How Should We Talk?: Scaffolding the Work Process for Online Groups

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How Should We Talk?Scaffolding the Work Process
for Online Groups

• Vanessa Dennen, Ph.D.San Diego State University
• http//www.vanessadennen.comvdennen_at_mail.sdsu.edu
  
• Curtis J. Bonk, Ph.D.
• Indiana University and Courseshare.com
• cjbonk_at_indiana.edu

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Research on Nine Online Courses(Vanessa Dennen,
San Diego State Univ)

• 9 case studies of online classes using
  asynchronous discussion
• Topics sociology, history, communications,
  writing, library science, technology, counseling
• Range of class size 15 - 106
• Level survey, upper undergraduate, and graduate
• Tools custom and commercial
• Private, semi-public, and public discussion areas

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Poor Instructors Good Instructors

• Little or no feedback given
• Always authoritative
• Kept narrow focus of what was relevant
• Created tangential discussions, fact questions
• Only used ultimate deadlines

• Provided regular qual/quant feedback
• Participated as peer
• Allowed perspective sharing
• Tied discussion to grades, other tasks.
• Used incremental deadlines

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Deadlines

• Deadlines motivated participation
• Message counts increased in the days immediately
  preceding a deadline
• Deadlines inhibited dialogue
• Students posted messages but did not discuss
• Too much lag time between initial messages and
  responses

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Modeling

• Instructor modeling increased the likelihood of
  student messages meeting quality and content
  expectations
• Modeling was more effective than guidelines

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Guidelines and Feedback

• Qualitative discussion guidelines and feedback
  helped students know what their participation
  should look like
• Quantitative discussion guidelines and feedback
  comforted students and was readily understood by
  them
• Feedback of both varieties was needed at regular
  intervals, although the qualitative feedback need
  not be individualized

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Common Instructor Complaints

1. Students dont participate
2. Students all participate at the last minute
3. Students post messages but dont converse
4. Facilitation takes too much time
5. If they must be absent, the discussion dies off
6. Students are confused

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Reasons why...

• Students dont participate
• Because it isnt required
• Because they dont know what is expected
• Students all participate at last minute
• Because that is what was required
• Because they dont want to be the first
• Instructor posts at the last minute

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How would you respond?

1. Who invented ______?
2. Who was the most influential political figure of
   the 1990s?
3. What were the 3 main points of the reading?

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Common problems with online discussion prompts

• Too vague
• Learners have no idea how to respond
• Too fact-based
• Only one or two persons need to respond
• Lack directions for interactions
• Learners dont know what acceptable participation
  looks like

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Elements of a good prompt

• Specifies the desired response type
• Allows for multiple correct answers (perspective
  sharing, unique application of knowledge)
• Provides guidance for peer interaction
• Fosters reflection, thinking, or collaboration

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A 5-Stage Approach Async

1. Initial topic or idea generation
2. Initial response
3. Respond to peers (can continue for as long as
   desired)
4. Wrap up questions
5. Reflect

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A sample 5-part prompt

• Step 1 Idea Generation
• Find a recent news story online or announcement
  that provides an example of one of the issues or
  concepts in our recent readings. Post the URL and
  a brief summary of the article. Do not go into
  detail of what this is an example of or how it
  relates to the reading.

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A sample 5-part prompt (2)

• Step 2 Initial Response
• Select and read one of your classmate's
  contributions, and post a message under their
  thread that discusses what major issues this
  article relates to and support your assertions
  with references to our course readings. If there
  are secondary issues, mention those as well.
  Please respond to a message that has not yet
  received a response so that we can make sure
  everyone gets at least one response. You may, of
  course, respond to multiple threads if you wish.

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3-sentence rule

• Avoid overwhelming I agree type messages
• Require that all students post messages of 3
  sentences or longer
• The result
• I agree with you.
• Thats a good idea
• Ummm. I have to actually say something now!

