Department
- Department
- Degree Seeking
- Degree Seeking
- Interview
- Interview
- Span
- Laura
- Laura
- Laura
- F
- F
- Black
- Black
- 24
- 24
- Educational policy studies
- Educational policy studies
- MA
- MA
- In person
- In person
- Span
- Jason
- Jason
- Jason
- M
- M
- White
- White
- 25
- 25
- African studies
- African studies
- MA
- MA
- In person
- In person
- Span
- Brendon
- Brendon
- Brendon
- M
- M
- African American
- African American
- 33
- 33
- History
- History
- PhD
- PhD
- In person
- In person
- Span
- Susan
- Susan
- Susan
- F
- F
- White
- White
- 30
- 30
- Political science
- Political science
- PhD
- PhD
- In person
- In person
- Span
- Elizabeth
- Elizabeth
- Elizabeth
- F
- F
- Asian Indian
- Asian Indian
- 21
- 21
- Global studies in education
- Global studies in education
- PhD
- PhD
- In person
- In person
- Span
- Lucy
- Lucy
- Lucy
- F
- F
- White
- White
- 24
- 24
- Not specified
- Not specified
- EdM
- EdM
- Phone
- Phone
- Span
- Julie
- Julie
- Julie
- F
- F
- half Mexican, half Caucasian
- half Mexican, half Caucasian
- 21
- 21
- Political science and sociology
- Political science and sociology
- BA
- BA
- In person
- In person
- Span
- Cindy
- Cindy
- Cindy
- F
- F
- White/non-Hispanic
- White/non-Hispanic
- 29
- 29
- Curriculum and instruction
- Curriculum and instruction
- PhD
- PhD
- In person
- In person
- Span
- Annie
- Annie
- Annie
- F
- F
- South African
- South African
- 21
- 21
- Natural sciences
- Natural sciences
- BEd
- BEd
- Phone
- Phone
- Span
- Felicity
- Felicity
- Felicity
- F
- F
- South African
- South African
- Math literacy and biology
- Math literacy and biology
- BEd
- BEd
- N/A
- N/A
- Span
- Professor and Technical Assistant
- Professor and Technical Assistant
- Professor and Technical Assistant
- Span
- Name
- Name
- Name
- Gender
- Gender
- Race
- Race
- Age
- Age
- Department
- Department
- Degree
- Degree
- Span
- Researcher
- Researcher
- Researcher
- M
- M
- Caucasian
- Caucasian
- 30
- 30
- Curriculum and instruction
- Curriculum and instruction
- PhD student
- PhD student
- Span
- Professor
- Professor
- Professor
- M
- M
- South African
- South African
- 36
- 36
- Curriculum and instruction
- Curriculum and instruction
- PhD
- PhD
- Span
- Figure 1. Participants
- The diverse experiences and viewpoints of the participants cultivated a valuable learning environment (Dewey, 1916).
- Data and Data Analysis
- Systematic analysis procedures were used to analyze the qualitative data (Guba & Lincoln, 1994). The data for the interview and open-ended questions were coded and analyzed according to emergent themes and categories (Glasser & Strauss, 1967) using Nvivo software.
- Semi-structured interviews: Interview data were transcribed from audio recordings, and coded to categories using Nvivo. The codes were then organized to address the two main research questions, creating both emergent themes and subthemes from the coded data.
- WebCT class discussion and other online areas (e.g., bulletin boards, etc.): Freire (1970) provided a framework for interpreting data from the online course. Dialogue, critical thinking, and reflection are important components of critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970, pp. 70-72). These concepts were used as analytic criteria for coding and selecting examples in support of categories that emerged from data used for this study.
- Individual interviews were conducted using an interview script (Patton, 1987) during the fifth week and at the end of the course. In person interviews were conducted with six of the participants; while the remaining two participant interviews were conducted over the phone. Predetermined interview questions were used for both the fifth week and end of the course interviews. Data were initially coded using the three main categories - cross-cultural, learning and growth, and online. Once the data were coded us
- Results
- The interview data reveal three main themes, the “professor’s contribution to the course framework,” a “feeling of anonymity,” and “textual communication” which contributed to creating a trusting and open environment. Additionally, subthemes provided support for each of the overarching themes. One to two student interview responses provided reinforcement for each of the supporting subthemes. Each of the three major theme findings is presented in the sections that follow.
- Professor’s Contribution to Course Framework
- Six out of eight American students’ interview data supported the main theme that the professor’s contribution to the course created trust and openness. This theme is supported by two subthemes, a “constructive environment” and “supportive dialogue.” Overall, the two subthemes provided support for how the professor contributed to creating a trusting and open environment.
- Constructive environment.
- Brendon described that having the professor set up a constructive environment helped the students be open and accepting of others.
- Brendon: you must have an instructor that creates and cultivates that kind of environment, cause if you don’t, it can’t exist, it’s the students in concert, with those are governing and running and shaping the class, it takes two ends for that to happen . . . (Message ID No. M1-Z5-88Q post-course interview)
- Laura described how the professor framed the course in a way that contributed to an open environment.
- Laura: . . . . at the last session, the professor said “let’s just make sure that, we’re careful about how we say things, to make sure that we’re not attacking each other’s ideas but we’re just, saying what our opinion is, and so sometimes over, email or chat system, that might not come across as clearly” . . . . (Message ID No. T3-J5-17E fifth week interview)
- In the post-course interview, Laura stated:
- Laura: I think he did a pretty good job regulating that, in the beginning of the class, I believe he stated that he was trying to foster an environment where everyone felt welcome in this online classroom, where everyone felt comfortable in voicing their opinions on how they felt about certain issues. In a couple of instances, I think that the conversation kind of got a little heated, and I think he did a good job again of quelling the situation and, making sure that we all are being respectful of each othe
- In both the fifth week interview and the post-course interview, Laura described how, from the beginning, the professor structured the course in a way that helped cultivate an environment where students felt open and comfortable. Further, she described how, at times, situations became “heated,” but the professor kept the conversation controlled.
- Supportive dialogue. Cindy described the benefit of having an instructor frame a safe online environment. Specifically she details the value supportive dialogue.
- Cindy: . . . I think it’s just the way, the instructor was pretty open to talking about just about anything, and even if he disagreed, he’d be like well that’s your opinion, I might not agree, but he wasn’t like no that’s wrong, that’s bad, I mean the instructor, you could tell if he might not necessarily have of agreed with what you said, but at least he was open to hearing you out, and letting you say what you thought, and even if he was questioning it, then maybe he would question you a little further, a
- The professor’s comments illustrate Cindy’s previous statement, by demonstrating how the professor did not agree with a comment and was nonetheless constructive.
- Professor: I like your earlier points, Jason, but I would not agree that “I” and “We” are the same. Thanks for these points...let me move on to others. Who is ready? Thanks Jason! (Message ID No K5-S3-92U chat session transcript)
- Having a professor who constantly offered positive feedback throughout the class appeared to have an impact on Cindy’s feeling safe. Elizabeth too described that the professor supported dialogue.
- Elizabeth: . . . he [the professor] is always giving us positive feedback, after every single one of our contributions, commenting that was great or those are really good points. I know that definitely helps, because even in a classroom setting, you don’t have teachers saying that, like okay let’s go to the next person, but they don’t say that was a great point, or they don’t really take the time to give you that kind of encouragements, I think that having that positive feedback from a teacher is really im
- The course framework and structure, implemented by the professor, helped create an atmosphere where students felt safe and comfortable sharing their thoughts and personal experiences.
- Both tactics, creating constructive environment and providing supportive dialogue, helped establish trust and openness. While online settings offer the absence of “triggers of difference” (Merryfield, 2003), it is still important to be sensitive when interacting online. When difficult topics arose, it was important to remind students to be open to others’ viewpoints and to be cautious of how things were said. For example, suggesting that students be sensitive to the exact words that were used and asking stu
- Feeling of Anonymity
- As with the first main theme, six out of eight U.S. students discussed how the online environment provided a sense of anonymity. Students described that since they were unable to visually communicate with one another, they felt anonymous. The feeling of anonymity theme is supported by the subthemes of feeling “hidden” and “free.” These two subthemes provided support for the main theme of anonymity.
- Hidden. Elizabeth’s response described how she felt more open due to the lack of visual triggers associated with online environments.
- Elizabeth: I think it in a way might be a good thing, just because we are forced to really think about what they are saying, and you don’t make stereotypes or whatever about the way people look and connect that to what they are saying, so maybe in a way, I think it is a beneficial thing, maybe things like the tone would add to the class, but I think that, so far, I feel like everybody’s been really good at expressing themselves pretty well, so that definitely helps, I don’t feel like I’ve misunderstood anyt
- As a result of feeling hidden, she thought that students were more open than they would have been in a face-to-face course. In a fifth week and post-course interview question, Laura discussed how an online environment contributed to a feeling of anonymity.
- Laura: Well, I think people tend to be more honest when they are using online systems simply because you don’t have that intimidation of being face-to-face with someone, like you’re not looking at the professor per se or you’re not looking at the other classmates per se, and so you might be a little more liberal about what you say knowing that people aren’t literally staring and focusing in on you visually anyway, I would say that for the most part, I think people are able to be more direct and be more up f
- In the post-course interview, Laura stated:
- Laura: . . . . I think sometimes classes, face-to-face, say a person is shy, or not really an extravert, you know, doesn’t really want to participate when other people are looking at them speak, I think the online class is a way for those students to type freely, not necessarily hide behind the screen, but it’s a forum where they can kind of voice their
- opinion openly without having that intimidation of being in a classroom setting, like, actual physical classroom setting. (Message ID No. R2-Z5-44E post-course interview)
- Laura described in both interviews that online environments contributed to her feeling anonymous, since she felt safe hidden behind her computer. A uniqueness of an online environment is the absence of “triggers of difference” (Merryfield, 2003, p. 160) so students do not have to deal with visual communication (e.g., body language, appearance, etc.). Merryfield described triggers of difference as, “. . . visual and oral differences often subconsciously make people uncomfortable or otherwise constrain people
- Freedom. Lucy explained how her involvement in the course and the feeling of anonymity contributed to her participating more in class discussions.
- Lucy: well obviously it wouldn’t be as flexible and honestly, you wouldn’t think as a teacher I’d be afraid to talk up and stuff in class, but when there’s a big class, with people I’m unfamiliar with, I’m not going to say a whole lot, I’m not going to kind of step out there and say the things that I’ve been saying in this class, not that they’re controversial really, I just wouldn’t be speaking up nearly as much and wouldn’t be giving my opinion, I’d probably just be sitting there kind of soaking it all up
- In Lucy’s response, she described that she participated more in the online setting, since there was some degree of anonymity from not being seen. Jason also expressed that technology has a way of helping people feel more “comfortable” than if they were in a face-to-face setting.
- Jason: I think that the technology has a comfortableness, the technology will have a large part in that, in terms of people, the more comfortable you are chatting, the easier it will be to be extraverted into the class conversation. (Message ID No. T3-J5-12L fifth week interview)
- In the fifth week interview, Jason described again how online environment (technology) might allow others to freely participate in the course.
- Anonymity seemed to be an important factor in establishing trust. Specifically, providing an environment where students were unable to view visual cues helped them open up within the course (Merryfield, 2003). The online course also appeared to ease the fear of public speaking and allowed students to communicate when otherwise they would not. The textual environment provided a sense of freedom when chatting, which could be due to how prolific textual communication has become over the last few years. Overall
- Textual Communication
- The third main theme, textual communication, was described by six of the eight U.S. students as beneficial in developing trust and openness. The subthemes, “thinking before responding,” “open dialogue,” and lessening the “language barrier,’ all provided support for the main textual communication theme. Overall, textual communication, with support from the three subthemes, contributed to trust and openness.
- Thinking before responding. Laura described that some students might be more communicative in an online situation than they would be in a face-to-face course.
- Laura: I think people are able to be more direct and be more up front about what they want to say without feeling that tension to have to come up with the right words right on the spot to say, you can pretty much think out your comment, type it, spell check it, make sure that it’s right before you post it, it’s a little bit different feel than being in class. (Message ID No. R2-J5-17E fifth week interview)
- Laura explained that she predicted students would be more forthcoming, due to the use of textual communication, instead of visual communication. During an interview question, Susan suggested that using textual communication provides time to prepare.
- Susan: So I think one of the good things about it, is that it gives people kind of a chance to think before they blurt things out, when you are all sitting around in a classroom, I think a lot of times people are kind of scared to talk, because they don’t know or there’re the talkers and they say too much, and so it helps I think . . . . (Message ID No. U8-J5-51H fifth week interview)
- Because students had time to prepare their written response, Susan thought that an online environment offered a place where they would feel at ease contributing to class discussions.
- Open dialogue. Below, Laura described her perception of the advantages of textual communication on the course.
- Laura: . . . . I think the online class is a way for those students to type freely, not necessarily hide behind the screen, but it’s a forum where they can kind of voice their opinion openly without having that intimidation of being in a classroom setting, like, actual physical classroom setting. (Message ID No. R2-Z5-44E post-course interview)
- Laura described how the utilization of text for communication provided students with the opportunity to think before responding. In addition, she also explained that students expressed themselves freely using text. Lucy too, expressed how the online environment contributed to students being open in their dialogue.
- Lucy: . . . . you weren’t going to be sitting there seeing someone, or seeing their face or getting into a verbal argument with them, you could write, you could type whatever you want, and it’s not a big deal. (Message ID No. R2-Z5-18B post-course interview)
- Both Lucy and Laura described how textual communication provided open dialogue, which contributed to feelings of trust and perceptions of openness.
- Language barrier. Below, Laura illustrated how textual communication was beneficial to those who did not speak the language of instruction fluently.
- Laura: I think one could potentially be a language barrier, sometimes international students, their English might not be that good, they might know English very well, they probably could type it just as fast as anybody else could, but it doesn’t come off the same, because they don’t speak it as well, so the online component where we’re just typing our answers, it seems like everybody, you know, is pretty much on the same level as far as, speaking and being able to communicate with each other, so in that sen
- Laura recognized that some students found it easier to dialogue using a text based system than speaking as they would in a face-to-face course. The advantage of being able to think before responding contributed to students being open when discussing sensitive topics. Further, students who struggle with the native language used in a course might find it easier to communicate using text.
- The online course provided students the opportunity to carefully construct their responses as they dialogued. Giving students the time to carefully construct responses could lead to richer conversations, and cause students to feel more trusting and open. Generally, textual communication is often slower than spoken communication and could be a contributing factor in allowing students more time to construct responses. For students who verbally struggle with language, using a chat system provides them with an
- Discussion
- Developing trust and openness in online settings is challenging (Grabowski & Roberts, 1998). In order to do this, the professor of this online course framed it (Kehrwald, 2008) in ways that cultivated an atmosphere in which students felt open to discuss sensitive topics. The students trusted the professor, as well as the other students in the class. The professor promoted trust and openness (Kling & Courtright, 2004), while encouraging authentic education (Freire, 1970; Kim, Hong, Bonk, & Lim, 2009) and app
- Lack of the free and equitable intercourse which springs from a variety of shared interests makes intellectual stimulation unbalanced. Diversity of stimulation means novelty, and novelty means challenge to thought. The more activity is restricted to a few definite lines, as it is when there are rigid class lines preventing adequate interplay of experience--the more action tends to become routine . . . . (p. 98)
- Students, along with the professor, created an evolving collaborative environment that allowed semi-structured content open to students’ interests and current cultural contexts. The professor actively involved the students in creating an authentic educational atmosphere.
