jason rhode dissertation overview
DESCRIPTION
Overview of the dissertation of Jason F. Rhode, Ph.D. entitled, "Interaction Equivalency in Self-Paced Online Learning Environments: An Exploration of Learner Preferences"TRANSCRIPT
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Interact ion equivalency in self-
paced online learning
environments: An explorat ion of
learner preferences
Dissertat ion Defense
Jason F. Rhode
1/17/2008
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Jason F. Rhode• Ph.D. candidate,
Capella University
• Specializat ion: Inst ruct ional Design for Online Learning
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Int roduct ion
interact ion
self-paced learning
em erging comm unicat ion approaches
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Background
• Substance and funct ion of online interact ions varies
• Interact ion is essent ial for a quality learning experience
• Unanswered quest ions concerning learners’ interact ion preferences and degree in which interact ions are perceived to be equivalent
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Statem ent of the Problem
• Interact ion ident ified as a key elem ent to successful online learning program s
• Lit t le em pirical evidence current ly exists as to the value that learners place upon various types of interact ions in a self-paced learning environm ent
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Types of Interact ions
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Interact ion Equivalency Theorem
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Purpose of the Study
• Expand upon previous research advocat ing for purposeful design of interact ion
• Exam ine the com posit ion of the online learning experience of adult learners in self-paced learning environment
• Explore what forms of interact ion self-paced online learners value most as well as what im pact they perceive interact ion to have on their overall online learning experience
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Research Quest ions
1. What forms of interact ion do adult learners engage in m ost in self-paced online courses?
2. What forms of interact ion do adult learners value most in self-paced online courses?
• What forms of interact ion do online adult learners ident ify as equivalent in self-paced online courses?
• What impact do adult learners perceive interact ion to have on their self-paced online learning experience?
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Research Design
• Mixed m ethods approach• Sem i-st ructured in-depth
interviews conducted near the conclusion of the course
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Sam pling Design
• Part icipants– Online adult learners enrolled in a fully-online
professional development cert ificate program offered by Valley Forge Christ ian College
• Part icipant select ion– Convenience sample: all learners (n= 13) in
Sept . 2007 sect ion of “ Advanced Web Communicat ions” and Aug. 2007 sect ion (n= 1) invited to part icipate
– Total of 10 learners agreed to part icipate (n= 10)
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Part icipant Dem ographics
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Measures
• Sem i-st ructured, in-depth interviews conducted over the phone, each approx. 1 hr. in length
• Quest ions addressed 3 main types of interact ion and form al vs. inform al nature of such interact ions
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Data Collect ion Procedures
• Approval from Capella University IRB and VFCC Academ ic Affairs
• Inst rum ent and protocol was pilot tested
• Interviews conducted via phone and recorded, t ranscribed, and coded
• Interview t ranscripts sent to interviewees to confirm accuracy prior to coding
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Ethical Issues
• Learners had no obligat ion to part icipate
• Interview data stored securely using assigned id codes in place of part icipant nam es
• Pseudo nam es used in place of actual nam es
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Data Analysis Procedures
• Ident ified em ergent themes from the data that will serve as foundat ional schem a for further data organizat ion and analysis
• Frequency analysis of ordinal data
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Expected Findings
• It was expected that one or m ore types of interact ion will surface as being preferred for adult learners
• Learners may recognize certain interact ions as equivalent
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Analysis of Research Quest ion # 1
• What form s of interact ion to learners engage in m ost in self-paced online courses?
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Engagem ent in Interact ion
• Well-design content reported as one of the st rongest aspects of the course
• Pract ical applicat ion assignm ents am ong m ost beneficial
• Overwhelm ingly posit ive responses to course com m unity, CMUOnet
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Reported Involvem ent
• Most reported using course blog and social bookm arks
• Inst ructors blog was very helpful for m ost
• Part icipants didn’ t at tem pt to contact outside experts
• In-course discussion was lim ited
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Analysis of Research Quest ion # 2
• What form s of interact ion do adult learners value m ost in self-paced online courses?
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Analysis of Research Quest ion # 3
• What form s of interact ion do online adult learners ident ify as equivalent in self-paced online courses?
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Findings
• Blogging valued equally, and in some instances higher, than asynchronous discussion via the LMS
• Interact ions with inst ructor and content deem ed equivalent or nearly equivalent , with interact ions with other learners of less importance
• Part icipants hesitant to agree to any degradat ion of inst ructor or content interact ions but many agreed that learner interact ions could be replaced
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Analysis of Research Quest ion # 4
• What im pact do adult learners perceive interact ion to have on their self-paced online learning experience?
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Findings
• Email was the preferred mode of interact ion with inst ructor, blogging preferred for interact ion with others
• Feedback from inst ructor was reported as very important
• Course size vs. quality• Part icipants ident ified a correlat ion
between quality of interact ion and quality of learning experience
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Interact ion Mat rix: Core Elem ents
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Interact ion Mat rix: Form al
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Interact ion Matrix: Inform al
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Interact ion Matrix
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Conclusions
• Depending on the specific circumstance, not all form s of interact ion may be either equally valued by learners or effect ive
• Inform al interact ions were as im portant as formal interact ions in determ ining the quality of the online learning experience
• Blogging was shown to be equivalent to or even superior to inst ructor-directed asynchronous discussion via the discussion board in a LMS
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Further Study• Explore perspect ives of learners in varying
disciplines/inst itut ions/social-cultural backgrounds/online learning environm ents
• Differing learner populat ions• Unique aspects of em ergent asynchronous
com m unicat ions such as blogging, collaborat ive authorship, social bookm arking, and social networking
• To what extent can a social network system m eet the needs of designers, inst ructors, and learners and therefore be capable of replacing an LMS?
• What im pact does course size have on the self-paced online learning experience?