A Discourse Analysis of Online Classroom Chats: Predictors of Cyber-Student Performance

2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 222-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvin Y. Wang ◽  
Michael H. Newlin ◽  
Travis L. Tucker
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Statistical Methods ◽  
Early Warning ◽  
Virtual Classroom ◽  
Student Response ◽  
Chat Room ◽  
Online Classroom ◽  
Final Grade ◽  
Pedagogical Implication

We applied a discourse analysis (DA) to the electronic chat room discussions of a 16-week, Internet-based section of a class in statistical methods in psychology. This analysis revealed that across the semester, several DA categories (e.g., total number of student comments) were correlated with final grade in the class. An additional analysis involving only the chat room discussion of Week 3 revealed that 2 DA categories (i.e., student response to a problem or example given in lecture and total number of student comments) correlated with final grade in the class. We discuss the pedagogical implication of these results with regard to an instructor's ability to identify early warning predictors of student performance in the virtual classroom.

scholarly journals Improving Early Warning Systems with Categorized Course Resource Usage

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Joseph Waddington ◽  
SungJin Nam ◽  
Steven Lonn ◽  
Stephanie D. Teasley
Keyword(s):  
Early Warning ◽  
Early Warning Systems ◽  
Resource Usage ◽  
Warning Systems ◽  
Student Behaviors ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Final Grade ◽  
Exam Preparation ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Students Success

Early Warning Systems (EWSs) aggregate multiple sources of data to provide timely information to stakeholders about students in need of academic support. There is an increasing need to incorporate relevant data about student behaviors into the algorithms underlying EWSs to improve predictors of students’ success or failure. Many EWSs currently incorporate counts of course resource use, although these measures provide no information about which resources students are using. We use seven years of data from seven core STEM courses at a large university to investigate the associations between students’ use of categorized course resources (e.g., lecture or exam preparation resources) and their final course grade. Using logistic regression, we find that students who use exam preparation resources to a greater degree than their peers are more likely to receive a final grade of B or higher. In contrast, students who use more lecture-related resources than their peers are less likely to receive a final grade of B or higher. We discuss the implications of our results for developers deciding how to incorporate categories of course resource usage data into EWSs, for academic advisors using this information with students, and for instructors deciding which resources to include on their LMS site.

scholarly journals Implementing online discussion forums based on principled approaches

2020 ◽  
pp. 347-352
Author(s):  
Heather Woodward ◽  
Andrew Warrick
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Chat Room ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Online Classroom ◽  
Japanese University ◽  
Teaching Context ◽  
Mobile Assisted Language Learning ◽  
Online Discussion Forums ◽  
University Life ◽  
L2 Development

For three months, Japanese university learners (N=40) utilized the YoTeach! application by Pedagogic and Active Learning Mobile Solutions (PALMS) Project, PolyU as a part of their English discussion class. Researchers re-purposed the application, which originally was designed to be an online classroom backchannel, as an asynchronous, pre-task activity so that learners could exchange ideas about homework topics (e.g. university life, foreign customs) for their discussion. Researchers chose a backchannel chat room rather than a discussion forum to accommodate the learners’ spoken interactions rather than formal discussion. To foster interactions, researchers implemented the YoTeach! application based on principles in the field of second language (L2) development and Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) from Doughty and Long (2003) and Stockwell and Hubbard (2013). Using learners’ and researchers’ reflection journals, we consider ways we can connect and adapt the principles to our teaching context.

Social Presence Functions in Task-Based Language Activities in a Virtual Classroom in Second Life

2017 ◽  
pp. 181-198
Author(s):  
Sedat Akayoglu ◽  
Golge Seferoglu
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual Classroom ◽  
3D Environment ◽  
3D Virtual Worlds ◽  
Discourse Patterns ◽  
Asking Questions ◽  
Expression Of Emotions

As the developments occurred in terms of technology, new tools and platforms started to be used in classroom settings. However, there is a need for discourse analysis of these tools and environments in order to better understand the flow of communication. This study aimed at determining discourse patterns in terms of social presence observed in a course carried out in a 3D environment, Second Life. At the end of the study, it was found that the most frequently used social presence functions were expression of emotions, vocatives and asking questions respectively; the least frequently used social presence functions were phatics and salutations, referring explicitly to the others' messages and quoting from others' messages. The findings of this study were found to be in parallel with the literature. This study might be helpful for researchers, educators and students in order to better understand the contexts created in 3D virtual worlds.