- These case study findings suggest that a leading factor in developing trust and openness is based on the instructor. On the first day class, it is important for an instructor to set an appropriate tone for the course. One recommendation for online education is to be explicit about student expectations and behavior for the course. For example, the syllabus should have a section regarding online student conduct and those guidelines should be discussed during the first online session. Discussing the expectatio
- The online environment itself influenced students’ feelings of safety partly because of the absence of triggers of differences (Merryfield, 2003). Students described that not being able to see each other contributed to openness and trust. The anonymity created in the online environment (Lobel, Neubauer, & Swedburg, 2002) helped lessen the impact stereotypes that are often triggered by visual and oral communication (Collins & Berge, 1995; McComb, 1994; Ruberg & Taylor, 1995). For example, because students di
- To help create anonymity at the beginning of the course, the instructor should encourage students to not divulge a lot of revealing personal information. Many modern course management systems allow students to upload pictures to represent an avatar -- when a student posts something online, the avatar (picture) is displayed. During the first few weeks of the course, the instructor should not allow students to upload personal photos, but rather have all the students use the same icon or a few predetermined ic
- pictures and personal information during the first few weeks will provide an opportunity to develop an open and trusting environment, while dampening prejudice. Once the instructor and students have developed a community, students should be encouraged to upload personal pictures and reveal more personal information.
- Since the course used textual communication (e.g., chatting, bulletin boards, etc.), students had time to think about a response and sometimes revise the response before posting it for others to see. Textual communication provided time to think before responding (Beauvois, 1998; Warschauer, 1996) and gave less talkative students the opportunity to voice their opinions (Citera, 1998). Students described that using a textual communication system provided the benefit of quality dialogue over quantity. The spee
- When classes utilize textual communication as the main communication medium, it is important remember that typing is considerably slower than speaking. Nonetheless, rich discussions can still take place. Instructors should remind students to think carefully when answering questions, and to be sure the words that they chose accurately portray their intended meaning. Even though anonymity can be an advantage, not seeing others’ facial expressions and voice inflections might make interoperating communication c
- Similar to Dewey’s theory of social influence, the social atmosphere created by the students and the professor in the online environment appeared to have enhanced “the quality of life” in the group. Dewey (1916) theorized that social environments influence the activities and experiences of the persons who participate in the group.
- A being whose activities are associated with others has a social environment. What he does and what he can do depends upon the expectations, demands, approvals, and condemnations of others. A being connected with other beings cannot perform his own activities without taking the activities of others into account. (p. 14)
- Similarly, the environment of the online course impacted the experience and actions of the students (Gerdes, 2010). Students described that both the professor and the online textual communication cultivated a trusting and open atmosphere.
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- About the Author
- Christopher J. Devers is an assistant professor of learning and teaching in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego. His research focus is learning and technology.
- [email protected]
- http://home.sandiego.edu/~devers
- http://home.sandiego.edu/~devers
- http://home.sandiego.edu/~devers
- Editor’s Note: This valuable study shows how rapid development of a technology can be problematic where materials are not adapted to take advantage of the pedagogical opportunities of the new medium.
- Comparing Student Learning and Satisfaction between Learning Environments in Continuing Medical Education
- Comparing Student Learning and Satisfaction between Learning Environments in Continuing Medical Education
- Cheryl Fisher and William A. Sadera
- USA
- Abstract
- The use of distance education in continuing medical education (CME) has become commonplace. This rapid expansion has subsequently led to disintegration of CME course quality. In other words, more and more CME is being offered over a distance without the benefit of empirically based instructional design or consideration for appropriate pedagogy. This study was designed to examine the differences in learning outcomes and student satisfaction in a distance-based video cast CME course. The findings of this stud
- Over the past decade, distance education has taken on a number of formats ranging from completely online to augmenting classroom discussion with on-line chats, list-serves, audio and video conferencing, and threaded discussions. Technology is not only transforming how we deliver education and training but is expanding our capacity to respond to the needs for higher education and training in a broader sense. With a long history of serving isolated and remote learners, distance learning has now emerged as an
- Review of the Literature
- Learning through continuing medical education is an important part of the life of every practicing health care professional. It is imperative that today’s health care providers stay current in practice, since patient outcomes are directly impacted by provider knowledge. However, many organizations have questioned the design of CME courses and their effectiveness in the promotion of quality patient care. One key area noted by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), that can provid
- Recently, a plethora of CME studies (Curran, Fleet, & Kirby, 2010; Hodgkin, 2009; Ruf, Berner, Kriston, Maier, & Harter, 2008) had been conducted for better understanding of the field; however, over the years the results of these studies have not been thoughtfully integrated to advance or improve the field of CME. This pressure to expand has subsequently led to disintegration of CME course quality. In other words, more and more CME is being made available online without the benefit of empirically based inst
- appropriate pedagogy. Curran, et al., (2010) further noted that this lack of empirically based instructional design has become a major weakness in terms of advancing or improving the quality of CME.
- Distance Learning and Continuing Medical Education
- The availability of technology supported CME began emerging in the early 1990’s (Casebeer, Kristofco, Strasser, Reilly, Krishnamoorthy, Rabin, Zheng, Karp & Myers, 2004). Since this time, physicians, nurses and other health care professionals have continued to seek available technology supported CME for the convenience and accessibility it has to offer. A recent comprehensive review of CME available on the web found that the number of sites offering web-based CME had risen from 4% to 33% between 2000 and
- In addition to the need for current knowledge by health professionals, Heller, Oros and Durney-Crowley (2000) noted that distance-based nursing education has been driven by major socioeconomic factors as well. Specifically, a faculty shortage has driven the rapid expansion of online course offerings and entire Registered Nurse (RN) to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) curricula (Mancuso-Murphy, 2007). It is important to note that the participants for these courses are working adults and because of a nurs
- Although the quantity and delivery modalities of CME have increased, most have not been rigorously evaluated, few are based on sound educational principles, and most do not employ strategies to optimize the learning opportunities afforded by new technology (Casebeer et al., 2010). The need for CME is intertwined with the future of medical practice and the expansion in scientific knowledge, increasingly sophisticated diagnostic technologies, and the evolving complexity of clinical practice (Harris, Sklar, Am
- As technology advances and CME expands in the direction of distance-based courses, research is needed to continually assess learning within these environments. In a review of 30 CME courses, quality of content was the characteristic most important to participants and too little interaction was the largest source of dissatisfaction (Casebeer et al., 2004). Cobb (2004) reported on nine distance CME studies (Neafsey, 1997; Curran, Hockman, Gulliver, Landells, Hatcher, 2000; Casebeer, Kristofco, Strasser, 2004;
- Balas, 2004) found that distance methods were effective but not superior. One study found that case-based distance courses were more effective than text-based formats and suggested that increased satisfaction with this format may have been due to the interactive strategies that were employed (Casebeer et al., 2004). This research shows that distance CME can be effective but it is the design of these courses that needs to be carefully scrutinized for optimal learning opportunities.
- Pedagogy and the Adult Learner
- The majority of distance-based CME credits can be obtained by reading, reviewing, or listening to online learning materials or media and, in some instances, by completing an online quiz (Kamel Boulos & Wheeler, 2007; Weston, et al., 2008); however, the design of these CME programs is noted to be variable and often lacks sound pedagogical principles and appropriate theoretical frameworks. These courses are often similar to face to face courses but lack genuine interaction (Guan, Tregonning, & Keenan, 2008; S
- The application of adult learning principles are most appropriate and indeed address key factors for consideration when designing CME (Johnson & Aragon, 2003; Dolcourt, Zuckerman & Warner 2006; Gaff, Aitken, Flouris, Metcalf & 2007). However, others claim that the population participating in CME will benefit from a more in-depth theoretical framework that considers cultural differences, cognitive style, and life experiences (Shannon, 2003). Building on these experiences, Fox (1991) developed a model for lea
- Current technologies have the potential of supporting exciting opportunities for CME offerings; however, as mentioned earlier by (Curran, et al., 2010), Casebeer (2004), and Zimitat (2001), the practice of incorporating research findings into practice continues to need further exploration. Characteristics which foster the best delivery of distance-based CME still need to be employed and further researched in order to develop a greater understanding of effective course delivery. Evaluative research is essent
- Technology supported CME is only going to continue to become more prevalent as health care professionals demand convenience, accessibility, and increased options for obtaining continuing education. It has been argued that distance-based CME offers the potential for creating a new learning environment in which interaction, collaboration, and knowledge building are the defining features (Curran, Kirby, Parsons & Lockyer, 2003). However, it cannot be assumed that
- the provision of a technological infrastructure will somehow result in improved course outcomes and guaranteed learning. Various factors seem to influence whether or not students engage in interactive learning strategies, ranging from the pragmatic (for example, easy to use or access) to the pedagogic (for example, the influence of assessment) (Oliver & Shaw, 2003). With increasing use of technology among health care professionals, it follows that there would be increased need for more well designed distanc
- Methodology
- Research Design
- This research used a two-group correlational design to assess the relationship between student satisfaction and learning outcomes utilizing two learning environments: face to face and 14 distance locations participating by remote video cast. The data for this research was collected using two instruments; a pre and post test and a satisfaction survey.
- Group 1 Pretest Course Instruction (Face to Face) Knowledge Posttest & MTSISS
- Group 2 Pretest Course Instruction (Video Cast) Knowledge Posttest & MTSISS
- Figure 1: Research Design
- Research Questions
- To more specifically understand the difference in learning experiences (student learning and student satisfaction) between the face to face and the video cast learning environments, the following research questions were used to guide this investigation:
- 1. Is there a difference in pre and post-test knowledge scores within each learning environment?
- 1. Is there a difference in pre and post-test knowledge scores within each learning environment?
- 1. Is there a difference in pre and post-test knowledge scores within each learning environment?
- 2. Is there a difference in post-test knowledge scores when controlling for pre-test scores between learning environments?
- 2. Is there a difference in post-test knowledge scores when controlling for pre-test scores between learning environments?
- 3. Is there a difference between learning environments in student satisfaction scores?
- 3. Is there a difference between learning environments in student satisfaction scores?
- Research Setting and Procedures
- The setting for the study took place on the main campus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. As a part of its training mission, the NIH annually offers this course, the Principles and Practices of Clinical Research (IPPCR). This course is a study curriculum on how to effectively conduct clinical research on human subjects. The program trains researchers in the process of protocol design and development beginning with study design through the final phase of dissemination of findi
- The lecture content offered in this course included topics such as issues in randomization, design of epidemiologic studies, study development, hypothesis testing, participant selection, statistical
- methods, ethical issues, and human research subjects. A mock IRB exercise, regulatory issues, and participant selection are some of the other lectures offered.
- At the end of each lecture, the presenter provided participants the opportunity for questions and answers. The NIH participants were asked first to come to the microphone to ask their questions followed by the same opportunity for each remote location utilizing the live video technology. Outside of this question and answer period, there are no other opportunities for interaction. Peer to peer and any additional questions would be emailed to the instructor following the course lecture.
- Data collection procedure. In order to recruit participants, an invitation letter was emailed and posted on the website a week prior to the start of the IPPCR course. At this time the pretest was made available online for the participants to voluntarily complete. All course participants were asked to participate in this study and were advised by email and through the course website that this would not impact their grade in this course. After a two week period of availability, the pretest was closed down; 1
- At the end of the course, the post test was made available online for two weeks. This online multiple choice test was required in order to receive a certificate of completion. Of the 421 course participants who completed the post test, all 108 of those who completed the pretest were included. The pre-post tests were comprised of identical questions. Following the completion of the course, a satisfaction survey was emailed to all course participants. This survey was completely voluntary and the total number
- Both face to face and distance-based participants received the same instructional experience except for the fact that in the distance-based course the instructor was projected into the learning environment through live video. A pilot study was conducted with the course offered prior to the actual study. The results of the pilot did in fact reveal several research issues which were addressed with the actual study.
- Sample. Once permission to conduct this study was obtained from the NIH IRB, data collection was implemented. A letter of invitation was emailed to all participants and posted on the course website describing the importance and purpose of the study. Participation in the pre-test and return of the satisfaction survey implied consent to participate in the study. The convenience sample consisted of participants located in both the face to face (78) and the remote learning environments (135). Due to the logis
- Descriptive statistics and Chi Square analysis was performed on the demographic data to determine distribution between the remote and the local learning environments. These results revealed no significant difference in age, gender, profession, or computer experience. However, significant difference (p=.02) were noted in distribution of reasons for taking the course. Table 1 summarizes these results and notes the sample demographics by local and remote locations.
- Table 1
- Demographics by Local and Remote Locations
- Local Remote Significance
- Age
- 21 – 35 41% 53% p = .17
- 36 – 46 27% 29%
- Gender
- Male 42% 62% p = .19
- Female 60% 51%
- Profession
- MD 37% 55.5% p = .07
- PhD 19% 11%
- Other 44% 33%
- Reason
- Research 72% 72.6% p = .02*
- Other 27% 27%
- Comp Exp
- Intermediate 72.6% 73% p = .08
- Note. * = Significant at 0.05
- The results of this analysis demonstrate that the local and remote groups were fairly similar with the exception of the difference noted. This difference indicated that there was a difference between groups in response to their reason for taking the course. The reasons included to learn how to conduct research or for CME credits or other reasons such as fellowship requirements. This analysis revealed that 73% of the local group participated in the course to learn how to conduct research, whereas 85% of the
- Survey instruments
- As noted, the data for this research was collected using two instruments; a pre and post test and a satisfaction survey. Details about each of the instruments, their reliability and validation follow.
- Pre-post test. The pre-post test used for this study was comprised of 79 multiple choice questions compiled from each of the course lectures with each contributing two or three questions. The test was available online to course participants 2 weeks prior and following the course lectures.
- A table of specifications was conducted on this instrument in order to determine if the questions were evenly distributed across course objectives. The purpose of a table of specification is to identify the achievement domains being measured and to ensure that a representative sample of questions appear on the test (Chase, 1999). A table of specifications provides evidence that a test has content validity and that it covers what should be covered. Since this multiple choice test was constructed with questio
- determined by the number of times the content is mentioned in the lecture, written in the handout, or referred to in the textbook using a scoring table. Although all objectives were not exactly met by the recommended percentage of test questions, all objectives were represented by an acceptable number.
- Student satisfaction survey. The student satisfaction survey, Measurement of Technology Supported Instruction and Student Satisfaction (MTSISS), was administered at the end of the course via the course website. This survey consisted of the following five sections: demographics, technology and overall educational experience, interaction and feedback, course materials and course resources and communication, learning styles and learning activities.