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Web Facilitation???
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Facilitation (Dennen, 2001)

• High instructor presence
• 11 student-instructor message ratio created low
  peer interaction
• Participant-like IP facilitated peer interaction
• Instructor modeling increased student messages
  meeting quality and content expectations
• Modeling was more effective than guidelines
• Deadlines motivated participation
• Deadlines inhibited dialogue

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Facilitation (Dennen, 2001)

• Participation was higher when students had a
  clear goal extrinsic motivation to participate
• Relevance has a positive effect on participation
• Greater dialogue when shared perspectives
• Fact-based qing strategies did not work well
• Consistent, regular fdbk motivates students
• Quantitative and qualitative guidelines

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Year 2 Focus on Forming Groups
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Social Interaction in Online Learning

• A situationalities framework for choosing
  instructional methods

Dr. Brian J. BeattyCenter for Research on
Learning and TechnologySchool of Education,
Indiana University August 15, 2002
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What are effective combinations of social
interaction methods to use, for different
conditions and values, in order to achieve
specific learning goals?

• Case Survey
• 30 cases from published, peer reviewed sources
• Interviews
• 5 selected authors
• Surveys
• All authors solicited, 50 participation

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20 Implications

1. Select instructional methods based on fundamental
   values and goals.
2. Take the time to consider the instructional
   conditions associated with selected instructional
   methods.

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20 Implications (cont.)

• Be prepared to modify instructional methods to
  accommodate emergent instructional conditions.
• Keep a record of changes to instructional methods
  youve used in response to changing situations.
• The use of domain experts outside of the
  official class is an effective method to build
  a sense of learning community.
• Prepare students to use the communications
  technologies before requiring significant
  collaborative work.
• Encouraging students to provide technical support
  to one another can be an effective method of
  building online learning community.

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20 Implications (cont.)

1. The educational purpose for using instructional
   methods that use social interaction should be
   readily apparent to students.
2. Do not overwhelm students with many new
   technologies at once.
3. For asynchronous discussions, plan for
   structuring student participation patterns.
4. Allow for socially-focused discussions, but dont
   expect them to thrive in all situations.
5. Synchronous methods should vary depending on the
   size of the participant group.

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20 Implications (cont.)

1. External, non-instructional conditions can
   influence the effectiveness of instructional
   methods.
2. Plan to support student self-regulated learning
   (self pacing, etc.).
3. Student motivation is the most common and overall
   the most important instructional condition..
4. Instructor motivation is an important condition,
   too.
5. There are instructional methods that use social
   interaction that can be effectively used to meet
   any instructional situation.

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Vanessa Dennen Year 2
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How Should We Talk?

• Inspired by students in an online class asking
  How should we talk? in response to being
  assigned to a group project
• The advice in this presentation comes from
• Research on online classes and work groups
  (Dennen, 2001-2)
• Experience during 5 years of teaching online and
  blended classes and requiring group projects

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Online Work GroupsInstructor Perspective

• Students can learn from each other
• Groups can accomplish more than individuals
• Prepares students for real-world teamwork
• Fewer projects to monitor / grade

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Online Work GroupsStudent Perspective

• Potential for aggravating team members
• Potential for lazy/non-productive team members
• Potential for team members who hijack projects

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Challenges of Group Work

• Equitable distribution of labor
• Timeliness of contributions
• Quality of contributions
• Communication and within-group feedback
• These challenges are felt more strongly by
  online groups who never meet face to face and may
  not communicate in real time

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Helpful Group Qualities

• Shared interests
• Adequate ability across members to complete tasks
• Ability to communicate effectively
• MAY NEED TO BE LEARNED IN AN ONLINE CLASS

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Key Strategies for Scaffolding Online Group Work

• Structure the assignment
• Determine communication tools
• Check on progress
• Assess process as well as product

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Structuring the Assignment

• Start date, end date, and final deliverable may
  not be enough
• Procrastination in an asynchronous environment
  can be deadly!
• Break the project into smaller parts with
  incremental due dates
• Helps keep students focused
• Encourages continuous participation/discourages
  procrastination
• Require students to create a work plan

