Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Learning Communities
Richard Schwier, Ben Daniel, Heather Ross
Based on:
Schwier, R.A., & Daniel, B.K. (in press). Did we become a community?
Multiple methods for identifying community and its constituent elements in
formal online learning environments. In N. Lambropoulos, & P. Zaphiris (Eds.)
(2006). User- evaluation and online communities.
Daniel, B.K., Schwier, R.A., & Ross, H. (2005). Intentional and Incidental
Discourse Variables in a Virtual Learning Community. Paper presented to E-
Learn 2005, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Outline of Presentation
Community
Modeling Constituents
Comparison
Why this study?
• Learning in virtual learning communities
(VLCs) is receiving considerable attention
• Current research focuses on building,
supporting and sustaining VLCs
• Limited research informing our
understanding of the nature of discourse
that can ultimately influence learning
• First step to examine nature of discourse in
order to understand the process of learning
• Understanding the process of learning helps
in developing tools and processes to support
it
Research Questions
• What is the nature of discourse in
virtual learning communities?
• Can a model of learning be
constructed to inform our understand
of the processes inherent in learning
in VLCs?
Research Design
• Data drawn from a graduate level course in
year 1; years 2 and 3 yet to be analyzed
• Sense of community & interaction analysis
• Transcript analysis - characteristics
• Comparison of characteristics
• Magnified analysis of key characteristics
Thurstone Analysis
Intentional learning variables
Variable Definition
Explicit information Providing new ideas or information without explicit expectation of reciprocity
Inquiry Requesting explanations, questions, or expressing doubt about specific ideas or postings
Incidental learning variables
Variable Definition
Shared Understanding Building agreement/consensus between two or more participants about meaning of
discourse
Disagreement One participant challenging the comments of another without supporting evidence
Discourse variable frequencies
Key Results- Intentional
• Argumentation, inquiry, and new
information variables were dominant
variables in the intentional cluster
• Less evidence of judgments and
summaries
Key Results- Incidental
• Sociability was the dominant variable in
the incidental cluster - partially a
methodological artifact
• Types of sharing were also important
• Disagreement and peer support were less
apparent
Conclusions
• Intentional and incidental categories may be
useful in understanding learning dynamics
in VLCs.
• Learning is multivariate and diverse within
the community - categories are tentative and
share variance
• The two variables clusters do not measure
learning itself but rather describe the
processes of learning in VLCs
• The two clusters both inform our
understanding of the process of learning in
VLCs
Ongoing and Future Research
• Validate discourse variables
• Elaborate other variables
• Compare synchronous and
asynchronous
• Develop a Bayesian Belief Network
model of learning in VLCs to
understand the nature of learning in
VLCs