- The MTSISS Survey consisted of 31 questions and was adapted from an instrument created by Picciano (2002) in order to evaluate student satisfaction, interaction, and performance in a distance-based course. This instrument was modified to reflect the categories of best practices for teaching using technology based on Chickering and Ehrman (1996, Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as a Lever. The modifications made to this instrument included a regrouping of the questions into four categories based
- To assess for inter-rater agreement, the survey was evaluated using a content validity index (CVI). The purpose of CVI was to determine the extent to which the content of the measure represents the content domain. The procedure for the CVI involved two experts who were asked to judge the specific items or behaviors included in the measure in terms of their relevance, sufficiency, and clarity in representing the concepts. The experts used for this index were both informatics nurses with experience as distanc
- Section I of the survey (questions 1-3) sought to establish participants’ demographic information. This included their location when taking the course, age, gender, and profession.
- Section II (questions 4-11) sought to determine the participants experience with technology and their overall educational experience in the course. This section asked questions regarding ease or difficulty using the technology for this course along with other questions related to their level of satisfaction with the course in general. The following rating scale was used; strongly decreased = 1, somewhat decreased = 2, about the same = 3, somewhat increased = 4, and strongly increased = 5.
- Section III (questions 12-20) sought to collect data relative to interaction and feedback in the course and the level of engagement the participants felt with their group or the course instructor. The reliability for this section of the survey was 0.87 (Cronbach alpha). The following five point Likert-type rating scale was used: strongly decreased = 1, somewhat decreased = 2, about the same = 3, somewhat increased = 4, and strongly increased = 5.
- Section IV of the survey looked at the ease of use and availability of course resources (questions 21-25). This section of the survey sought to determine if the learners found course materials and documents readily accessible. The reliability for this section of the survey was 0.67 (Cronbach alpha). The following five point Likert-type rating scale was used: never = 1, seldom = 2, sometimes = 3, often = 4, and always = 5.
- The final section of the survey, section V (questions 26-31), addressed communication, learning styles, and learning activities. These questions sought to determine if learning styles and personal experiences were addressed in the course, if problem solving activities helped to meet personal goals, and if opportunities for feedback and instructional activities were incorporated in the course. The reliability for this section of the survey was 0.78 (Cronbach alpha). The following five point Likert-type ratin
- Results
- Is there a difference in pre- and post-test knowledge scores within each learning environment?
- Data generated from the pre-post knowledge test was used to address this question. A series of three paired t-tests were computed to determine if there were differences between pre- and post-test scores. Results of the paired t-test showed a significant difference (p= <.001) between the two test scores for both learning environments. Results of this analysis are presented in Table 2.
- It was expected that the scores would increase after the students participated in the course. This analysis revealed that there were significant differences noted between both the local and remote groups in mean scores. The results demonstrate that learning did take place as a result of course participation.
- Table 2
- T-Test Comparison of Pre-post Test Scores
- Df Mean SD t p
- All (n=108)
- Pre-test score 107 59.26 11.75 20.04 .001*
- Post-test score 86.56 9.34
- Face to Face Environment (n=40)
- Pre-test score 39 47.58 8.86 18.62 .001*
- Post-test score 85.93 10.08
- Remote Environment (n=68)
- Pre-test score 67 45.76 9.51 28.23 .001*
- Post-test 86.93 8.94
- Note. * = Significant at < 0.05
- Is there a difference in post-test scores when controlling for pre-test scores when comparing learning environments?
- The data collected from the pre-post knowledge test was used to address this question. A one way ANOVA was computed to determine if there was a significant difference between the two learning environments in the post-test scores. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the learning environments on the post-test scores when controlling for the pre-test scores. This analysis shows no differential improvement in scores by environment. Results of this analysis are presented in Table
- Table 3
- Post-test Scores Adjusted for Pre-test Scores
- N Mean SE
- N=108
- Local Group 40 85.8 1.5
- Remote Group 68 87.0 1.1
- Note. Group (Local vs. Remote) effect F (1,105) =.420; p=.519
- This finding demonstrates that the learning location had no significant impact on test scores. These results are in line with similar findings of no significant difference (Wetzel, Radtke & Stern, 1994; Machtmes & Asher, 2000).
- Is there a difference between learning environments on student satisfaction scores?
- The results of the MTSISS Survey were examined in order to answer this question. Section III (interaction and feedback), section IV (course materials and course resources) and section V (communication, learning styles and learning activities) of the survey were analyzed using a series of independent t-tests. An overall satisfaction score was also computed by combining scores from the above three sections of the survey.
- Analysis of this data showed no significant difference between groups’ level of overall satisfaction with regard to interaction and course feedback (p = .66); course materials and course resources (p = .63); or communication, learning styles, and learning activities (p = .97). Results of this analysis are presented in Table 4.
- Further analysis looked at group differences at the item level. This analysis found that there was significant differences between groups when asked about student perceptions of interaction with other students (p = .03) and when asked about the motivation for students to participate (p = .03). This was possibly due to the lack of opportunities for interactions based on the course design.
- Table 4
- Group Comparison on Section III, IV, and V of the MTSISS Survey
- N Mean SD t p
- Interaction and Feedback *
- Local Group 37 3.1 .53 1.12 . 66
- Remote Group 59 3.0 .59 1.14
- Course Materials and Resources **
- Local Group 40 4.21 .55 1.17 . 610
- Remote Group 60 4.08 .57 1.18
- Communication, Learning Styles and Learning Activities *
- Local Group 39 3.25 .60 .55 . 97
- Remote Group 60 3.33 .62 .55
- Note. * = Rated using a 5-point scale (1-Strongly Decreased, 5-Strongly Increased); ** = Rated using a 5-point scale (1-Never, 5-Always).
- When evaluating the overall student satisfaction with the course (using grouped means of all three sections of the survey), results of an independent t-test revealed that there were no significant differences between the face to face and the remote learning environments; this demonstrates that the students were just as satisfied with the overall learning experience in the face to face location as they were in the remote locations.
- However, upon further analysis using Pearson’s Chi-Square, some significant differences were revealed between location and the students’ perceptions of interaction with the instructor. This analysis was used with individual items because the items were treated as ordered categories rather than as continuous measures. This analysis revealed a significant difference between learning location and the quality of interaction with the instructor. It was also noted that there was a significant difference between
- Conclusion
- The demand for flexible and convenient educational programs to support life long learning and career development in the field of continuing medical education (CME) is increasing. Additionally, continuing education developers have an opportunity and obligation to enhance the professional advancement of health professionals (American Nurses Association, 2000). Distance-based learning, as an instructional format, can respond to these demands by offering a flexible and convenient learning opportunity which can
- Although the literature strongly supports no significant difference in learning outcomes between distance and face to face environments (Johnson, Aragon, Shaik & Palma-Rivas, 2000; Shachar & Neumann, 2003; Frydenberg, 2007), the CME literature supports this finding providing the courses are designed using appropriate pedagogy and appropriate application of learning theory. It is evident from this study that several design aspects of this course should be questioned to further analyze best practices for the
- With little existing research in the CME literature focused on pedagogical design, it is critical to pursue further research in this area in order to establish sound design principles. Additionally, advances in educational research must be applied to ensure instructional best practices as the CME field continues to evolve. The literature identified that pedagogical best practices are not customarily applied in CME environments and that the proper use of technology for collaboration and learning requires fur
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- About the Authors
- Cheryl A. Fisher, RN, EdD is Program Director for Professional Development for Nursing and Patient Care Services at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. She received her doctorate in Instructional Technology from Towson University and has a postgraduate certificate in nursing informatics from the University of Maryland and a post graduate certificate in nursing education from George Mason University. Primary areas of research interest are in course and program evaluation
- Cheryl A. Fisher, RN, EdD is Program Director for Professional Development for Nursing and Patient Care Services at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. She received her doctorate in Instructional Technology from Towson University and has a postgraduate certificate in nursing informatics from the University of Maryland and a post graduate certificate in nursing education from George Mason University. Primary areas of research interest are in course and program evaluation
- [email protected]
- .
- William A. Sadera, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Technology and Literacy at Towson University. He obtained his doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Iowa State University. Primary areas of interest include online learning, online learning success factors, instructional design and effective classroom technology integration. E-mail:
- William A. Sadera, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Technology and Literacy at Towson University. He obtained his doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Iowa State University. Primary areas of interest include online learning, online learning success factors, instructional design and effective classroom technology integration. E-mail:
- [email protected]
- .
- Editor’s Note: Distance Learning is attractive for busy mid-career professionals because they can manage their own learning using chunks of time between professional and personal commitments. This paper provides a theoretical for a work-life learning balance and ensure sufficient time to achieve criterion performance.
- Distance learners’ Work Life Learning Balance
- Distance learners’ Work Life Learning Balance
- Margarida Romero
- Spain
- Abstract
- Adult learners’ time is delimited by family, work and social activities that are in competition. Considering these potential time allocation conflicts, work-life balance aims to find the “balance work and leisure/family activities” (Bratton & Gold, 2003). The current need for permanent knowledge update and the spread of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have promoted the lifelong learning (LLL) among adults. Therefore, the learning activity is a new temporal pattern to integrate in their
- Keywords: work-life balance, work-life learning balance, e-learning, CSCL, e-learning quality, time flexibility, time use, time-on-task, time quality; learner’ time.
- Introduction
- A continuum of learning throughout life or Life-Long Learning (LLL) is a major concern for the competitively European Economic Area (EEA), which faces not only a global economic competitiveness, but also demographic changes and rapid technological progresses. In this context, “LLL is an essential policy for the development of citizenship, social cohesion and employment” (EC, 2000, p.4). The recognised need for increasing formal and informal learning opportunities for all the citizenship throughout life pose
- Distance Learning Temporal Flexibility
- E-learning and blended learning (b-learning) solutions allow students to pursue a part or the whole of their learning activities in a distance learning context. In the last years, we have observed an increase in e-learning and b-learning programs in a wide range of academic fields, and at the same time, an increase of the e-learning and b-learning population (Allen & Seaman, 2007; Alpergin, 2007; Educaweb, 2009; Waits & Lewis, 2003). However, the drop-out rates in these contexts are higher than those found
- Despite all the advantages of temporal flexibility in online learning context, this high degree of temporal self-regulation could lead the less regulated students to fail to devote enough time-on-task. Time scarcity has been considered by one of the major factors in e-learning failure. For this reason, and despite the temporal flexibility, we should consider that e-learning can be spaceless, but not timeless.
- Considering the time scarcity of the online learners, and the temporal flexibilities of the virtual campus, one of the major challenges of LLL is to balance the online learner’s time-on-task and the temporal flexibility. Students’ time-on-task should be considered within the work-life balance (WLB) objective.
- LLL under the work-life learning balance (WLLB) objective is the consideration of working and family arrangements and policies which assist citizens in combining their lifelong learning engagements with their employment and their social and family life. Traditionally, WLLB has been studied under the perspective of combining both professional and family lives, but the consideration of the need for a continuum of learning throughout life or Lifelong Learning (LLL) introduces a new variable in the balance equa
- Distance Learners’ Work-Life Learning Balance (WLLB)
- WLLB involves a consideration of time as an individual resource within different social temporalities or rhythms. We introduce the different temporal frameworks; first, a traditional face-to-face student and the second, a distance learner’s WLLB; important differences between the professional, family, social and learning times are shown.
- Figure 1. Face-to-face WLLB
- In Figure 1 we represent the WLLB in a context of face-to-face learning. In this situation, work, family/social and learning times are generally not overlapping in terms of time and space. When the learner devotes time for his/her learning activity in university, he/she could not combine at the same time professional and family life. The temporal patterns of the face-to-face learner tend to be mutually exclusive because of the different spaces where each of the activities is developed. Face-to-face students
- Figure 2. Distance education WLLB
- In the figure 2 and 3, we introduce the WLLB in the context of distance lifelong learners. In this situation, adult learners search for balancing their family/social and professional temporal pattern constraints with a distance learning flexible time that allows them to combine their different temporalities (Romero, 2010). In the context of distance education, the learning times could be included in the work and family/social context situation, introducing in some cases an overlap of temporal patterns.
- Figure 3. Distance education and distance work WLLB
- If distance learners are also distance workers (figure 3), the residence of the adult lifelong learner is the main location for the three activities, allowing him/her to switch between them at the semae place, and consequently increasing the multitask opportunities (Allan & Lewis, 2009).
- Distance Learners’ Work-Life Learning Balance (WLLB)
- In the context of WLLB, we propose the analysis of the individual and social temporalities interdependence under the consideration of Self-Regulated Learning theories (Zimmerman & Schunk, 1989) in order to analyse the internal and external regulations of students’ time.
- In a distance learning situation, learners should regulate their academic learning times within the temporal flexibility margin of the learning activities proposed by the teacher, who must take into consideration the temporalities he considers in the course planning, the temporality of the information presentation and the frequency of interaction (Shi, Magjuka & Bonk, 2006). The time allocation and regulation competency is essential for distance learners’ evolving in a context of overlapping of the professi
- Figure 4. Face-to-face Work-Life Learning Balance external regulation of time use
- The figure 5 represents the need for a high degree of internal regulation in the context of time-flexible distance education. A lower degree of external regulation allows a higher degree of temporal flexibility of the online learners, who should be able to regulate their time use across
- their different work-life learning activities. In this context, distance learners with lower self regulatory competencies could fail to allocate the quantity and quality of time required by their academic activities. Quantity refers to the number of hours devoted to the learning task; quality refers to the cognitive state of the students that will limit their focus, intensity and continuity of attention on the task. The ability to avoid multitasking in distance learning situations is essential to maintain t
- Figure 5. Distance education Work-Life Learning Balance internal regulation of time use
- Time Regulation Competency of Distance Learners
- Online learners should develop a high capacity for self regulated learning because of the lower external regulation of the distance learning courses and activities. One of the self regulatory competencies the online learners should develop for succeeding in virtual campuses is the temporal regulation competency (usually referred under the popular term of time management). This concerns the learners’ competencies to plan his/her time-on-task, to set goals, to self regulate academic times in individual learni
- References
- Allan, B. & Lewis, D. (2009) Time, Individual Careers and Lifelong Learning. IN: J. Field, J. Gallaher & R. Ingram (Eds) Researching Transitions in Lifelong Learning. Routledge, 40-49.
- Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. (2007). Online nation: Five years of growth in online learning. Needham, MA: Sloan-C.
- Alpergin, F. (2007). A Network-Centric System Architecture for Online Learning Environments. Master's Thesis, Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech, USA.
- Berling, V. L. (2010). Factors Affecting Retention in Online Courses. Unpublished Thesis Dissertation, Indiana State University.
- Bratton, J., & Gold, J., (2003), Human resource management: theory and practice, 3rd Edition, Palgrave Publishers, Basingstoke.
- Carr, S. (2000). As distance education comes of age, the challenge is keeping the students. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 46 (23).
- Downes, S. (1998) The future of online learning. Paper presented at the NAWeb 98 meeting, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB. Retrieved 1 June 2011 from the World Wide Web
- Downes, S. (1998) The future of online learning. Paper presented at the NAWeb 98 meeting, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB. Retrieved 1 June 2011 from the World Wide Web
- :
- http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall13/downes13.html
- http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall13/downes13.html
- .
