Teachers, Students, Cohesion and Community in Online Interaction Stephen Tschudi NFLRC Summer...
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Transcript of Teachers, Students, Cohesion and Community in Online Interaction Stephen Tschudi NFLRC Summer...
Teachers, Students, Cohesion and Community
in Online Interaction
Stephen TschudiNFLRC Summer Institute 2008
With thanks to CALICO study co-authors David Hiple and Dorothy Chun
Teaching and learning in a technology-mediated environment
Slow down the learning experience Make thinking visible Create a culture and context of reflective
practice Virtual communities of practice
Bass (2000)
From David’s presentation Day 1:
Virtual communities of practice: Roles and behaviors
Teacher: online and in the classroom Designer Director / choreographer / guide / mentor Participant Evaluator
Students Participant Peer leader (?) (Self-)evaluator
Language production
project
Further online
activities
Virtual communities of practice: Two models
Online stimulus +
report
“Cultura model”
Online intercultural discussion
In-class processing
and summary
Journaling (self-
reflection)
In-class reactions
Virtual communities of practice: Two models
Online stimulus +
report
“Cultura model”
Online intercultural discussion
In-class processing
and summary
Journaling (self-
reflection)
In-class reactions Language
production project
Further online
activitiesTeacher as designer
Virtual communities of practice: Two models
Online stimulus +
report
“Cultura model”
Online intercultural discussion
In-class processing
and summary
Journaling (self-
reflection)
In-class reactions Language
production project
Further online
activitiesTeacher as designer
Teacher as guide
Virtual communities of practice: Two models
Online stimulus +
report
“Cultura model”
Online intercultural discussion
In-class processing
and summary
Journaling (self-
reflection)
In-class reactions Language
production project
Further online
activitiesTeacher as participant
Virtual communities of practice: Two models
Online stimulus +
report
“Cultura model”
Online intercultural discussion
In-class processing
and summary
Journaling (self-
reflection)
In-class reactions Language
production project
Further online
activitiesTeacher as participant
Teacher as evaluator
Online reactions
(?)
Virtual communities of practice: Two models
Online stimulus +
report
“All-online model”
Online intercultural discussion
Online processing
and summary
Online journaling
(?)
Language production online?
Further online
activitiesGoing “all-online” requires adaptive design and special attention to online behaviors
Online reactions
(?)
Virtual communities of practice: Two models
Online stimulus +
report
“All-online model”
Online intercultural discussion
Online processing
and summary
Online journaling
(?)
Language production online?
Further online
activities
Teacher as guide
Teacher as designer
Online reactions
(?)
Virtual communities of practice: Two models
Online stimulus +
report
“All-online model”
Online intercultural discussion
Online processing
and summary
Online journaling
(?)
Language production online?
Further online
activitiesTeacher as participant
Teacher as evaluator
In an online environment…
The teacher must set tasks that are… relevant/personally important
clearly defined with clear outcome
The teacher must participate online:
“Priming the pump” – encouraging interaction
Sharing responsibility/management
Nurturing the online community of practice
Share opinions and feelings
Develop knowledge as a group
Cohesion - Wenger reference to other postings low redundancy
Chinese 332: the course
Chinese 332: the study
High number of postings, high referenceSmall Group # 1 2 3 4 5 6
Number of postings 12 7 7 17 11 6
Mean postings per active participant (teacher postings not counted)
2.40 1.75 1.75 4.00 3.33 2.50
Total word count(excluding teacher postings)
550 (550) 331 (331) 238 (238) 800 (730) 735 (682) 221 (197)
Mean length of utterance 11.22 10.68 10.82 10.13 10.07 12.28
Rate of ref to other participants/number of postings
.17 .43 .14 1.12 1.45 .67
Rate of ref to other postings/number of postings
.75 .57 .86 1.06 .91 .67
Lots of turns per student!
Lots of reference to other people!Lots of
reference to other
postings!
Chinese 332: the study
What caused greater interaction?•Higher personal interest in topic
• “Topic drift” towards actual favorite restaurants in Honolulu
How did the teacher respond?
• “Go with the flow” and exploit the students’increased interest
Unit 2: Group 4 transcriptHannah Let’s have Taiwan cuisine today! I have never had authentic Taiwanese cuisine before. I’ve heard
that Taiwan cuisine is very distinctive. What do you all think?
Wendy Okay! (rep) What restaurant do you want to go to? I have also never eaten authentic Taiwanese cuisine. Do you know what dishes from Taiwan are good?
Flora I have also never eaten Taiwanese cuisine. I’ve heard their snacks are very good. I have only ever had Cantonese cuisine. I would also like to try Sichuan cuisine because I like spicy food. But it doesn’t really matter. I can eat anything, whatever you like.
Robert I think Taiwan cuisine is delicious. Their beef noodles are the best. And their snacks are very popular too. So let’s have Taiwan cuisine, OK?
Wendy I know that many people are of the opinion that Taiwan’s snacks are delicious. So I would like to eat with you guys. Doesn’t the "Hometown Diner" specialize in Taiwan cuisine? We could go there to eat. How about it?
Qin_laoshi Wendy, where is the "Hometown Diner"? Have you have noticed that during the last lesson Tsu-hou said that the restaurant his parents run, the K.C. Kitchen, is a Taiwan-style diner and their food is delicious! Besides these two, what other places are there?
Flora I am not quite sure where there might be a Taiwan restaurant, because I have never eaten Taiwan cuisine. So wherever you all decide to go, I will go with you.
