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Donald E. Mowrer - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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A content analysis of student/instructor communication via Computer Conferencing
Higher Education, 1996Co-Authors: Donald E. MowrerAbstract:The focus of this study centers upon an analysis of instructor and student postings on the Electronic Forum (EF) during a one-semester undergraduate phonetics course. Sixty-one students were invited to participate in a class Computer Conferencing project to discuss questions about the course content and assignments, share ideas with others, and respond to comments made by their peers and the instructor. The content of each student's and instructor's posting was analyzed to determine the number and type of topics discussed. Students wrote about 340 topics in 143 postings; the instructor wrote 124 topics in 23 postings. These topics were placed in categories and analyzed with respect to the postings made during the first and second half semester. Four interactive communicative Category Clusters were identified. These Clusters show interaction trends between students and instructor and resulting accommodations made by both students and the instructor. The advantages of using an electronic forum to enhance student learning, to improve classroom activities, and to empower students to take more active roles in their learning, are discussed.
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a content analysis of student instructor communication via Computer Conferencing
Higher Education, 1996Co-Authors: Donald E. MowrerAbstract:The focus of this study centers upon an analysis of instructor and student postings on the Electronic Forum (EF) during a one-semester undergraduate phonetics course. Sixty-one students were invited to participate in a class Computer Conferencing project to discuss questions about the course content and assignments, share ideas with others, and respond to comments made by their peers and the instructor. The content of each student's and instructor's posting was analyzed to determine the number and type of topics discussed. Students wrote about 340 topics in 143 postings; the instructor wrote 124 topics in 23 postings. These topics were placed in categories and analyzed with respect to the postings made during the first and second half semester. Four interactive communicative Category Clusters were identified. These Clusters show interaction trends between students and instructor and resulting accommodations made by both students and the instructor. The advantages of using an electronic forum to enhance student learning, to improve classroom activities, and to empower students to take more active roles in their learning, are discussed.
Walter Archer - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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ASSESSING TEACHING PRESENCE IN A Computer Conferencing CONTEXT
Online Learning, 2019Co-Authors: Terry Anderson, Liam Rourke, Edmonton Alberta, D. Randy Garrison, Walter ArcherAbstract:This paper presents a tool developed for the purpose of assessing teaching presence in online courses that make use of Computer Conferencing, and preliminary results from the use of this tool. The method of analysis is based on Garrison, Anderson, and Archer’s [1] model of critical thinking and practical inquiry in a Computer Conferencing context. The concept of teaching presence is constitutively defined as having three categories – design and organization, facilitating discourse, and direct instruction. Indicators that we search for in the Computer conference transcripts identify each category. Pilot testing of the instrument reveals interesting differences in the extent and type of teaching presence found in different graduate level online courses.
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critical thinking and Computer Conferencing a model and tool to assess cognitive presence
2001Co-Authors: Randy D Garrison, Terry Anderson, Walter ArcherAbstract:The adoption of Computer-mediated communication (CMC) in higher education has far out-paced our understanding of how this medium should be used so as to best promote higher-order learning. This medium is substantively different, in several important ways, from face-to-face classroom teaching. A number of other scholars are now trying to remedy this deficiency in our understanding by studying various aspects of the use of CMC in this educational environment. At the heart of the challenge facing us is the need to create a critical community of inquiry – the hallmark of higher education - within a virtual text -based environment. We have, therefore, focused our efforts on developing the means to assess the nature and quality of critical discourse that takes place within a text -based educational environment. The paper begins with an overview of the model of critical thinking that we have developed as a framework for our study. Within this overall framework, we propose a model of “cognitive presence” that will provide a means to assess the nature of discourse in a text -based educational environment, and its appropriateness as a means to achieve the overall goals of higher education. The body of the paper describes the initial results of the use of this model as a tool to assess evidence of the nature and quality of critical discourse and thinking in an educational Computer conference. We discuss the methodological challenges associated with assessing cognitive presence and provide guidelines and suggestions for further research. The results of this investigation are also discussed in terms of their practical educational implications. Theoretical Context The conceptual framework for this study has been described previously in a paper by Garrison, Anderson and Archer (2,000). In this paper, the model of a “Community of Inquiry” was described that specifically applied to the practice of Computer Conferencing in higher education. The three elements of this community of inquiry are cognitive presence, social presence and teaching presence. The focus of this paper is primarily on cognitive presence defined largely in terms of individual critical thinking and collaborative discourse. For this reason we first turn our attention to a discussion