- European University Association (2008). European Universities' Charter on Lifelong. Learning. Brussels: EUA.
- EU (2000). A memorandum on lifelong learning. Brussels: EU.
- Educaweb (2009). Aumenta el interés por cursar formación a distancia. Consultado el 04/04/2011
- Educaweb (2009). Aumenta el interés por cursar formación a distancia. Consultado el 04/04/2011
- http://www.educaweb.com/noticia/2009/07/13/aumenta-interes-cursar-formacion-distancia-13769.html
- http://www.educaweb.com/noticia/2009/07/13/aumenta-interes-cursar-formacion-distancia-13769.html
- Gros, B., Barberà, E. & Kirshner, P. (2010). Time factor in e-learning: impact literature review. ELearn Center Research Paper Series, 0, 16-31.
- Hembrooke, H. & Gay, G. (2003). The Lecture and the Laptop: The effects of multitasking in the classroom. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 15(1), 46-65.
- Romero, M. (2010). Gestion du temps dans les Activités Projet Médiatisées à Distance. Thèse de Doctorat en cotutelle européenne. UTM & UAB. Editions Européenes Universitaires, Saarbrücken: Germany.
- Shi, M., Magjuka, R.J., & Bonk, C. J. (2006). Time management strategies for online teaching. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 3(2),
- Shi, M., Magjuka, R.J., & Bonk, C. J. (2006). Time management strategies for online teaching. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 3(2),
- http://itdl.org/Journal/Feb_06/article01.htm
- http://itdl.org/Journal/Feb_06/article01.htm
- .
- Thorpe, M. (2006) The Issue of Time in eLearning, EDEN Annual Conference.
- Tremblay, D.G. & Genin, E. (2009). Permeability between work and non-work: the case of IT self-employed workers. Canadian Journal of Communication. 33(4). 1-21.
- Waits, T. & L. Lewis (2003). Distance Education at Post Secondary Institutions 2000-2001, National Center for Education Statistics.
- Zimmerman, B. J., & Schunk, D. H. (Eds.). (1989). Self-regulated learning and academic achievement: Theory, research and practice. New York: Springer-Verlag.
- About the Author:
- Dr. Margarida Romero is Associate Director of E-learning at Esade Law & Business School. She holds a European Ph.D. in educational psychology from Université de Toulouse (France) and Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain).
- P
- Span
- Contact her at
- :
- [email protected]
- Editor’s Note: Instructional design is much more than organized presentation of content. It requires knowledge of the learner’s previous experiences and motivation; communication skills, supportive learning environments, and knowledge of learning styles and how people learn. The discussion that follows provides useful data about adult learners in an online setting.
- Internal and External Factors that Influence Adult Learners in an Online Setting
- Internal and External Factors that Influence Adult Learners in an Online Setting
- Lara Henry
- USA
- Abstract
- Online learning is the current distance learning of choice and has increased dramatically. Various studies have been conducted to determine how and why some students complete an online course while others do not. A conclusive answer has not been discovered. To add to the body of information, a survey was conducted of current doctoral students at a large online university to determine if internal factors or external factors were more influential for student completion of the course. The results indicated
- Keywords: online, online learning, distance learning, online coursework, internal factors, external factors, adult learners, internet, web-based learning, higher education
- Introduction
- Distance learning has long been a part of higher education, but was conveyed through correspondence or videos in years past. It was not considered a mainstay of a higher education community. In the 1980s, traditional universities, particularly in Canada and Australia, began experimenting with educational technology, particularly computers, in order to fill a need for education to be delivered to sparsely populated areas of the country (Power & Gould-Morven, 2011). Since its inception online learning has
- Review of Literature
- Distance learning has long been a part of education with some suggesting the first distance education experience being Saint Paul and his letters to the Corinthians (Power & Gould-Morven, 2011). Modern distance learning began at the University of London in 1858 with correspondence
- education (Power & Gould-Morven, 2011) and continued to grow with the addition of recorded classes through television (Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia & Jones, 2009). Online learning is distance learning in its current form and for the purpose of this study is defined as asynchronous internet-based learning (Maeroff, 2003 as stated in Power & Gould-Morven, 2011). According to the Department of Education (2009), online learning is the fastest growing trend, with regard to educational technology, within higher
- Overall, adult learners are the most common students of online learning most likely because it allows students to maintain employment and other family responsibilities while being able to conveniently continue with their education with a flexible schedule, low travel costs, and enables students to interact with teachers and students from around the world (Park & Choi, 2009; Hung, Chou, Chen, & Own, 2010). The Department of Education conducted a meta-analysis of studies conducted from 1996-2008 in 2009 in o
- There have been several studies conducted to address this question, but each has a different approach to the question and generally has a small sample from one area. In several cases, the studies occurred in higher education settings outside of the United States. Because of this, it is impossible to generalize the information and make applicable to all online students. However, the studies conducted do provide a starting point. With the rise of internet usage, Mahoney (2003 as cited in Hung et. al., 201
- 1. the use of time-management strategies
- 1. the use of time-management strategies
- 1. the use of time-management strategies
- 2. making the most out of online discussions
- 2. making the most out of online discussions
- 3. using the information learned in the class in order to retain it
- 3. using the information learned in the class in order to retain it
- 4. asking questions
- 4. asking questions
- 5. given the opportunity to convey which instructional techniques were the most useful
- 5. given the opportunity to convey which instructional techniques were the most useful
- 6. making connections with fellow students
- 6. making connections with fellow students
- 7. maintaining motivation (Roper, 2007).
- 7. maintaining motivation (Roper, 2007).
- The students of Roper’s survey (2007) found interaction with students through email and discussion boards of great importance for completion of online courses. As with Mahoney’s 2003 study, the information presented is based solely on self-reporting aspects making generalization more difficult.
- In 2010, Ma and Yuen conducted a study stating online learning success could be found through a social attachment theory concept based on the communities of practice theory stating “engagement in social practice is the fundamental process by which humans learn” (p.210).
- Through a survey of current online students taking an English course, Ma and Yuen (2010) determined having social attachments promoted within the online setting was found to be highly effective in retaining and completion of online courses. The self-regulation of motivation model suggests that there are two kinds of motivation essential for completing an online course and neither are connected to social attachments suggested by Ma and Yuen (2010). In contrast, they are goal-defined motivation or value and
- Aragon and Johnson (2008) conducted a study not based in theories such as social attachment or goal-defined motivation, but to determine if there were differences found between completers and non-completers of an online course based on demographics, enrollment, academic, and self-directed learning characteristics. The results showed no significant differences based on age, gender, ethnicity, financial aid eligibility, and developmental course placement, but significant differences based on gender (66% of f
- 1. address individual differences
- 1. address individual differences
- 1. address individual differences
- 2. motivate the student
- 2. motivate the student
- 3. avoid information overload
- 3. avoid information overload
- 4. create a real-life context
- 4. create a real-life context
- 5. encourage social interaction
- 5. encourage social interaction
- 6. provide hands-on activities
- 6. provide hands-on activities
- 7. encourage student reflection
- 7. encourage student reflection
- (Johnson & Aragon, 2003 as cited in Aragon & Johnson, 2008, p. 155).
- Aragon and Johnson (2008) go on to state that advisors should determine if students will be able to complete an online course and if not, steer them to a traditional format. How to best determine if students were ready for online courses was not addressed only that advisors should do so (Aragon & Johnson, 2008). Hung et. al. (2010) also addressed the need to determine if students can successfully complete an online course before allowing them to be enrolled. Through a study, an Online Learning Readiness
- Park and Choi (2009) conducted a study specifically to determine what factors- internal, external or individual characteristics- most influenced adult students’ decision to complete or drop out of an online learning class. The external factors of family and organizational support, individual characteristics age, gender, educational background, and employment status and internal factor of
- motivation, particularly relevance and satisfaction, were chosen to be included because they were often cited in previous studies discussed in the literature review (Park & Choi, 2009). The results indicated a statistical difference in perceptions of drop out and persistent adult students with regard to family and organizational support and satisfaction and relevance of the course with persistent students citing a higher level of all compared to drop out students. Park and Choi (2009) stated that the frame
- Method
- The participants of this study were students currently pursuing their Educational Specialists (EdS) or Doctorate in Education (EdD) through an online or blended program at a southeastern college that has one of the largest online colleges in the United States. Students ranged in age from 30-69 with a little over half currently teaching today. Forty students currently in one of two courses were emailed a link to an online survey in May 2011 and asked to volunteer to answer the questions anonymously to be u
- The online questionnaire to report students’ responses on factors influencing completion of online courses utilized quantitative descriptive research sometimes called survey research, the same type of research used in many reviewed studies, and while one cannot draw conclusions about relationships it can often provide valuable information on opinions and attitudes of both students and teachers (Gall, Gall & Borg, 2007; Glatthorn & Joyner, 2005). For this particular survey, students were asked to provide g
- Results
- Of the 40 surveys requested, 15 surveys were completed and the results are as follows:
- I complete coursework
- I complete coursework
- Strongly disagree
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Disagree
- Agree
- Agree
- Strongly agree
- Strongly agree
- n/a
- n/a
- Span
- 1.
- 1.
- 1.
- because of my own personal enjoyment
- because of my own personal enjoyment
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- 20%
- 20%
- 60%
- 60%
- 13.3%
- 13.3%
- -
- -
- Span
- 2.
- 2.
- 2.
- for future enhancements in pay
- for future enhancements in pay
- -
- -
- 13.3%
- 13.3%
- 33.3%
- 33.3%
- 53.3%
- 53.3%
- -
- -
- Span
- 3.
- 3.
- 3.
- for opportunity to interact with peers through discussion
- for opportunity to interact with peers through discussion
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- 20%
- 20%
- 53.3%
- 53.3%
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- 13.3%
- 13.3%
- Span
- 4.
- 4.
- 4.
- because of family support
- because of family support
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- 13.3%
- 13.3%
- 53.3%
- 53.3%
- 26.7%
- 26.7%
- -
- -
- Span
- 5.
- 5.
- 5.
- because of the support of my co-workers
- because of the support of my co-workers
- 20%
- 20%
- 26.7%
- 26.7%
- 33.3%
- 33.3%
- 13.3%
- 13.3%
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- Span
- 6.
- 6.
- 6.
- because of encouragement from immediate supervisor
- because of encouragement from immediate supervisor
- 26.7%
- 26.7%
- 40%
- 40%
- 20%
- 20%
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- Span
- 7.
- 7.
- 7.
- even when personal issues occur
- even when personal issues occur
- -
- -
- -
- -
- 40%
- 40%
- 60%
- 60%
- -
- -
- Span
- 8.
- 8.
- 8.
- at personal financial costs
- at personal financial costs
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- 46.7%
- 46.7%
- 40%
- 40%
- -
- -
- Span
- 9.
- 9.
- 9.
- because of a love of computers and technology
- because of a love of computers and technology
- 40%
- 40%
- 46.7%
- 46.7%
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- -
- -
- Span
- 10.
- 10.
- 10.
- to enhance my knowledge of a subject
- to enhance my knowledge of a subject
- -
- -
- -
- -
- 40%
- 40%
- 60%
- 60%
- -
- -
- Span
- 11.
- 11.
- 11.
- because of instructor feedback and correspondence
- because of instructor feedback and correspondence
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- 33.3%
- 33.3%
- 40%
- 40%
- 13.3%
- 13.3%
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- Span
- 12.
- 12.
- 12.
- because of the usability of Blackboard
- because of the usability of Blackboard
- 13.3%
- 13.3%
- 46.7%
- 46.7%
- 26.7%
- 26.7%
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- Span
- 13.
- 13.
- 13.
- because I like to share ideas with others
- because I like to share ideas with others
- -
- -
- 20%
- 20%
- 60%
- 60%
- 20%
- 20%
- -
- -
- Span
- 14.
- 14.
- 14.
- because I am open to new ideas
- because I am open to new ideas
- -
- -
- -
- -
- 60%
- 60%
- 40%
- 40%
- -
- -
- Span
- 15.
- 15.
- 15.
- because of personally developed time management strategies
- because of personally developed time management strategies
- -
- -
- 13.3%
- 13.3%
- 46.7%
- 46.7%
- 40%
- 40%
- -
- -
- Span
- 16.
- 16.
- 16.
- for sense of accomplishment
- for sense of accomplishment
- -
- -
- -
- -
- 40%
- 40%
- 60%
- 60%
- -
- -
- Span
- 17.
- 17.
- 17.
- because of additional help found through online writing tutors
- because of additional help found through online writing tutors
- 26.7%
- 26.7%
- 46.7%
- 46.7%
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- -
- -
- 20%
- 20%
- Span
- 18.
- 18.
- 18.
- out of respect for the attending university
- out of respect for the attending university
- 13.3%
- 13.3%
- 20%
- 20%
- 46.7%
- 46.7%
- 13.3%
- 13.3%
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- Span
- 19.
- 19.
- 19.
- to achieve a personal goal
- to achieve a personal goal
- -
- -
- -
- -
- 13.3%
- 13.3%
- 66.7%
- 66.7%
- 20%
- 20%
- Span
- 20.
- 20.
- 20.
- because of personal interest the instructors have shown
- because of personal interest the instructors have shown
- 6.7%
- 6.7%
- 33.5%
- 33.5%
- 33.5%
- 33.5%
- 26.7%
- 26.7%
- -
- -
- Span
- The items surveyed are ranked for which are considered the most important. Each item is also identified as being internal or external.
- I complete coursework to achieve a personal goal. (internal)
- I complete coursework for a sense of accomplishment. (internal)
- I complete coursework to enhance my knowledge of a subject. (internal)
- I complete coursework even when personal issues occur. (external)
- I complete coursework for personal enjoyment. (internal)
- I complete coursework because I like to share ideas with others. (internal)
- I complete coursework because I am open to new ideas. (internal)
- I complete coursework for future enhancements in pay. (external)
- I complete coursework for opportunity to interact with peers through discussion. (internal)
- I complete coursework because of family support. (External)
- I complete coursework at personal financial costs. (external)
- I complete coursework because of instructor feedback and correspondence. (external)
- I complete coursework because of personally developed time management strategies. (internal)
- I complete coursework out of respect for the attending university. (external)
- I complete coursework because of support for my co-workers. (external)
- I complete coursework because of personal interests the instructors have shown. (external)
- I complete coursework because of the usability of Blackboard. (external)
- I complete coursework because of encouragement of immediate supervisor. (external)
- I complete coursework because of a love of computers and technology. (internal)
- I complete coursework because of additional help found through online writing tutors. (external)
- Discussion
- The purpose of this research was to add to the body of research regarding online learning retention. The findings support the hypothesis that internal factors are more influential toward completion of online courses than external factors based on Park and Choi’s 2009 study. Students rated personal goals and sense of accomplishment the two highest reasons for completion of courses, strongly indicating internal factors. One interesting result was the higher score of future enhancement in pay and completing
- Conclusion
- The results of the current study cannot be generalized to a large population as with other similar studies because of the small sample size and the nature of the research design: descriptive research. Many past research studies also occurred in schools outside of the United States thus making comparative statements more difficult to make. It can be added to body of research stating that internal factors provide more motivation to students to complete an online course. Aragon and Johnson (2009) determined
- References
- Aragon, S. R. & Johnson E. S. (2008). Factors influencing completion and noncompletion of community college online courses. The American Journal of Distance Education, 22(3), 146-158.