Hannah O.K., so we’ll go have Taiwan cuisine. I think K.C.'s beef noodles are good. I heard that there was another Taiwan-style diner in the Cultural Plaza called "Elegant Orchid" that also serves Taiwan snacks. Have you all ever been there? …
Chinese 332: the study
Student behavior – leader emerges in Group 4•A student naturally assumed a leadership role, and consistently made conversational moves to “shepherd” other students in the group towards task closure
•This communication style fits “active participation paradigm” of persuasive communication (Burgoon & Miller, 1985)
•Active participation by one such student may mean the difference between success and failure for a group
•Such students not categorically the best performers; other students may even contribute more, but these leaders focus and energize the discussion in a distinct way
Unit 2: Group 4 transcriptHannah Let’s have Taiwan cuisine today! I have never had authentic Taiwanese cuisine before. I’ve heard
that Taiwan cuisine is very distinctive. What do you all think?
Wendy Okay! (rep) What restaurant do you want to go to? I have also never eaten authentic Taiwanese cuisine. Do you know what dishes from Taiwan are good?
Flora I have also never eaten Taiwanese cuisine. I’ve heard their snacks are very good. I have only ever had Cantonese cuisine. I would also like to try Sichuan cuisine because I like spicy food. But it doesn’t really matter. I can eat anything, whatever you like.
Robert I think Taiwan cuisine is delicious. Their beef noodles are the best. And their snacks are very popular too. So let’s have Taiwan cuisine, OK?
Wendy I know that many people are of the opinion that Taiwan’s snacks are delicious. So I would like to eat with you guys. Doesn’t the "Hometown Diner" specialize in Taiwan cuisine? We could go there to eat. How about it?
Qin_laoshi Wendy, where is the "Hometown Diner"? Have you have noticed that during the last lesson Tsu-hou said that the restaurant his parents run, the K.C. Kitchen, is a Taiwan-style diner and their food is delicious! Besides these two, what other places are there?
Flora I am not quite sure where there might be a Taiwan restaurant, because I have never eaten Taiwan cuisine. So wherever you all decide to go, I will go with you.
Hannah O.K., so we’ll go have Taiwan cuisine. I think K.C.'s beef noodles are good. I heard that there was another Taiwan-style diner in the Cultural Plaza called "Elegant Orchid" that also serves Taiwan snacks. Have you all ever been there? …
Unit 2: Group 4 transcript
Wendy The "Hometown Diner" is in Chinatown. I have not been to the K.C. Kitchen, but if you all want to go, then I will go with you. When do you all want to go?
Robert Which of the three -- the "Hometown Diner", the "Elegant Orchid", and K.C. Kitchen – have you all been to? Which one has the best beef noodles? I can go anytime.
Flora I have also heard that the Taiwanese restaurant inside the Cultural Plaza is very good. When you all decide, just tell me what time to go.
Hannah I think K.C. Kitchen and the "Elegant Orchid" both have good beef noodles. So it does not really matter which one we go to. Which one do you all want to eat at? You decide.
Flora It doesn’t really matter to me either; I can go to whichever. So if you say that you have been to both restaurants, then we’ll go to whichever one that you think is best, OK?
Hannah Since Robert said he likes to eat beef noodles, let’s go to K.C. Kitchen to try their Taiwan snacks. How about it, you all?
Flora Good! I have no problem with that! I have been wanting to try Taiwan cuisine for a long time now! So when are we going?
Robert Where is the K.C. Kitchen? Can anyone go with me?
Hannah K.C. Kitchen is in the Cultural Plaza in Chinatown. Do you know where that is?
Chinese 332: the study
Low numbers… low community & cohesion?
Small Group # 1 2 3 4
Number of postings 7 10 9 9
Mean postings per active participant (teacher postings not counted)
1.50 2.00 1.60 1.80
Total word count 910 538 465 535
Mean length of utterance 19.78 13.79 10.29 14.86
Low word
count!
Short postings!
Chinese 332: the study
Unit 6 Group 3 thread list
Splintered threads! No
replies!
Wrong topic!
Chinese 332: the study
What caused poor cohesion and lack of community?
•Poor cohesion when students failed to participate in a single thread
•Highly redundant content of postings showed students not paying attention to others’ postings low group cohesion
•Instructions not clear enough – students did not divide labor as teacher had hoped; instead, “each did all”
Chinese 332: the study
Was the teacher’s response effective?•Teacher “rescue” strategy: create new thread with subject line only (no content):
“Students, please make your postings together in one thread!”
Pedagogical guidelines from the study
Pattern 1 from the study,
increase of participation, direct interaction, and personal involvement when the topic is closely related to students’ daily lives,
points to two important principles:
(a) instructor flexibility, and
(b) fostering of connections to students’ lives and interests.
Pedagogical guidelines from the study
Pattern 2 from the study,
the emergence of a student leader,
suggests that instructors should
(a) promote leadership in the group, and
(b) provide guidelines for interaction among students.
Pedagogical guidelines from the study
Pattern 3 from the study,
the decrease in interaction and cohesion,
points to the importance of
(a) clear instructions for the task,
(b) sustained leadership from the teacher, and
(c) clear definitions of task completion.
Bass, R. (2000). Hyperactivity and underconstruction: Learning culture in a wired world. http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/bassr/hauc3-00_files/v3_document.htm
Tschudi, S., Chun, D., & Hiple, D. (2008). Fostering community and cohesion in asynchronous online courses. In I. Lancashire (Ed.), Teaching Literature and Language Online. Options for Teaching series. New York: Modern Language Association.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bibliography