of critical thinking. Cognitive presence. Cognitive presence is a manifestation of practical inquiry. Cognitive presence is defined as the extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained discourse in a critical community of inquiry (Garrison et al., 2000). In other words, cognitive presence reflects higher-order knowledge acquisition and application and is most associated with the literature and research related to critical thinking. The genesis and context of cognitive presence is more fully explained in Garrison et al. (2000) but, suffice to say here, it is operationalized through the practical inquiry process. The practical inquiry process is most closely associated with John Dewey (1933) and will be discussed subsequently. The ultimate value of a tool to assess the nature of the critical thinking process will, obviously, depend upon the validity of the critical thinking concept and its ability to reflect educational practice. It is important at the outset to emphasize that the focus here is upon higher-order thinking processes as opposed to specific individual learning outcomes such as deep and meaningful understanding as well as content specific critical inquiry abilities, skills and dispositions. To emphasize, the focus here is on a collaborative process of critical inquiry. This research is an exploration of the nature and quality of critical inquiry as defined and assessed by the phases (i.e., process) of a generalized model of critical thinking and practical inquiry. The assumption is that critical thinking as an outcome is best measured from an individual perspective; that is, as acquired thinking skills and worthwhile knowledge. Judging the quality of critical thinking as an outcome within a specific educational context is the responsibility of a teacher as pedagogical and content expert. From a process perspective, it is assumed that this could be greatly assisted by a tool to assess critical discourse and reflection for the purpose of acquiring intended and worthwhile learning outcomes.
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critical inquiry in a text based environment Computer Conferencing in higher education
Internet and Higher Education, 1999Co-Authors: Randy D Garrison, Terry Anderson, Walter ArcherAbstract:Abstract The purpose of this study is to provide conceptual order and a tool for the use of Computer-mediated communication (CMC) and Computer Conferencing in supporting an educational experience. Central to the study introduced here is a model of community inquiry that constitutes three elements essential to an educational transaction—cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence. Indicators (key words/phrases) for each of the three elements emerged from the analysis of Computer-Conferencing transcripts. The indicators described represent a template or tool for researchers to analyze written transcripts, as well as a guide to educators for the optimal use of Computer Conferencing as a medium to facilitate an educational transaction. This research would suggest that Computer Conferencing has considerable potential to create a community of inquiry for educational purposes.
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assessing social presence in asynchronous text based Computer Conferencing
International Journal of E-Learning & Distance Education Revue internationale du e-learning et la formation à distance, 1999Co-Authors: Liam Rourke, Randy D Garrison, Terry Anderson, Walter ArcherAbstract:Instructional media such as Computer Conferencing engender high levels of student-student and student-teacher interaction; therefore, they can support models of teaching and learning that are highly interactive and consonant with the communicative ideals of university education. This potential and the ubiquity of Computer Conferencing in higher education prompted three of the authors of the this article to develop a community of inquiry model that synthesizes pedagogical principles with the inherent instructional and access benefits of Computer Conferencing (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000). This article explicates one element of the model, social presence. Social presence is defined as the ability of learners to project themselves socially and affectively into a community of inquiry. A template for assessing social presence in Computer Conferencing is presented through content analysis of Conferencing transcripts. To facilitate explication of the scheme and subsequent replication of this study, selections of coded transcripts are included, along with interrater reliability figures. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications and benefits of assessing social presence for instructors, conference moderators, and researchers. Les medias educatifs, tel le forum electronique, sont susceptibles d'engendrer un niveau eleve d'interaction entre les etudiants et entre le tuteur et chaque etudiant; par consequent, ils peuvent soutenir des modeles d'enseignement et d'apprentissage qui mettent en valeur l'interaction et qui sont compatibles avec les ideaux communicationnels d'une education universitaire. Ce potentiel, ainsi que l'ubiquite du forum asynchrone dans l'education superieure, ont mene trois des auteurs de cet article a developper un modele de communaute de recherche qui resume les principes pedagogiques applicables au forum electronique en incluant les benefices que l'enseignement peut en retirer et les avantages relatifs a l'accessibilite (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000). Cet article explique un element du modele : la presence sociale. On y definit la presence sociale comme la capacite des apprenants de se projeter sur le plan social et emotionnel dans une communaute de recherche. On y decrit un gabarit utilise pour evaluer la presence sociale lors d'une analyse de contenu de transcriptions de forums electroniques. Afin d'aider la comprehension des modalites d'evaluation et de faciliter la reproduction subsequente de cette etude, un echantillonnage de transcriptions codees ainsi que les baremes de fiabilite inter-evaluateurs sont fournis. L'article se termine par une discussion des consequences et des avantages de l'evaluation de la presence sociale du point de vue des formateurs, des animateurs de conference et des chercheurs.