- Gall, M. D., Gall, J. P., & Borg, W. R. (2010). Educational Research: An Introduction (8th ed.). New York: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN: 978-0-205-48849-0.
- Glatthorn, A., & Joyner, R. L. (2005). Writing the Winning Dissertation: A step-by-step guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
- Hung, M.-L., Chou, C., Chen, C.-H., Own, Z.-Y. (2010). Learner readiness for online-learning: Scale development and student perceptions. Computers & Education, 55(3), 1080-1090.
- Kanar, C.C. (2010). The Confident Student, 7th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN: 978-0-618-76643-7
- Ma, W.W.K. & Yuen, A. H. K. (2011). Understanding online knowledge sharing: An interpersonal relationship perspective. Computers & Education, 56(1), 210-219.
- Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., Bakia, M. & Jones, K. (2010). Evaluation of evidence-based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies. US Department of Education Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development Policy and Program Studies Services. Retrieved from
- Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., Bakia, M. & Jones, K. (2010). Evaluation of evidence-based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies. US Department of Education Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development Policy and Program Studies Services. Retrieved from
- http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf
- http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf
- on May 13, 2011.
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- Power, M. & Gould-Morven, A. (2011). Head of gold, feet of clay: The online learning paradox. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(2), 19-38.
- Roper, A. R. (2007). How students develop online learning skills. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 1, 62-65. Retrieved from
- Roper, A. R. (2007). How students develop online learning skills. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 1, 62-65. Retrieved from
- http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eqm07110.pdf
- http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eqm07110.pdf
- on April 7, 2011.
- Sansone, C., Fraughton, T., Zachary, J. L., Butner, J., & Heiner, C. (2011). Self-regulation of motivation when learning online: The importance of who, why and how. Educational Technology Research and Development, 59(2), 199-212.
- About the Author
- Lara Henry is currently an online doctoral student at Liberty University. Beginning in the fall 2011, the author will be returning to teach seventh grade social studies while completing her Educational Doctorate program of study with an emphasis in Curriculum and Instruction.
- Email:
- Editor’s Note: distance learning media can cross national, cultural and language boundaries. This provides additional challenges for effective design and management of collaborative learning experiences.
- Managing Borderless Collaboration in Asia:
- Managing Borderless Collaboration in Asia:
- Commitment, Coordination and Communication
- Juvy Lizette Gervacio
- Phillipines
- Abstract
- Managing online collaboration is challenging, especially when members are not only separated by space and time but they also come from different culture, language, context and institutions. However, given a common goal, proper coordination and effective communication tools, a borderless collaboration can be successful and effective.
- The paper aims to look into how online tutors can collaborate to effectively and efficiently achieve a desired goal. Specifically, it aims to: a) describe how online collaboration is effectively implemented by tutoring communities; b) describe the coordination employed in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation for effective collaboration; c) determine the effective communication tools to manage and sustain collaboration; and d) identify the challenges and lessons to maintain and sustain online
- Introduction
- In the era of information, communication and technology, everything has become borderless. People can now communicate better and faster. Moreover, it made working together cost effective and more efficient. Online collaboration happens when members of virtual communities commit themselves to a certain goal and they work together through the use of online communication tools. Not only does it deliver desired outcomes, there is also the meeting of cultures and minds which makes collaborative activities fruit
- However, managing online collaboration is a challenging one, especially when members are not only separated by space and time but they also come from different backgrounds, culture, language, context and institutions. But given a common goal and effective communication tools, borderless collaboration can be successful and effective.
- According to Siemens, the “management and marshaling of resources to achieve desired outcomes is a significant challenge. Moreover, diverse teams of varying viewpoints are a critical structure for completely exploring ideas.” (Siemens 2005).
- Hence, in order to ensure the success of any online collaborative activity, it is important to consider how the project is managed from planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. In online collaboration, there are important ingredients and strategies that need to be employed in order to ensure success.
- Objectives
- The paper aims to look into how online collaboration in Asia is managed efficiently and effectively. Specifically, it aims to: a) look into how the eLearning Development and Implementation (eLDI) and eskills Asia programs is being managed as a collaborative project among different members of the Asia network; b) describe how online collaboration is effectively implemented by tutoring communities; c) describe the coordination employed in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation for effective c
- communication tools to manage and sustain collaboration; and e) identify the challenges and lessons to maintain and sustain online collaboration.
- Framework of the Study
- Good planning and preparation for a collaborative project and continued involvement during the entire phase of project management contributes to the success of a collaborative activity. Palloff and Pratt notes that online collaboration undergoes several phases, namely: set the stage, create the environment, model the process, guide the process and evaluate the process. (Palloff and Pratt, 2005).
- Figure 1. Framework of the Study
- Figure 1 shows the framework of the study. The framework illustrates how online collaboration could be managed success from planning, implementation to monitoring and evaluation. Three C’s are important for an online collaboration to be successful, namely: commitment to achieve the goals, coordination of activities and schedules, and use of effective online communications tools.
- Commitment
- Clear Goals. In Project Planning, the goal of the activity should be clearly defined. It is important that members of the team should have a clear understanding of the desired output and outcome of the program. The members are introduced with each other and they are expected to have knowledge of what to do. The goal is a commitment that all members should strive to achieve.
- Coordination
- The role of a coordinator or a program manager should also be clear. The coordinator manages the entire program and ensures that by the goal is achieved. Each member of the team must be able to contribute to the task on hand. It is important that even if they work independently, they
- all work towards a shared goal or a commitment. Hence, coordination regarding the different tasks of the teams should be communicated clearly.
- Tasking. One important aspect is coordination is the assigning of tasks or responsibilities to the members of the team. All the tasks of the members should be clearly spelled out to them. When necessary, a manual or a “terms of reference” is provided which illustrates the work schedule, and the activities to be done before, during and after the work.
- Qualification. The coordinator ensures that all the members meet the requirements for them to be part of the team. In online collaboration, it is important that the members have excellent written communication skills since they interact with people coming from different culture, language, background, etc.
- Moreover, they must also have the knowledge on the use of appropriate technology in order to interact with each other.
- Content expertise is also an important requirement for the program to be successful.
- Communication
- The use of a common language is very important in online collaboration. In an environment where the different members of the team come from different countries, it is important that members use a common language in a level that is understood by everyone. Moreover, netiquette is also important to emphasize.
- Communication Tools. Interaction is done through the use of relevant online communication tools, whether done synchronously or asynchronously. Interaction could be done through chats, forum, instant messengers, videoconferencing, among others. In all levels of interaction, it is assumed that all the members have access and knowledge in using these tools.
- Learning Management System/Technology. Technologies used are crucial in managing global learning communities which may include the use of a learning management system. Every member of the online team should have quality access to technology because lack of technological access can hamper success of the project.
- Monitoring and Evaluation.
- Monitoring is an on-going process during the project implementation stage. On the other hand, evaluation occurs periodically, typically when the project has been completed. Compared to monitoring, it has a broader perspective as it challenges the original assumption of the project design. It focuses on the project’s progress towards realizing its purpose and goal.
- In online collaboration, it is important that there is monitoring to ensure that the project is on the right track. It is the task of the coordinator or manager to monitor the activities. At the end of the project, an evaluation is also needed to determine how the program could be improved and determine lessons from the activity.
- Methodology
- This paper is based on the experiences of the author in managing online collaboration in Asia. Specifically, it documents the processes in managing online teams from planning, implementation to monitoring and evaluation. Moreover, it discusses the factors that contribute to the success of online collaboration and lessons from the good practices which can be adapted in managing online collaboration.
- Managing Online Collaboration in Asia: Approaches and Strategies
- Project Description
- In 2009, the German International Cooperation (GiZ, formerly InWEnt, Capacity Building International, Germany) and the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) mutually agreed to “contribute to enhance e-learning worldwide, especially in South-East-Asia and the Philippines.” Both organizations agreed to promote further development of e-skills training programs and e-learning technologies in order “to build a people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone
- The Commitment (Goal of the Project)
- The main Goal of the Project is to implement two elearning programs; namely: 1) eLearning Development and Implementation Asia (eLDI) program; and 2) e-skills courses.
- The eLearning Development and Implementation (eLDI) Program. The eLDI Asia is an eight-month blended course consisting of two face to face workshops and six online modules, namely: Instructional Design, Content Development, Interactivity, eLearning Technology, eLearning Management and Tutoring for eLearning communities. The course consists of approximately 50 hours face to face workshops and 200 hours online.
- The participants are entitled to a certificate from the course. They also have the option to take an exam being undertaken by the University of Furtwangen, Germany. If they pass the written examination, and their eLearning projects are assessed satisfactorily, then they are entitled to get credit units for it. Moreover, they are also given a certificate of expertise on “New Learning Technologies.”
- The eLearning-skills Courses (e-skills). The e-skills courses are conducted purely online. These are composed of six modules which is similar with the eLDI modules except for Interactivity that is replaced by eLearning Strategy. Each module is taken online for 4 weeks. Certificate is also issued to participants who complete the course successfully.
- The Course Participants. The eLDI program trained 20 participants from developing countries from Asia, namely: Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines and Vietnam. Most of the participants are from the academe, government and private sectors who are into capacity building, or involved in the use of ICT for learning.
- Unlike in the eLDI program where participants are the same all throughout the course, the eskills modules were offered separately. Hence, participants have the option to apply for courses they are interested in or take all six courses. There were about 20-25 participants from Asia for each module.
- Even in the application and selection of participants, the activity is already on going in collaboration with the members of the network which is composed of those who have previously taken the courses. Announcements and application forms are prepared and distributed to all members of the network and also posted in the Global Campus 21 E-Academy site of GiZ and the UPOU website.
- Even if the submission of application is centralized, the focal persons from each country are contacted to provide more information about the applicants and make necessary recommendations.
- Coordination
- Planning. In any collaborative project, it is important to have a plan. The budget is ensured and negotiated to ensure that the activity has the appropriate funding. During the planning phase, tutors are already identified based on their knowledge and ability to communicate online effectively. Since almost all of them have participated in previous elearning programs, the tutors are selected based on their online performance. Their ability to complete the tasks communicate effectively online is very importan
- Table 1
- Program Content and Support eLDI and e-skills
- Table
- TR
- TD
- Span
- Modules/Phases
- TD
- Span
- eLDI Schedule
- TD
- Span
- TD
- Span
- e-skills Schedule
- TD
- Span
- Support
- Span
- TR
- TD
- Span
- TD
- Span
- TD
- Span
- Project Coordinator
- Finance Officer
- Facilitators
- TD
- Span
- TD
- Span
- Course Manager
- Finance Officer
- Span
- TR
- TD
- Span
- WS I – Face to Face
- TD
- Span
- 1 week
- TD
- Span
- TD
- Span
- None
- TD
- Span
- Span
- TR
- TD
- Span
- Online phase
- TD
- Span
- TD
- Span
- Umbrella Tutors (eLDI)
- Toolbox Support
- LMS (GC21) Support
- TD
- Span
- TD
- Span
- LMS (GC21) Support
- Span
- TR
- TD
- Span
- eLearning Strategy
- TD
- Span
- None
- TD
- Span
- None
- TD
- Span
- 3 weeks
- TD
- Span
- Tutors (2)
- Span
- TR
- TD
- Span
- ID Instructional Design
- TD
- Span
- 4 weeks
- TD
- Span
- Tutors (2)
- TD
- Span
- 4 weeks
- TD
- Span
- Tutors (2)
- Span
- TR
- TD
- Span
- CD Content Development
- TD
- Span
- 4 weeks
- TD
- Span
- Tutors (2)
- TD
- Span
- 4 weeks
- TD
- Span
- Tutors (2)
- Span
- TR
- TD
- Span
- INT Interactivity
- TD
- Span
- 4 weeks
- TD
- Span
- Tutors (2)
- TD
- Span
- None
- TD
- Span
- Tutors (2)
- Span
- TR
- TD
- Span
- eLT eLearning Technology
- TD
- Span
- 4 weeks
- TD
- Span
- Tutors (2)
- TD
- Span
- 4 weeks
- TD
- Span
- Tutors (2)
- Span
- TR
- TD
- Span
- eLM eLearning Management
- TD
- Span
- 4 weeks
- TD
- Span
- Tutors (2)
- TD
- Span
- 4 weeks
- TD
- Span
- Tutors (2)
- Span
- TR
- TD
- Span
- TeL Tutoring for eLearning Communities
- TD
- Span
- 4 weeks
- TD
- Span
- Tutors (2)
- TD
- Span
- 4 weeks
- TD
- Span
- Tutors (2)
- Span
- TR
- TD
- Span
- WS II – Face to Face
- TD
- Span
- 1 week
- TD
- Span
- Facilitators
- TD
- Span
- None
- TD
- Span
- Span
- Table 1 shows the program content and the support for the eLDI and eskills courses. The tutors collaborate with each other in order to achieve the goal of the program. For the eLDI, there are about 17 tutors working together online in order to provide tutoring and support to the participants. On the other hand, there are 15 tutors for the eskills courses.
- The Tutorial Team
- For the eLDI Asia 2009, the members of the tutorial team who collaborated in order to achieve success came from Cambodia, India, Mongolia, Philippines and Sri Lanka. Most of them finished the eLDI or the eskills courses. They were selected based on their knowledge of the content, excellent communication skills and their familiarity with eLearning. They normally start as assistant tutors where they learn how to tutor and manage their courses. They are coached by the main tutor and by umbrella tutors on the u
- Umbrella Tutors – They are often referred to as main tutors or umbrella tutors for the eLDI course. They ensure smooth transition of the course from one module to the next. They orient the tutors about the activities, guide them on their online games, and monitor the overall performance of the tutors. They also ensure that tutors collaborate effectively by always reminding tutors to work as teams.
- Module Tutors - There are two tutors for each module with the idea that the assistant tutors is being trained to eventually become part of the pool of tutors of the network. They provide tutoring to the participants for four weeks. They are also expected to allot two more weeks for preparation and report preparation. The two tutors are expected to work together. In case there are disagreements, the umbrella tutors and the course manager will try to find a way to settle the issue.
- Toolbox Support – These are the tutors who provide support in using several online tools used such as authoring tools, photo-editing tools, flash animation, among others. They are expected to work closely with the module tutors.
- Learning Management Support – They are in charge of maintaining the working environment such as updating the news and uploading the course materials for each module.
- Course Manager – The manager oversees the overall implementation of the activities, providing online guidance, coaching, support and leadership.
- Handbook of Tutors
- In order to ensure that all the tutors are aware of their duties and responsibilities, a Tutorial Handbook is provided to all the tutors. The manual contains all the necessary information on the course such as the dates, the tutors and email addresses. It also specifies the duties and responsibilities of tutors and assistant tutors every week, including how to track the progress of the participants. The handbook also contains some suggested activities including the deadlines.
- The tutors are also provided an email address which they use during the entire duration of the project.