scholarly journals Student Ability Best Predicts Final Grade in a College Algebra Course

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Anthony O'Connell ◽  
Elijah Wostl ◽  
Matt Crosslin ◽  
T. Lisa Berry ◽  
James P. Grover
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Research University ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
College Level ◽  
Past Performance ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Final Grade ◽  
Course Success ◽  
Targeted Interventions

Historical student data can help elucidate the factors that promote student success in mathematics courses. Herein we use both multiple regression and principal component analyses to explore ten years of historical data from over 20,000 students in an introductory college-level Algebra course in an urban American research university with a diverse student population in order to understand the relationship between course success and student performance in previous courses, student demographic background, and time spent on coursework. We find that indicators of students’ past performance and experience, including grade-point-average and the number of accumulated credit hours, best predict student success in this course. We also find that overall final grades are representative of the entire course and are not unduly weighted by any one topic. Furthermore, the amount of time spent working on assignments led to improved grade outcomes. With these baseline data, our team plans to design targeted interventions that can increase rates of student success in future courses.

A More Complete Picture of School Resource Policies

1996 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric A. Hanushek
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Statistical Methods ◽  
School Effectiveness ◽  
Complete Picture ◽  
School Resources ◽  
Analytic Methods ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Econometric Evidence ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
School Resource

Meta-analytic techniques for summarizing information about the relationship between school resources and student performance are capable only of addressing the narrow and uninteresting hypothesis that resources are never used effectively by schools. The data show clearly that resources are sometimes used effectively, although this happens infrequently and there is no description of the circumstances under which resources are used effectively. This article relates the basic evidence on school effectiveness to the specific application of meta-analytic methods employed by Greenwald, Hedges, and Laine (1996) . Their analysis, suffering from the narrowness of the inquiry inherent in their statistical methods, is also based on a very highly selected sample of results that biases their analysis precisely toward their conclusions. As a result, their summary of existing work provides a distorted and misleading view of the potential implications of school resource policies. Both detailed econometric evidence and aggregate performance of U.S. schools point toward serious problems with inefficient use of resources. This evidence in turn suggests that lack of resources is not the largest problem facing schools and that more fundamental reforms are needed in schools.

scholarly journals Gender, Math Confidence, and Grit: Relationships with Quantitative Skills and Performance in an Undergraduate Biology Course

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. ar47 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. Flanagan ◽  
J. Einarson
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Skills Assessment ◽  
Final Grade ◽  
Undergraduate Biology ◽  
Quantitative Skills ◽  
Overall Performance ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Positive Effect

In a world filled with big data, mathematical models, and statistics, the development of strong quantitative skills is becoming increasingly critical for modern biologists. Teachers in this field must understand how students acquire quantitative skills and explore barriers experienced by students when developing these skills. In this study, we examine the interrelationships among gender, grit, and math confidence for student performance on a pre–post quantitative skills assessment and overall performance in an undergraduate biology course. Here, we show that females significantly underperformed relative to males on a quantitative skills assessment at the start of term. However, females showed significantly higher gains over the semester, such that the gender gap in performance was nearly eliminated by the end of the semester. Math confidence plays an important role in the performance on both the pre and post quantitative skills assessments and overall performance in the course. The effect of grit on student performance, however, is mediated by a student’s math confidence; as math confidence increases, the positive effect of grit decreases. Consequently, the positive impact of a student’s grittiness is observed most strongly for those students with low math confidence. We also found grit to be positively associated with the midterm score and the final grade in the course. Given the relationships established in this study among gender, grit, and math confidence, we provide “instructor actions” from the literature that can be applied in the classroom to promote the development of quantitative skills in light of our findings.

scholarly journals Faculty Perceptions of Student Performance in the Online Classroom

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 294-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanan Amro ◽  
Gerri M. Maxwell ◽  
Lori Kupczynski
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Online Classroom
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