Jim Hewitt - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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scan rate a new metric for the analysis of reading behaviors in asynchronous Computer Conferencing environments
American Journal of Distance Education, 2007Co-Authors: Jim Hewitt, Clare Brett, Vanessa PetersAbstract:This article introduces a new Computer Conferencing metric called Scan Rate, which is a measure of students' and instructors' online reading speed. The term “scan” refers to the practice of either skimming through a message at an unusually rapid pace or reading a message partially and then stopping before the end is reached. It is proposed that the Scan Rate metric offers a useful way of monitoring how thoroughly students attend to the messages they read. Four analyses illustrate the utility of the metric. These reveal that (1) scan rates increase with message size, (2) students are more likely to scan the messages of their peers than messages written by their instructor, (3) students engage in scanning practices more frequently than instructors, and (4) scan rates are partially a function of class size and class configuration.
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the relationship between class size and online activity patterns in asynchronous Computer Conferencing environments
Computers in Education, 2007Co-Authors: Jim Hewitt, Clare BrettAbstract:This study analyzes the relationship between class size and student online activity patterns in a series of 28 graduate level Computer Conferencing courses. Quantitative analyses of note production, average note size, note opening and note reading percentages found a significant positive correlation between class size and mean number of notes generated. Significant negative correlations were found between class size and average note size and between class size and percent of notes opened. Analyses of average reading speeds among large classes and small classes revealed that students in large classes were more likely to scan lengthy notes (i.e., notes that contain more than 350 words). Possible explanations for these results are discussed.
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Toward an Understanding of How Threads Die in Asynchronous Computer Conferences
Journal of the Learning Sciences, 2005Co-Authors: Jim HewittAbstract:Previous Computer Conferencing research has been concerned with the organizational, technical, social, and motivational factors that support and sustain online interaction. This article studies online interaction from a different perspective. Rather than analyze the processes that sustain discourse, the following research examines how and why discussions shut down. A Computer simulation of asynchronous threaded interaction suggests that certain common online habits, when practiced by many people, can adversely affect the lifespan of some threads. Specifically, the widespread practice of focusing attention on unread notes during Computer Conferencing sessions can produce a starvation condition that hastens the death of some threads and reduces the likelihood that inactive threads will become active again. The longevity of a thread, therefore, is partially affected by the kinds of routines that online participants follow when they use a Computer Conferencing interface. The educational implications of this f...
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an analysis of growth patterns in Computer Conferencing threads
Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, 1999Co-Authors: Jim Hewitt, Chris TeplovsAbstract:Threads in a Computer Conferencing systems develop in seemingly unpredictable ways. Each time someone starts a new discussion or extends an existing line of thought, there is a subtle shift in the intellectual spotlight n a shift that influences the contribution patterns of subsequent users. Active threads may unexpectedly fade to the background, and older, inactive threads may regain centre stage. Yet within this complex ebb and flow, there are certain indicators that help predict a thread's future. An analysis of the 1571 threads in 7 distance education conferences reveals patterns of development that can be used to statistically assign growth probabilities to individual threads. Possible applications of these findings are discussed.