- Contracts
- Before the start of the activity, the tutors are required to submit their short resume. Their contracts are prepared which provides a list of their deliverables. The tutors are asked to sign, scan and email the contract to the coordinator.
- The Tutors’ Lounge
- One of the important elements of doing collaborative activity is the creation of a virtual “Tutors’ Lounge” where all the tutors interact and submit reports. The Tutors’ Lounge is a virtual working environment where tutors can meet and discuss and upload reports. This is where collaboration is done. (Please see Figure 2.)
- The tutors lounge provides the communication tools features such as chat and forum. Moreover, it provides a submission area where all reports are expected to be uploaded.
- Figure 2. The Tutors’ Lounge
- Communication Tools
- Several communication tools were used in the collaboration. These are chats, forum, pinboard and the document pool.
- Chat – A group chat is conducted to provide opportunity for the tutors to introduce themselves and get to know each other. This is conducted in the Tutors’ Lounge. During the chat, they are given an orientation of the activity and if they have questions related to the tutors’ handbook, the participants, and their tasks. Before the start of each module, the tutors are again provided another orientation of their tasks.
- If there are tasks that are not clear, the course manager explains it to the tutors. Moreover, the tutors are also provided an overall picture of the participants., e.g. very active, quite, etc. It is also important to ask the tutors to provide some online games to the participants in order to provide a better online learning environment.
- Forum – This is one on the interactive tools that is used in online collaboration. In the forum, tutors discussed topics that are related to effective tutoring, assessment, providing feedback, among others. It also provides an opportunity for members to share information about themselves such are their recent activities, travels, photos, among others.
- Pinboard – This is the area where all the announcements are made.
- Document Pool – This is the one of the most important part of the Tutors’ Lounge. This is where the tutors upload all their reports. They complete the participants tracking form, and provide a personal assessment about how they tutored the course.
- Learning Management System and Technologies. To facilitate the online collaboration, the eLDI and eskills online phase are conducted through the use of Global Campus 21 e-Academy, a learning management system of GiZ. This is also where the Tutors’ Lounge is hosted.
- Monitoring and Evaluation
- During the online phase, tutors are monitored through the Tutors’ Lounge, and how they conduct online tutoring. In cases where there are differences among the tutors, the course coordinator or manager will provide them guidance on how to settle the issue. Moreover, if there are disagreements with the course participants, proper communication is also done in order to minimize disturbance in the online classes.
- The tutors are required to complete the participants track in order to monitor the performance of each participant. Moreover, they also need to submit two reports such as the Joint Module Tutors Report and a Personal Tutoring Work- log.
- Joint Module Tutors Report – For module tutors, they are asked to write a report of their experiences, impression on the module, suggestions for forum threads and/or chat discussions, exercises, among others.
- Personal Tutoring Work log – This is where the tutors write down their activities every week, the number of hours for these activities, the strengths and weaknesses of the tutor as well as the challenges encountered and suggestions to improve the course.
- An online evaluation form is also sent to the participants to complete. This includes questions on how effective their tutors are in their jobs. The results are conveyed to the tutors so they have feedback on how they did their job.
- Conclusion and Lessons Learned
- Managing online collaboration is a challenging but fruitful one. From planning, implementation to monitoring and evaluation, there are three elements that are important.
- The paper identified three Cs for a successful online collaboration. It is important that members of the collaborative program should have clear idea and understanding of the goals or commitment so that the collaboration would be successful.
- In achieving the goal, it is important to have efficient coordination of the activities. Schedules, tasks, activities and output should be explained clear. Constant monitoring is also necessary to minimize problems.
- Communication is equally important since it includes the tools that are used to ensure that collaboration is successful. Synchronous and asynchronous forms or communication are important for coordination.
- Finally, members of a collaborative activity are not only tasked to deliver a certain goal, but they are also expected to learn from the whole process. The interplay of knowledge, experiences and culture provides a very rich outcome to the members of the team. They learn how to work together and appreciate the value of teamwork. Moreover, they also understand the value of intercultural communication.
- References:
- Palloff Rene, M. and Pratt K. (2005). Learning Together in Community: Collaboration Online, 20th Online Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning. Retrieved 14 April 2011 from
- Palloff Rene, M. and Pratt K. (2005). Learning Together in Community: Collaboration Online, 20th Online Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning. Retrieved 14 April 2011 from
- http://www.oakland.k12.mi.us/Portals/0/Learning/04_1127.pdf
- http://www.oakland.k12.mi.us/Portals/0/Learning/04_1127.pdf
- .
- Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: Learning Theory for the Digital Age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1), January 2005. Retrieved 03 March 2011, from
- Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: Learning Theory for the Digital Age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1), January 2005. Retrieved 03 March 2011, from
- http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/index.htm
- http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/index.htm
- About the Author
- Juvy Lizette Gervacio, is Assistant Professor, Master of Public Management Program, Faculty of Management and Development Studies, University of the Philippine Open University. She is also Project Coordinator and Course Manager of the eLearning Development and Implementation (eLDI) Asia and e-skills Asia. These programs are jointly implemented by the UPOU and German International Cooperation (GiZ).
- Juvy Lizette Gervacio, is Assistant Professor, Master of Public Management Program, Faculty of Management and Development Studies, University of the Philippine Open University. She is also Project Coordinator and Course Manager of the eLearning Development and Implementation (eLDI) Asia and e-skills Asia. These programs are jointly implemented by the UPOU and German International Cooperation (GiZ).
- She facilitates face- to-face workshops on elearning in Germany, Egypt, Vietnam, Mongolia and the Philippines; and tutored online courses to members of partner networks in Africa, Latin America, and Caucasus region.
- She has also presented her experiences on managing online courses at the Online Educa Berlin and regularly attends the yearly event. In 2010, her paper entitled: “Tutors and Learners Without Borders: In a Relationship but it’s Complicated” won silver award for Best Paper at the Asian Association of Open Universities Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam.
- Ms. Gervacio is also a member of the Advisory Committee of the European-based Open ECB-Check (Quality label for e-learning in capacity building/development).
- She finished her Master of Public Management from the University of Potsdam, Germany in 2000, and Master of Arts in Demography from the University of the Philippines. She also obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from the University of the Philippines- Baguio.
- [email protected]
- Editor’s Note: This study compares the impact of group size on effectiveness of online cooperative learning groups.
- The Impact of Smaller and Larger Online Group Conferences on Student Achievement
- The Impact of Smaller and Larger Online Group Conferences on Student Achievement
- Stafford A. Griffith
- Jamacia
- Abstract
- This paper reports on a study undertaken with 24 students enrolled in a graduate course taught online as part of a Master of Education degree programme. The purpose was to ascertain whether the use of smaller cooperative learning groups of students would result in higher levels of achievement compared with larger cooperative learning groups. The study utilised a counterbalanced design which rotated students assigned to smaller and larger cooperative learning groups for the first and second half of the one-s
- Keywords: University; online instruction; online learning; cooperative learning; cooperative learning groups; small groups; gender; social interdependence; participation; research design.
- Introduction
- The School of Education, University of the West Indies, offers graduate courses and programmes both face to face and online. A course or programme may be offered in either, or both, of these modes. The use of cooperative learning groups in delivering the online courses is considered to be one of the effective ways of assisting students to optimise their learning. This is in keeping with the social interdependence theory which predicts that individuals working in a cooperative group will have higher levels o
- Review of the Literature
- The use of computer-mediated communication as a teaching and learning tool has increased dramatically in recent years (Li, 2002). The prospect of actually earning a degree without travelling to a campus has opened up enormous possibilities for a large number of students (Braun, 2008). A 2010 Sloan Consortium report revealed that in the United States alone, over 4.6 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall term of 2008 (Allen & Seaman, 2010).
- With the rapid growth in the number of online course offerings, many studies have been focussing on the effectiveness of this delivery mode (Carswell, Thomas, Petre, Price & Richards, 2000; Chao, Saj & Hamilton, 2010; Coates & Humphreys, 2001; Eom, Wen, & Ashill, 2006;
- Fjermestad, 2004; Gretes & Green, 2000; Koenig, 2010; Ogunleyle, 2010; Tinnerman, 2006). Cooperative learning has emerged as an important instructional method for effective online learning.
- The term cooperative learning is often used interchangeably in the literature with that of collaborative learning (Resta & Laferrière, 2007; Shibley & Zimmaro, 2002; Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2000). This often creates some confusion. However, Roschelle and Teasley (1995) explained that “collaboration" is distinguished from "cooperation", the critical difference is that cooperative work is accomplished by the division of labour among participants where each person is responsible for a portion of the p
- Cooperative learning involves a structured process that requires learners to work together on a particular task, and in doing so, share information and encourage and support each other (Coppola, 1996; Slavin, 1986). The teacher designs the exercises, activities, experiences or problems that the learners must engage. These are often well structured and may include objectives, time constraints, detailed formats for presentations, and even evaluation guidelines for undertaking the task (Cranton, 1996).
- In essence, therefore, cooperative learning emphasizes the accomplishment of the task through a division of labour. The experience is fairly structured and the teacher remains in control of the content and procedures. In collaborative learning, the emphasis is more on the process of working together to develop a shared understanding. The teacher establishes the circumstances or environment for the group process and participates in it. Both collaborative and cooperative learning share a number of commonaliti
- In the cooperative learning approach, each member of the group is assigned a role so as to organise the responsibilities of each person towards accomplishing the given task (Lyon, 2002). The instructor explains the task to be undertaken, maintains group interaction, and provides assistance in overcoming academic-related problems as the group seeks to accomplish the task (Felder, 1996). The cooperative group is considered most useful in cases where the acquisition of basic knowledge is a primary objective (B
- Three important types of learning groups have been identified by Johnson, Johnson and Smith (1991): informal cooperative learning groups which involve the ad hoc or temporary assignment of students together, within a single class session; formal cooperative learning groups which are teams established to complete a specific task, working together for one or several class sessions; and base groups which are long-term groups, usually existing over the course of a semester, providing members with support, encou
- There is general agreement in the literature that small group size is an essential characteristic of collaborative and cooperative learning. Small groups allow members to participate freely, by contributing their ideas and benefitting from critical responses which conduce to effective learning (Althauser & Matuga, 1998). In the literature reviewed, the number of learners recommended for the cooperative learning group varied, ranging from 20 to 3 (Brown & Atkins, 1988; Bennett, Howe & Truswell, 2002; Ngeow,
- Ngeow (1998) recommended learning groups of between three and five. Following a review of the pertinent literature on group size, Bennett, Howe and Truswell (2002) concluded that “it seems that groups of three to six are the most widely advocated” (p. 9). Steeples, Goodyear and Mellar (1994), in a study of the use of computer-mediated communication in learning in Higher Education noted that even when students were assigned to large groups, they spontaneously set up smaller conferences. It would be useful to
- Social interdependence theory clearly predicts that cooperative learning groups will have higher levels of achievement than individuals working individualistically (Bertucci, Conte, Johnson & Johnson, 2010; Deutsch, 1962; Johnson & Johnson, 1989). But, as Bertucci, Conte, Johnson and Johnson (2010), explained, “the theory does not consider the size of the group important” (p. 257). There is some research evidence to suggest that as the cooperative learning group increases, the higher the level of achieveme
- Given the problems of group members’ level of social skills, the interference between teamwork and taskwork, and the degree of members’ loafing, it may be expected that as the size of the group increases, the lower the group members’ achievement will be. (p. 259)
- Bertucci et al. (2010) reported on a study which sought, inter alia, to examine the effects of group size on achievement. The sample for the study comprised 31 males and 31 females seventh-grade students. Nine males and 9 females were assigned to individualistic learning conditions; 10 males and 10 females were assigned to work in pairs and 12 males and 12 females were assigned to work in groups of four. Students’ achievement was assessed at the end of each of three curriculum units. It was found that coope
- The groups of interest in the study undertaken by Bertucci, Conte, Johnson and Johnson (2010) comprised two and four students, respectively. But would learning groups that that are constituted differently provide results that are different?
- A study Egerbladh and Sjödin (1981) which included the examination of retention levels among individuals, dyads and triads found that there was no significant different in retention levels for those who had worked in different groups. Jackson (1980) also reported no statistically significant difference in achievement levels of large and small groups. Here, the groups were made up of two, four, six and eight students, respectively. Additionally, a meta-analysis of within-class
- grouping (Lou et al., 1996), found no difference in achievement for groups of 6 to 10, compared with ungrouped classes which constituted larger groupings.
- There is a growing but inconclusive body of literature on gender and achievement in learning groups. A few studies point to the fact that gender can have an impact on achievement in small groups (Denessen, Veenman, Dobbelsteen & Van Schilt, 2008; Wood, 1987; Webb, 1984). Although Wood (1987) found that all-male groups performed better than all-female groups, Denessen et al. (2008) found evidence that girls in small groups outperformed boys.
- Myaskovsky, Unikel, and Dew (2005) found that the performance of mixed-gender and same-gender groups was equally good while Harskamp, Ding and Suhre (2008), found that males outperformed females in mixed-gender pairs. Given the inclusive nature of the findings of the research on gender and achievement in groups, Denessen et al. (2008) concluded that:
- Researchers need to study gender effects on group functioning and achievement to clarify the mixed empirical findings on this topic in which boys sometimes outperform girls…, girls sometimes outperform boys…, and researchers have found no statistically significant differences….(p. 380)
- Research Questions
- The purpose of this research was to ascertain whether smaller cooperative learning groups of students would produce higher levels of achievement compared with larger cooperative learning groups. The researcher was also interested in whether gender would affect achievement in smaller and larger cooperative learning groups.
- The following three research questions guided this study:
- 1. Is there a significant difference in the achievement levels of students participating in an online course through smaller cooperative learning groups compared with those participating through larger cooperative learning groups?
- 1. Is there a significant difference in the achievement levels of students participating in an online course through smaller cooperative learning groups compared with those participating through larger cooperative learning groups?
- 1. Is there a significant difference in the achievement levels of students participating in an online course through smaller cooperative learning groups compared with those participating through larger cooperative learning groups?
- 2. Is there a significant difference in the achievement levels of male and female students participating in an online course through smaller cooperative learning groups?
- 2. Is there a significant difference in the achievement levels of male and female students participating in an online course through smaller cooperative learning groups?
- 3. Is there a significant difference in the achievement levels of male and female students participating in an online course through larger cooperative learning groups?
- 3. Is there a significant difference in the achievement levels of male and female students participating in an online course through larger cooperative learning groups?
- Procedures
- Sample
- All 24 students in the Master of Education programme taking the online course in Issues in Internal Assessment in the January to May, 2009 semester, were included in the study. The entire course was delivered asynchronously over a 13 week period through web-based communication. The students who participated in the course were connected, remotely, from locations in seven different Caribbean countries: Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadin
- Method
- Prior to the start of the course, each student was provided with two critical resource documents. These were (i) a 168-page research report on Practices, Problems and Proposals of School Based Assessment by Desmond Broomes and (ii) a 271 page Study Guide and Resource Manual for Issues in Internal Assessment prepared by the instructor. Part I of the latter document contained a description of the course, including rationale, objectives, content, schedule, teaching methods,
- course assessment and prescribed and recommended readings. Part II contained a collection of materials from various published and non-published sources which, collectively, covered the content and objectives of the course.