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Sample Assignment Structure

• Week 1 Developing a work plan and picking a
  topic
• Week 2 Gathering and summarizing resources
• Week 3 Outlining and writing report
• Week 4 Editing report and preparing presentation
• Week 5 Presentations

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The Work Plan

• Helps keep groups focused
• Essentially, a group contract for when and how
  the work will be done
• Groups can follow a format recommended by the
  instructor, but personalized to meet their needs
• Helps lay the groundwork for a successful group
  process

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Sample Work Plan Topics

• Listing of each group members strengths
• subject matter areas editing creating
  presentations
• Schedule for completing work
• Includes group expectations for submitting drafts
  or commenting on each others contributions
• Commitment for how work will be completed
• collab. writing process, divide and conquer, etc.
• Communication methods and expectations
• Contact info, commitment for checking in with
  group
• Tool and style expectations
• Preferred word processors, fonts, etc.

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More Tips for Group Productivity

• Post the assignment well in advance
• Students will know it is coming and (hopefully)
  check in at the beginning of the assignment
  period)
• Encourage roles and meeting minutes
• One student should be project manager
• One student should be the group liaison with the
  instructor
• One might serve as compiler and editor
• Assign project groups to provide each other with
  formative (and perhaps summative) peer feedback
• Students are kept on task when outsiders are
  reviewing their work

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Help With Communication Tools

• Students likely dont know how to be productive
  online teammates
• Different students may have different preferred
  communication styles
• Organization and clear expectations are important
• Imagine tracking different drafts of a group
  paper, all with different titles and posted in
  various locations

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How Can An Instructor Help?

• Make students aware of their communication
  options
• Provide strategies for using different tools
  effectively
• When to use each tool
• How to thread discussion
• How to quote messages to maintain context
• How to organize and name files

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Possible Communication Tools

• E-mail
• Students may default to this medium
• Good for reaching people quickly
• Not good for substantive group work (doesnt
  archive or thread well)
• Asynchronous discussion board
• Good for sharing information, providing critique
• May need to e-mail non-active group members and
  get them to check the board

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More Communication Tools

• Chat
• Good for making decisions and/or periodic
  check-ins
• Should encourage students to have regularly
  scheduled chats, if possible, and archive them
• File exchange
• Good for keeping all files in one location
• Should encourage students to find a naming
  convention that indicates file draft/version
• MS Word
• Teach students how to use the comments and track
  changes features

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Checking on Progress

• Require students to submit regular (weekly?)
  updates via an agreed upon medium, such as e-mail
• May use a designated contact for each group, or
  request a report from each student
• Group reports are easy to track
• Individual reports help keep everyone involved
  and identify non-participants quickly
• Require a standard reporting format
• Makes keeping tabs on groups more efficient
• May want to vary format/content based on the
  week/part of project

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When to Intervene

• Request access to discussion boards and file
  exchanges to monitor progress
• Peek in once/week just to make sure the group is
  productive
• Monitor (browse) interim deliverables and contact
  the group if there are problems such as
• Deliverable not complete
• Deliverable not as expected / off-track
• Evidence of project hijacking/ non-participating
  members

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Intervention Options

• E-mail the group and comment on the state of
  their project
• E-mail an individual (hijacker, non-participant)
  and provide suggestions for how they might get
  others (or themselves) more involved
• Set up a time to chat with the group
• Particularly helpful if you identify
• Difficulty coming to consensus or making
  decisions
• Tensions amongst group members
• Group members not listening to each other

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Assessing ProcessStudent Perspective

• Assessing process indicates to students that you
  care how they get the work done
• When process is assessed, students are more
  likely to
• Engage in reflection and discussion (instead of
  just getting it done)
• Seek team feedback
• Communicate more regularly
• Get work done on schedule

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Assessing ProcessInstructor Perspective

• Provides formative feedback for improving the
  assignment next time
• Prevents students from snowing the instructor
  about their involvement
• HOW the work got done and WHO did it is clear
• Helps assign grades appropriate to the individual
  students contributions
• Maintains the sense that the instructor is
  guiding students throughout all parts of the
  class