Randy D Garrison - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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critical thinking and Computer Conferencing a model and tool to assess cognitive presence
2001Co-Authors: Randy D Garrison, Terry Anderson, Walter ArcherAbstract:The adoption of Computer-mediated communication (CMC) in higher education has far out-paced our understanding of how this medium should be used so as to best promote higher-order learning. This medium is substantively different, in several important ways, from face-to-face classroom teaching. A number of other scholars are now trying to remedy this deficiency in our understanding by studying various aspects of the use of CMC in this educational environment. At the heart of the challenge facing us is the need to create a critical community of inquiry – the hallmark of higher education - within a virtual text -based environment. We have, therefore, focused our efforts on developing the means to assess the nature and quality of critical discourse that takes place within a text -based educational environment. The paper begins with an overview of the model of critical thinking that we have developed as a framework for our study. Within this overall framework, we propose a model of “cognitive presence” that will provide a means to assess the nature of discourse in a text -based educational environment, and its appropriateness as a means to achieve the overall goals of higher education. The body of the paper describes the initial results of the use of this model as a tool to assess evidence of the nature and quality of critical discourse and thinking in an educational Computer conference. We discuss the methodological challenges associated with assessing cognitive presence and provide guidelines and suggestions for further research. The results of this investigation are also discussed in terms of their practical educational implications. Theoretical Context The conceptual framework for this study has been described previously in a paper by Garrison, Anderson and Archer (2,000). In this paper, the model of a “Community of Inquiry” was described that specifically applied to the practice of Computer Conferencing in higher education. The three elements of this community of inquiry are cognitive presence, social presence and teaching presence. The focus of this paper is primarily on cognitive presence defined largely in terms of individual critical thinking and collaborative discourse. For this reason we first turn our attention to a discussion of critical thinking. Cognitive presence. Cognitive presence is a manifestation of practical inquiry. Cognitive presence is defined as the extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained discourse in a critical community of inquiry (Garrison et al., 2000). In other words, cognitive presence reflects higher-order knowledge acquisition and application and is most associated with the literature and research related to critical thinking. The genesis and context of cognitive presence is more fully explained in Garrison et al. (2000) but, suffice to say here, it is operationalized through the practical inquiry process. The practical inquiry process is most closely associated with John Dewey (1933) and will be discussed subsequently. The ultimate value of a tool to assess the nature of the critical thinking process will, obviously, depend upon the validity of the critical thinking concept and its ability to reflect educational practice. It is important at the outset to emphasize that the focus here is upon higher-order thinking processes as opposed to specific individual learning outcomes such as deep and meaningful understanding as well as content specific critical inquiry abilities, skills and dispositions. To emphasize, the focus here is on a collaborative process of critical inquiry. This research is an exploration of the nature and quality of critical inquiry as defined and assessed by the phases (i.e., process) of a generalized model of critical thinking and practical inquiry. The assumption is that critical thinking as an outcome is best measured from an individual perspective; that is, as acquired thinking skills and worthwhile knowledge. Judging the quality of critical thinking as an outcome within a specific educational context is the responsibility of a teacher as pedagogical and content expert. From a process perspective, it is assumed that this could be greatly assisted by a tool to assess critical discourse and reflection for the purpose of acquiring intended and worthwhile learning outcomes.
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critical inquiry in a text based environment Computer Conferencing in higher education
Internet and Higher Education, 1999Co-Authors: Randy D Garrison, Terry Anderson, Walter ArcherAbstract:Abstract The purpose of this study is to provide conceptual order and a tool for the use of Computer-mediated communication (CMC) and Computer Conferencing in supporting an educational experience. Central to the study introduced here is a model of community inquiry that constitutes three elements essential to an educational transaction—cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence. Indicators (key words/phrases) for each of the three elements emerged from the analysis of Computer-Conferencing transcripts. The indicators described represent a template or tool for researchers to analyze written transcripts, as well as a guide to educators for the optimal use of Computer Conferencing as a medium to facilitate an educational transaction. This research would suggest that Computer Conferencing has considerable potential to create a community of inquiry for educational purposes.