- The course was defined as a 39-hour, 3-credit graduate course. It comprised five Units, each of which was subdivided into a number of topics or issues. The duration of a Unit varied between two and three weeks, depending on its level of demand.
- The instructor devoted a significant proportion of the time during the first week to the clarification of how students were assigned to smaller and larger groups for the first and second half of the course. The remaining time during the first week was devoted to an instructor-led conference aimed at revising critical concepts covered in a previous course in Educational and Psychological Measurement which was a pre-requisite for the course in Issues in Internal Assessment.
- A counterbalanced design was used in this study. The 24 students in the class were divided into six Clusters, each comprising four students. These Clusters were labelled 1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, 2B and 2C. Clusters 1A, 1B, 1C were assigned to smaller group conferences for the first half of the course and to larger group conferences for the second half of the course. On the other hand, Clusters 2A, 2B and 2C were assigned to larger group conferences for the first half of the course and to smaller group conferences fo
- Essentially, four conferences were set up for the first half, or Part I, of the course. Three of the four conferences were smaller group conferences to which Clusters 1A, 1B and 1C were separately assigned. The fourth was a larger group conference to which Clusters 2A, 2B and 2C were assigned as a single, combined group. As was the case for the first half of the course, four conferences were set up for the second half, or Part II, of the course. Three of these conferences were smaller group conferences to
- Table 1
- Allocation of Clusters to Smaller and Larger Groups for Parts I and II of the Course
- Part
- Part
- Part
- Part
- Week No.
- Week No.
- Cluster
- Cluster
- Assignment
- Assignment
- Span
- I
- I
- I
- 2 - 7
- 2 - 7
- 1A, 1B, 1C
- 1A, 1B, 1C
- Small Group
- Small Group
- Span
- TR
- 2A, 2B, 2C
- 2A, 2B, 2C
- Large Group
- Large Group
- Span
- II
- II
- II
- 8 - 13
- 8 - 13
- 2A, 2B, 2C
- 2A, 2B, 2C
- Small Group
- Small Group
- Span
- TR
- 1A, 1B, 1C
- 1A, 1B, 1C
- Large Group
- Large Group
- Span
- Student Moderators were used for all conferences. The Moderator was required to provide guidance by identifying the particular focus to be pursued. In this role, the Moderator posed questions to guide the online discussion and stimulated and encouraged discussion on the topic under consideration. The reliance on student Moderators has received much support in the literature (Griffith, 2009; Hara, Bonk & Angeli, 2000; Leh, 2000; Poole, 2000; Tagg, 1994; Veen, Lam & Taconis, 1998). Following a review of the
- research literature, Seo (2007) noted that “student moderators can lead discussions more effectively and foster greater student comprehension than the instructor because student moderators better understand their peers’ way of thinking” (p. 22).
- For the larger group conferences, the Moderator was drawn from one of the three Clusters comprising the group. The other three members of the Cluster, from which the Moderator was drawn, served as Researchers. All eight members of the other two Clusters in the larger group conferences served as Discussants. The Researchers were required to find and post relevant materials, including materials from various websites and to give a summary of their content and their importance to the topic under discussion. The
- For the Clusters in the smaller group conferences, one of the four members served as the Moderator while the other three assumed the combined roles of Researcher and Discussant.
- At the end of Part I of the course, students were given a 30-item four-option multiple-choice test constructed by the instructor to measure achievement on that part of the course. At the end of Part II of the course, a similar test, measuring achievement on the second part of the course, was administered. Given the nature of the design used in the study, each of the 24 students obtained test scores as a participant in a smaller group conference and as a participant in a larger group conference.
- Results
- This study was concerned with whether there was a significant difference between the achievement levels of students in smaller cooperative learning groups and those in larger cooperative learning groups. It was concerned, as well, with whether gender affected performance in smaller and larger groups. The study was not concerned with whether students performed better in Part 1 or Part II of the test.
- Under the circumstances, the primary interest of the researcher was in the means of the scores obtained by students when participating in (a) smaller cooperative learning groups and (b) larger cooperative learning groups. Given the concern about gender performance, the researcher was also interested in the means of scores of male and female students participating in (a) smaller cooperative learning groups and (b) larger cooperative learning groups.
- The 24 students in the class comprised 8 males and 16 females. The combined Clusters 1A, 1B and 1C, accounted for 5 of the 8 males, while the combined Clusters 2A, 2B and 2C, accounted for the other 3. Seven of the 16 females were included in the combined Clusters 1A, 1B and 1C while the other 9 were included in the combined Clusters 2A, 2B and 2C. Table 2 summarises the distribution of the scores of the 24 students, by gender, when they participated in the smaller and larger cooperative learning groups.
- The Cluster ID’s shown in Tables 2 were designed to link students to the Clusters to which they were assigned. For example, 1A/1 represents student number 1 in Cluster 1A while ID 2C/4 represents student number 4 in Cluster 2C (see Table 1 for a summary of how Clusters of students were allocated to smaller and larger groups for each Part of the course).
- Table 2
- Distribution of Scores Obtained for Parts I and II of the Course by Students Participating in Smaller and Larger Group Conferences
- Tests
- Tests
- Tests
- Tests
- Gender
- Gender
- Students in Smaller Group Conferences
- Students in Smaller Group Conferences
- Students in Larger Group Conferences
- Students in Larger Group Conferences
- Span
- TR
- Cluster ID
- Cluster ID
- Score Obtained
- Score Obtained
- Cluster ID
- Cluster ID
- Score Obtained
- Score Obtained
- Span
- Part I of Course
- Male
- Male
- 1A/1
- 1A/1
- 1B/1
- 1B/2
- 1B/3
- 1C/1
- 26
- 26
- 28
- 27
- 30
- 29
- 2A/1
- 2A/1
- 2C/1
- 2C/2
- 25
- 25
- 28
- 26
- Span
- TR
- Female
- Female
- 1A/2
- 1A/2
- 1A/3
- 1A/4
- 1B/4
- 1C/2
- 1C/3
- 1C/4
- 26
- 26
- 25
- 26
- 24
- 25
- 30
- 26
- 2A/2
- 2A/2
- 2A/3
- 2A/4
- 2B/1
- 2B/2
- 2B/3
- 2B/4
- 2C/3
- 2C/4
- 26
- 26
- 25
- 30
- 28
- 29
- 26
- 29
- 26
- 26
- Span
- Part II of Course
- Male
- Male
- 2A/1
- 2A/1
- 2C/1
- 2C/2
- 13
- 13
- 20
- 17
- 1A/1
- 1A/1
- 1B/1
- 1B/2
- 1B/2
- 1C/1
- 16
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 21
- Span
- TR
- Female
- Female
- 2A/2
- 2A/2
- 2A/3
- 2A/4
- 2B/1
- 2B/2
- 2B/3
- 2B/4
- 2C/3
- 2C/4
- 22
- 22
- 14
- 23
- 20
- 18
- 15
- 19
- 16
- 22
- 1A/2
- 1A/2
- 1A/3
- 1A/4
- 1B/4
- 1C/2
- 1C/3
- 1C/4
- 13
- 13
- 18
- 20
- 15
- 17
- 21
- 24
- Span
- Table 3 shows the means and standard deviations of achievement scores, by gender, for students who participated in the smaller and larger cooperative learning group conferences in the online
- course. The overall mean score of 22.54 and related standard deviation of 5.13 for the students when they participated in the smaller cooperative learning groups do not appear to be much different from the overall mean score of 22.21 and related standard deviation of 5.35 for students when they participated in the larger cooperative learning groups.
- Table 3
- Mean and Standard Deviation of Achievement Scores by Gender for Students Participating in Smaller Group and Larger Group Conferences
- Table
- TR
- TD
- Span
- Groups
- TD
- Span
- Gender
- TD
- Span
- Part I
- TD
- Span
- Part II
- TD
- Span
- Overall
- Span
- TR
- TD
- Span
- TD
- Span
- TD
- Span
- Mean
- TD
- Span
- SD
- TD
- Span
- Mean
- TD
- Span
- SD
- TD
- Span
- Mean
- TD
- Span
- SD
- Span
- TR
- TD
- Span
- Smaller Group
- TD
- Span
- Male
- TD
- Span
- 28.00
- TD
- Span
- 1.58
- TD
- Span
- 16.67
- TD
- Span
- 3.51
- TD
- Span
- 23.75
- TD
- Span
- 6.27
- TR
- TD
- Span
- Female
- TD
- Span
- 26.00
- TD
- Span
- 1.92
- TD
- Span
- 18.78
- TD
- Span
- 3.27
- TD
- Span
- 21.94
- TD
- Span
- 4.57
- TR
- TD
- Span
- Total
- TD
- Span
- 26.83
- TD
- Span
- 1.99
- TD
- Span
- 18.25
- TD
- Span
- 3.31
- TD
- Span
- 22.54
- TD
- Span
- 5.13
- TR
- TD
- Span
- Larger Group
- TD
- Span
- Male
- TD
- Span
- 26.33
- TD
- Span
- 1.53
- TD
- Span
- 18.20
- TD
- Span
- 1.92
- TD
- Span
- 21.25
- TD
- Span
- 4.53
- Span
- TR
- TD
- Span
- Female
- TD
- Span
- 27.22
- TD
- Span
- 1.79
- TD
- Span
- 16.86
- TD
- Span
- 3.02
- TD
- Span
- 22.69
- TD
- Span
- 5.79
- Span
- TR
- TD
- Span
- Total
- TD
- Span
- 27.00
- TD
- Span
- 1.71
- TD
- Span
- 17.42
- TD
- Span
- 2.61
- TD
- Span
- 22.21
- TD
- Span
- 5.35
- Span
- The overall mean 23.75 and standard deviation of 6.27 for the males when participating in the smaller cooperative learning group conferences showed marginal differences from the mean of 21.94 and standard deviation of 4.57 obtained for females when participating in similar conferences. Based on a consideration of the means in particular, it may be concluded that, in the smaller cooperative learning groups, males achieved marginally higher than females.
- However, the obverse may be concluded for the larger cooperative groups based on the overall means of male and female achievement in that group. In the larger learning groups, females achieved marginally higher than males. The mean and standard deviation of scores for females were 22.69 and 5.79, respectively, while for males they were 21.25 and 4.53, respectively.
- Further analyses were undertaken specifically to test the significance of differences between the means obtained for the variables of interest. More particularly three null hypotheses were tested:
- 1. There is a no significant difference between the mean scores of students who participated in the smaller cooperative learning groups and those who participated in the larger cooperative learning groups.
- 1. There is a no significant difference between the mean scores of students who participated in the smaller cooperative learning groups and those who participated in the larger cooperative learning groups.
- 1. There is a no significant difference between the mean scores of students who participated in the smaller cooperative learning groups and those who participated in the larger cooperative learning groups.
- 2. There is no significant difference between the mean scores of male and female students who participate in the smaller cooperative learning groups.
- 2. There is no significant difference between the mean scores of male and female students who participate in the smaller cooperative learning groups.
- 3. There is no significant difference between the mean scores of male and female students who participate in the larger cooperative learning groups.
- 3. There is no significant difference between the mean scores of male and female students who participate in the larger cooperative learning groups.
- A t-test of the significance of the difference between each of the pairs of means of interest was undertaken with the aid of Microsoft Office Excel 2007. Black (2005, p. 406), pointed to the usefulness of the t-test which was devised for testing differences between means for small samples of less than 30. The test of homogeneity of variance (based on the F-distribution) for the distribution of scores that yielded the pairs of means which were compared in this study indicated
- that they were sufficiently homogenous (p > .05) to use the t-test unaltered (see Black, 2005, p. 419).
- The results are the t-tests for the difference between the overall mean scores of students who participated in the smaller cooperative learning groups and those who participated in the larger cooperative learning groups are presented in Table 4. The table shows a calculated t-value of 0.22 which is less than the critical t-value of 2.01 for the two-tailed test and a p-value of 0.83 which far exceeds the α of 0.05 set for the test of significance. This clearly indicates that the first hypothesis which states
- Table 4
- Test of Significance of Difference between Mean Achievement of Students in Smaller and Larger Cooperative Learning Groups
- Smaller Group
- Smaller Group
- Larger Group
- Larger Group
- Span
- Mean
- Mean
- Mean
- 22.54167
- 22.54167
- 22.20833
- 22.20833
- Span
- Variance
- Variance
- Variance
- 26.34601
- 26.34601
- 28.60688
- 28.60688
- Observations
- Observations
- Observations
- 24
- 24
- 24
- 24
- Pooled Variance
- Pooled Variance
- Pooled Variance
- 27.47645
- 27.47645
- Hypothesized Mean Difference
- Hypothesized Mean Difference
- Hypothesized Mean Difference
- 0
- 0
- df
- df
- df
- 46
- 46
- t Stat
- t Stat
- t Stat
- 0.220287
- 0.220287
- P(T<=t) one-tail
- P(T<=t) one-tail
- P(T<=t) one-tail
- 0.413311
- 0.413311
- t Critical one-tail
- t Critical one-tail
- t Critical one-tail
- 1.67866
- 1.67866
- P(T<=t) two-tail
- P(T<=t) two-tail
- P(T<=t) two-tail
- 0.826622
- 0.826622
- t Critical two-tail
- t Critical two-tail
- t Critical two-tail
- 2.012896
- 2.012896
- Span
- The procedures followed in testing the significance of the difference between the mean scores of male and female students who participated in the smaller cooperative learning groups were similar to those followed in testing the significance of the difference between the overall means obtained for students who participated in the smaller and larger cooperative learning groups. The results are presented in Table 5.
- The calculated t-value of 0.81 is less than the critical t-value of 2.07 and the p-value of 0.43 for the two-tailed test far exceeds the α of 0.05. Therefore, the hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the means cannot be rejected.
- Table 5
- Test of Significance of Gender Difference in Achievement for Students in Smaller Cooperative Learning Groups
- Male
- Male
- Female
- Female
- Span
- Mean
- Mean
- Mean
- 23.75
- 23.75
- 21.9375
- 21.9375
- Span
- Variance
- Variance
- Variance
- 39.35714
- 39.35714
- 20.8625
- 20.8625
- Observations
- Observations
- Observations
- 8
- 8
- 16
- 16
- Pooled Variance
- Pooled Variance
- Pooled Variance
- 26.74716
- 26.74716
- Hypothesized Mean Difference
- Hypothesized Mean Difference
- Hypothesized Mean Difference
- 0
- 0
- df
- df
- df
- 22
- 22
- t Stat
- t Stat
- t Stat
- 0.809354
- 0.809354
- P(T<=t) one-tail
- P(T<=t) one-tail
- P(T<=t) one-tail
- 0.213489
- 0.213489
- t Critical one-tail
- t Critical one-tail
- t Critical one-tail
- 1.717144
- 1.717144
- P(T<=t) two-tail
- P(T<=t) two-tail
- P(T<=t) two-tail
- 0.426979
- 0.426979
- t Critical two-tail
- t Critical two-tail
- t Critical two-tail
- 2.073873
- 2.073873
- Span
- The procedures followed in testing the significance of the difference between the mean scores of male and female students who participated in the larger cooperative learning groups, were similar to those followed for the other two hypotheses. The results are provided in Table 6.