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Possible Methods of Assessment

• Review of online group work spaces
• Evidence of regular and substantial contributions
• Self and peer assessment
• Have students rate team members on various
  dimensions
• Have students indicate where work plan was
  followed/not followed
• Student reflection
• Have students write brief reflections on their
  group process, indicating what they might change
  the next time

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Closing Thoughts

• Students need help in online classes to
• Form groups
• Chunk and schedule work
• Select and use appropriate communication tools
• Progress reports help maintain a smooth process
• Assessing process helps debrief a project and
  improve the assignment and student work habits
  for the next time

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Please feel free to contact me

• My sincere apologies for being unable to present
  today
• Please contact me at vdennen_at_mail.sdsu.edu
• if you have any specific
• questions
• THANK YOU!

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(No Transcript)
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Online Mentoring and Assistance Online
Twelve forms of electronic learning mentoring and
assistance(Bonk Kim, 1998 Tharp, 1993 Bonk
et al., 2001)
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1. Social (and cognitive) Acknowledgement
"Hello...," "I agree with everything said so
far...," "Wow, what a case," "This case certainly
has provoked a lot of discussion...," "Glad you
could join us..."
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2. Questioning "What is the name of this
concept...?," "Another reason for this might
be...?," "An example of this is...," "In contrast
to this might be...,""What else might be
important here...?," "Who can tell me....?," "How
might the teacher..?." "What is the real problem
here...?," "How is this related to...?,, "Can
you justify this?"
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3. Direct Instruction "I think in class we
mentioned that...," Chapter X talks about...,"
"Remember back to the first week of the semester
when we went over X which indicated that..."
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4. Modeling/Examples "I think I solved this sort
of problem once when I...," "Remember that video
we saw on X wherein Y decided to...,"
"Doesn't X give insight into this problem in
case Z when he/she said..."
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5. Feedback/Praise "Wow, I'm impressed...,"
"That shows real insight into...," "Are you sure
you have considered...," "Thanks for responding
to X...," "I have yet to see you or anyone
mention..."
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6. Cognitive Task Structuring "You know, the
task asks you to do...," "Ok, as was required,
you should now summarize the peer responses that
you have received...," "How might the textbook
authors have solved this case."
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7. Cognitive Elaborations/Explanations "Provide
more information here that explains your
rationale," "Please clarify what you mean by...,"
"I'm just not sure what you mean by...," "Please
evaluate this solution a little more carefully."
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8. Push to Explore "You might want to write to
Dr. XYZ for...," "You might want to do an ERIC
search on this topic...," "Perhaps there is a URL
on the Web that addresses this topic..."
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9. Fostering Reflection/Self Awareness "Restate
again what the teacher did here," "How have you
seen this before?," "When you took over this
class, what was the first thing you did?,"
"Describe how your teaching philosophy will vary
from this...," "How might an expert teacher
handle this situation?"
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10. Encouraging Articulation/Dialogue Prompting
"What was the problem solving process the teacher
faced here?," "Does anyone have a counterpoint or
alternative to this situation?," "Can someone
give me three good reasons why...," "It still
seems like something is missing here, I just
can't put my finger on it."
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11. General Advice/Scaffolding/Suggestions "If I
were in her shoes, I would...," "Perhaps I would
think twice about putting these people into...,"
"I know that I would first...," "How totally
ridiculous this all is certainly the person
should be able to provide some..."
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12. Management (via private e-mail or
discussion) "Don't just criticize....please be
sincere when you respond to your peers," "If you
had put your case in on time, you would have
gotten more feedback." "If you do this again, we
will have to take away your privileges."
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Which of these 12 do you think are the most
prevalent on the Web?___________________________
_____________
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TICKIT Staff Mentoring (IU Study) (direct
instruction and explanations 0)
(Bonk, Ehman, Hixon, 2000)
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Bye, Bye