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assessing social presence in asynchronous text based Computer Conferencing
International Journal of E-Learning & Distance Education Revue internationale du e-learning et la formation à distance, 1999Co-Authors: Liam Rourke, Randy D Garrison, Terry Anderson, Walter ArcherAbstract:Instructional media such as Computer Conferencing engender high levels of student-student and student-teacher interaction; therefore, they can support models of teaching and learning that are highly interactive and consonant with the communicative ideals of university education. This potential and the ubiquity of Computer Conferencing in higher education prompted three of the authors of the this article to develop a community of inquiry model that synthesizes pedagogical principles with the inherent instructional and access benefits of Computer Conferencing (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000). This article explicates one element of the model, social presence. Social presence is defined as the ability of learners to project themselves socially and affectively into a community of inquiry. A template for assessing social presence in Computer Conferencing is presented through content analysis of Conferencing transcripts. To facilitate explication of the scheme and subsequent replication of this study, selections of coded transcripts are included, along with interrater reliability figures. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications and benefits of assessing social presence for instructors, conference moderators, and researchers. Les medias educatifs, tel le forum electronique, sont susceptibles d'engendrer un niveau eleve d'interaction entre les etudiants et entre le tuteur et chaque etudiant; par consequent, ils peuvent soutenir des modeles d'enseignement et d'apprentissage qui mettent en valeur l'interaction et qui sont compatibles avec les ideaux communicationnels d'une education universitaire. Ce potentiel, ainsi que l'ubiquite du forum asynchrone dans l'education superieure, ont mene trois des auteurs de cet article a developper un modele de communaute de recherche qui resume les principes pedagogiques applicables au forum electronique en incluant les benefices que l'enseignement peut en retirer et les avantages relatifs a l'accessibilite (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000). Cet article explique un element du modele : la presence sociale. On y definit la presence sociale comme la capacite des apprenants de se projeter sur le plan social et emotionnel dans une communaute de recherche. On y decrit un gabarit utilise pour evaluer la presence sociale lors d'une analyse de contenu de transcriptions de forums electroniques. Afin d'aider la comprehension des modalites d'evaluation et de faciliter la reproduction subsequente de cette etude, un echantillonnage de transcriptions codees ainsi que les baremes de fiabilite inter-evaluateurs sont fournis. L'article se termine par une discussion des consequences et des avantages de l'evaluation de la presence sociale du point de vue des formateurs, des animateurs de conference et des chercheurs.
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Computer Conferencing the post industrial age of distance education
Open Learning: The Journal of Open and Distance Learning, 1997Co-Authors: Randy D GarrisonAbstract:(1997). Computer Conferencing: the post‐industrial age of distance education. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning: Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 3-11.
Stuart Palmer - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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On- and Off-Campus Engineering Student Usage of a Computer Conferencing System
Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 2001Co-Authors: Stuart PalmerAbstract:This article reports on the introduction of a Computer-Conferencing component into a first-year study unit in technology management at Deakin University, Australia. It was found that significant variations in Computer usage were correlated to student study mode, including source of Computer access, source of Internet access, hours-per-week Computer usage, regular use of e-mail, regular use of the Internet, number of times the conference was accessed, use of Computers for games, and use of Computers for learning. Other moderate differences were also noted. Following exposure to the Computer conference, on-campus students were more likely to agree that Computers could assist their learning, and off-campus students were less likely to agree that learning from Computers would be better than classes/lectures.
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Usage of a Computer Conferencing system by on- and off-campus engineering students
2001Co-Authors: Stuart PalmerAbstract:This paper reports on the introduction of a Computer Conferencing component into a first year study unit in Technology Management at Deakin University, Australia. It was found that significant variations in Computer usage were correlated to student study mode, including source of Computer access, source of Internet access, hours per week Computer usage, regular use of email, regular use of the Internet, and number of times the conference was accessed. Other moderate differences were also noted. Following exposure to the Computer conference, on-campus students were more likely to agree Computers could assist their learning, and off-campus students were less likely to agree that learning from Computers would be better than classes/lectures.