- Table 6
- Test of Significance of Gender Difference in Achievement for Students in Larger Group Cooperative Learning Groups
- Male
- Male
- Female
- Female
- Span
- Mean
- Mean
- Mean
- 21.25
- 21.25
- 22.6875
- 22.6875
- Span
- Variance
- Variance
- Variance
- 20.5
- 20.5
- 33.5625
- 33.5625
- Observations
- Observations
- Observations
- 8
- 8
- 16
- 16
- Pooled Variance
- Pooled Variance
- Pooled Variance
- 29.40625
- 29.40625
- Hypothesized Mean Difference
- Hypothesized Mean Difference
- Hypothesized Mean Difference
- 0
- 0
- df
- df
- df
- 22
- 22
- t Stat
- t Stat
- t Stat
- -0.61219
- -0.61219
- P(T<=t) one-tail
- P(T<=t) one-tail
- P(T<=t) one-tail
- 0.273343
- 0.273343
- t Critical one-tail
- t Critical one-tail
- t Critical one-tail
- 1.717144
- 1.717144
- P(T<=t) two-tail
- P(T<=t) two-tail
- P(T<=t) two-tail
- 0.546687
- 0.546687
- t Critical two-tail
- t Critical two-tail
- t Critical two-tail
- 2.073873
- 2.073873
- Span
- Again, the calculated t-value of -0.61 is less than the critical t-value of 2.07 and the p-value of 0.55 for the two-tailed test far exceeds the set α of 0.05. Therefore, the hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the means cannot be rejected.
- Discussion
- This research sought to ascertain whether students in a smaller cooperative learning group would perform better than students in a larger cooperative learning group. The level of achievement of cooperative learning groups of four students was compared with that of groups of 12. The findings suggest that there was no significant difference in the achievement levels of the larger and smaller cooperative learning groups. The findings further suggest that gender achievement was not affected by group size.
- The findings of this study are in sync with those of the Bertucci, Conte, Johnson and Johnson (2010) who found that group size did not affect achievement: students working in groups of four did not achieve higher results than students working in pairs. These findings accord, as well, with that of a number of other studies which considered the effects of group size on achievement levels in different settings. These include the work of Jackson (1980) who reported no statistically significant difference in ach
- The findings concerning the impact of group size on gender achievement was inconclusive. The small gender differences found were not significant. Denessen et al. (2008) pointed to the inconclusiveness of research on gender and achievement in groups - boys outperform girls in some instances while in others girls outperform boys and “researchers have found no statistically significant differences” (p. 380). In this study, no statistically significant differences were found.
- Conclusion and Recommendations
- The current study supports the findings of a number of earlier studies that the size of the cooperative learning group does not affect achievement. It adds to the inconclusive nature of the findings on gender and achievement in groups – this time due to the lack of significance of the small gender differences observed.
- There is evidently the need for additional research that will help to shed further light on the relationship between size of the cooperative learning group and levels of achievement. This is particularly important for online learning in higher education where cooperative learning groups are frequently organized on the understanding that they will help to improve student learning. The challenge is to find out what size of group will optimise learning and whether gender is a factor in to be considered.
- The current study was undertaken with a sample of 24 students in a single graduate course offered in one semester. The number of females in the two counterbalanced groups used in the study was much larger than the number of males. The size of the sample would no doubt have affected the stability of the variance between small and large group achievement, and between male and female achievement. It is often challenging to find large classes for graduate courses in many university settings. Nevertheless, more
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- About the Author
- Stafford A. Griffith is Professor of Research, Measurement and Evaluation in the School of Education at the Mona Campus (Jamaica) of the University of the West Indies. Professor Griffith holds graduate degrees in education with specialized study in research, measurement and evaluation, and curriculum development. He also holds a LL.B. degree. Professor Griffith has approximately 42 years of combined work experience in teaching, curriculum development, measurement and evaluation, and programme planning and m
- E-Mail:
- E-Mail:
- [email protected]
- Editor’s Note. This article is last because it changes the theme to the future. Dr. Santally’s previous articles in this Journal are world-class in exploration and development of learning objects. This article includes learning objects, but looks at the broader field of Open Educational (Digital) Resources shared through Creative Commons licensing.
- Quality Assurance and Open Educational Resources
- Quality Assurance and Open Educational Resources
- in Online Courseware Development and Delivery
- Mohammad Issack SANTALLY
- Mauritius
- Abstract
- Open Educational Resources (OERs) are gaining momentum in education and throughout diverse academic communities. However, the quality element is still a concern for many. This article discusses the quality element with respect to the courseware design, development and delivery when OERs are used. A case study of a course is presented and it is argued that the quality element with respect to OERs encompasses much more than the mere quality assurance of the content that is being available. The issue of qualit
- Introduction
- The issue of quality assurance (QA) has increasingly become a priority for Higher Education institutions. As universities compete to attract more students, but also to attract financing through various projects, quality represents one of the main criteria for ensuring a significant share of the educational market (Abdous 2009, p. 281). Guaranteeing quality, however, is not always an easy process, first and foremost because the very concept of "quality" is disputed and many different, contextual definitions
- The main barrier to such an innovative way of using OERs to reconceptualise the educational process in traditional universities are the quality assurance procedures that need to be 'strictly' followed. In a traditional lecture, quality is believed to be maintained if the lecturer spends 3 hours in the classroom irrespective of what he does or not. This is proved by the log book in which he signs. In another context, quality is maintained if students' results follow the normal distribution and if academic/ad
- This paper looks at the issue of quality assurance when OERs are used for courseware development purposes. It is clear that the main issue surrounding OERs use relates to the phase when the content is being developed while the other phases will normally fall into the existing
- quality assurance mechanisms of institutions. However, this perspective of viewing quality depends on the granularity of the OER being used.
- An Overview of OERs
- Open educational resources are defined by the Wikipedia community as being basically content, instructional approaches, activities and other resources, available for free and that are believed to be useful in educational contexts. The idea behind the concept is to promote access to education to a wider audience, especially those from deprived regions of the world, where the open resources can be freely reused, improved and repurposed to fit in different contexts. The term open educational resource was first
- Open educational resources are therefore basically learning objects which are open and which may be governed by alternate licensing standards such as Creative Commons. However, some definitions of open educational resources go beyond the classic definitions learning objects. It can basically be any resource that is available in an open access manner and that can be used in an educational context. It can be anything from a blog post to a complete website which has no relation to educational contexts, but wh
- While materials can be produced, published, shared and accessed by anyone at a low cost, well defined OER projects within an educational context does cost a lot in terms of funding and effort needed to build, implement and sustain those initiatives. For instance, the OpenLearn Project of the Open University in the UK had a budget of almost USD 5 million a year for the first two years (OECD, 2007). On the other hand, from the same source, it is mentioned that the OCW project of the University of the Western
- OERs are also available in a variety of formats and in a variety of repositories using different types of standards. Resources can be available in portable document formats (PDF), compressed formats (ZIP, RAR), hypertext and/or animation/movie formats. This variety adds both to the flexibility as well as the complexity
- There are also a number of barriers that have been reported with respect to the creation, use and adoption of OERS such as lack of support from management level, lack of staff reward system, lack of skills and lack of time from the educator’s community. This definitely impacts on the sustainability of OER initiatives and in the course of time leads to a decrease in the perceived quality levels of such content.
- Quality in OERs
- From Creation to Consumption and Dissemination
- Open Educational Resources provide instructors with an innovative way to conceptualise courses. The philosophy behind it is that courseware development becomes a distributed and a split 3-phased approach. This means that the development of content can be done by anyone, anywhere and at any point in time, thus becoming the first phase of the process. The instructor involved in
- the use of OERs has practically no control over this phase but has access to a range of tools than can give him access to content having been developed in that phase. A simple example would be to use a search engine to look for related content or to access OER repositories. The other phase would be to build-up the course from the content available manually or through the help of courseware building tools. The third phase would be the delivery and dissemination of the course content in a face-to-face classro
- Issues of quality in educational processes normally arise in terms of
- The content – its selection, aggregation and presentation
- The content – its selection, aggregation and presentation
- The content – its selection, aggregation and presentation
- The pedagogical approach used
- The pedagogical approach used
- The delivery of the course
- The delivery of the course
- Students’ satisfaction, performance and acquired competencies
- Students’ satisfaction, performance and acquired competencies
- The most obvious issue of quality in OER-based courseware development process relates only to the content development phase on which the author has no particular control. This is where most of the concerns related to quality assurance lies. Traditionally speaking, reliable sources of academic information were only books, and published research (journal articles and conference papers) as well as from the academic’s philosophical perception of things (academic freedom). With the democratisation of access to c
- The fact that OERs came into the limelight more or less with the emergence of Web 2.0 era (contrary to the Learning Objects Concept) contributed to the significance of the concerns regarding QA issues. Therefore academics and instructors using OERs need to have a well-established set of guidelines that would provide a framework for the search and use of freely available content from the Web. De-facto trusted sites like the OpenLearn platform, Connexions and Curriki, just to name a few would greatly help but
- It is important to note that peer-reviewing has over the years proved useful in research-related quality assurance systems. With the concept of collaborative editing through wiki technologies, the concept of peer-reviewing has been very much the motor for those promoting an approach based of OER development through communities of practice. However, the issue that remains contradictive is the impersonation issue. While there are ways to counter this, sites like Wikipedia and others will definitely encounter
- One possibility to counter the above problem is therefore to completely rethink (re-engineer) the pedagogical approaches used when designing courses using OERs. When courses are fully content-oriented, it is obvious that quality assurance processes will focus mainly on the content being used and presented to the users. However, if the content is not the central focus, but an element in a broader pedagogical scenario, then the whole quality assurance issue takes a
- different perspective. The concept of project/activity-based learning that focus on the development of a set of skills and competencies by the student through socio-constructivist models can be useful. Quality assurance will in this case be a process that ensures the learning path of the learner will lead to the desired outcomes. In doing so, using a variety of available contents on the web which are labelled as OER is not a problem as the learners will develop higher order cognitive skills where they can s
- Case-Study of OER-Based Coursware and the Issue of Quality
- In this section we shall describe a course on Educational Technologies developed at the University of Mauritius that incorporated OERs. We will look at how the course fit in the existing quality assurance frameworks of the university and where some adaptations were needed. To mount a course from OERs, there are two possible practices namely the bottom up approach or the top down system. In the bottom up approach the course developer has a broad idea of what he or she wants to deliver in a course and what ou
- This is a foundation course targeted at students who are enrolled on bachelor programmes of the University but who have an interest in education. They might be aspiring teachers, educators or looking for a future career in an educational context. The course is not compulsory and is offered as a general education module (GEM). The course has no written exams and the evaluation is done through a set of assignments consisting of a mini project, forum participation and completion of self-learning activities. Th
- With this requirement in hand, the course developer tries to look for suitable content from OER repositories. Given that the University of Mauritius was during that period involved in the SIDECAP project in partnership with the Open University of the UK, the OpenLearn platform was chosen for this experiment with Open Education Resources. With respect to the four elements that constitute a ‘quality framework’ as per our conception of education, we try to analyse the process related to the design, development
- The Content – its selection, aggregation and presentation
- Course development is not only about writing of content. The content is just one of the elements that constitute a course, yet a very important one. Starting with the course outline, course aims and goals as the benchmark, an in-depth analysis of related content on the OpenLearn platform is done by the course developers. Another element that is determinant in the choice of already available content is the number of learning hours of the units being selected.
- The quality of content is based on a mutual trust (between the academic community) given that OpenLearn content already undergo prior phases of review (through LabSpace) before being
- posted online. These reviews ensure integrity, accuracy and relevance of the content and its sources. However, when independent OpenLearn units are being selected to form part of a course, there is a need to make sure if the content of the different units are compatible and homogenous. This can be a quality issue even if the individual chunks of content are high quality since it does not necessarily guarantee the final product will be of the same standard unless compatibility and homogeneity of content is
- The Pedagogical Approach Used
- In a course, the content is no longer the central element. Even if a course is built from non-OER material, learners will still look for further content in libraries or online through content repositories or simple web search. The pedagogical approach used to ensure the learning outcomes are achieved is also important in determining the quality of the course. Therefore OERs can unjustly suffer from the quality debate given that OERs (in the form of content) do not necessarily contain an underlying recommend
- In the Educational Technologies course, there is no written assessment and learners are assessed purely through continuous methods such as online participation in discussion forums, completion of learning activities and a final practical mini-project where they need to develop a simple educational website. In this case, it is therefore important to choose content that will allow the learners to carry out the practical activities and to achieve the projected learning outcomes.
- Course Delivery
- Quality of a course is also intrinsically linked to the way it is delivered and the type and efficiency of support that learners receive. When we talk of the use of Open Educational Resources reference is usually made to the design and delivery of online courses rather than in the traditional face-to-face scenarios. Online courses need to have a well-structured course delivery plan as well as an operational framework for learner support. Without this framework, any online course irrespective of whether OERs
- The Educational Technologies online course receives an average enrolment of 150-200 students yearly. The learners have access to a number of different online support forums, regular Skype chats and a tutor is allocated for each batch of 50 learners. When using OERs it is also important that the tutors go through the course in detail prior to the delivery so as to master the different aspects of the course. Students also have access to a set of online interactive tutorials that have been developed as supplem
- Students’ Satisfaction, performance and acquired competencies
- Another important element that adds credibility to the quality assurance process is the feedback obtained from the learners in terms of their satisfaction, their own perception of the quality of their learning experience, their performances in assessment activities as well as the competencies and skills acquired with respect to the targets that were initially set.
- The element of student feedback throughout the course in a formative way provides better insight for course developers and tutors to know what they have got right and wrong and this gives them the opportunity to mend some issues during the course of delivery itself. Student satisfaction is also an element to be taken into account when judging the quality of a course. Student satisfaction can however be seen as a complex issue that can often be guided by subjective appraisal by learners.
- In the Educational Technologies course student feedback, satisfaction, their performance and the competencies they demonstrated were taken as a holistic unit in order to get an objective
- feedback on the perceived quality on the course outcomes. Throughout the course, students participate on forums, regularly enter journal reflections and carry out self-assessment as well as tutor marked activities. At the end of the course, they are asked to provide feedback in terms of answering open-ended questions rather than filling standard feedback sheets.
- Conclusion
- The issue of quality has been constantly raised in debates surrounding the use of OERs in education. However, it is clear that quality needs to be seen in a holistic way and needs not only focus on the content but on the learning environment as one entity that consists of the learning content, the pedagogical approaches, delivery and support mechanisms and students achievements and perception of the learning experience. We show in this article using a case study of a course that has been mounted using OERs
- References
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- About the Author
- Mohammad Issack SANTALLY is from the Virtual Centre for Innovative Learning Technologies at the University of Mauritius.
- Email:
- Distance learners’ Work Life Learning Balance
- Distance learners’ Work Life Learning Balance
- Distance learners’ Work Life Learning Balance
- Distance learners’ Work Life Learning Balance
