scholarly journals IS THE WHOLE GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS? A COMPARISON OF SMALL GROUP AND WHOLE CLASS DISCUSSION BOARD ACTIVITY IN ONLINE COURSES

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine A. Bliss ◽  
Betty Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Small Group ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Student Participation ◽  
Discussion Board ◽  
Class Discussion ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Class Discussions ◽  
Small Group Discussions ◽  
Whole Class Discussion ◽  
Whole Class

Methods for characterizing asynchronous text-based discussions have received significant attention in the literature. In this study, we examine student and instructor posts made in seventeen undergraduate mathematics courses over the duration of a fifteen-week semester (n=6964 posts). We apply our previously developed multifactor discussion board metric to compare differences in student participation, quantities of student posts, quality of posts, extent of threading, and instructor presence in small group and whole class discussion board activities. Results from this study indicate that small group discussions contained greater levels of student participation, greater quantities of posts per student and greater numbers of educationally valuable (content-related) posts per student as compared to whole class discussions within these courses. Interestingly, small group discussions contained a greater proportion of less educationally valuable posts as compared to whole class discussions.

scholarly journals Increasing Social Presence in Online Learning through Small Group Discussions

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mete Akcaoglu ◽  
Eunbae Lee
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Small Group ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Group Versus ◽  
Online Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Small Group Discussions

Social presence is a difficult to achieve, but an imperative component of online learning. In this study, we investigated the effect of group size on students' perceptions of social presence in two graduate-level online courses, comparing small group versus whole class discussions. Our results indicated that when in small group discussions, students perceived a higher level of social presence in terms of sociability, t(32) = 3.507, p = .001; social space, t(29) = 3.074, p = .005; and group cohesion, t(32) = 3.550, p = .001. We discuss how placing students in small and permanent discussion groups can augment social presence. Designers and educators of online learning can strategically modify group size to promote social presence in asynchronous online discussions.

scholarly journals Investigating Students’ Perceptions of Motivating Factors of Online Class Discussions

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joohi Lee ◽  
Leisa Martin
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Small Group ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Online Discussions ◽  
Instructional Medium ◽  
Class Discussion ◽  
Common Component ◽  
Online Class ◽  
Class Discussions

<p class="3">One of the goals of teacher education is to prepare our citizens to communicate in a variety of ways. In our present society, communication using digital media has become essential. Although online discussions are a common component of many online courses, engaging students in online discussions has been a challenge. This study queried 86 educators in a math/science teacher education graduate program to examine their perceptions on the factors that motivate them to participate in online discussions.</p><p class="3">The results revealed a pragmatic outlook on online education. In terms of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, the participants’ main motivation to participate in online class discussions was extrinsic (85.88%), specifically so that they could earn an acceptable participation grade. With regards to discussion grouping formats, they preferred small group discussions (81%) which could facilitate their ability to develop rapport with a small group of fellow classmates over whole class discussion (38.83%). With respect to discussion facilitation, they focused on the practical need to have the instructor to answer their questions about course assignments (67.06%) over online open discussion without a given topic (35.72%). Next, when asked about discussion question types based on Bloom’s taxonomy, their strongest preference reflected a desire for application (89.54%) questions which would facilitate their ability to use theories discussed in class in their daily work as educators. Through collaboration with twenty-first-century learners, online education can use data-driven decision making to help transform online discussion from being the least desirable component of online courses to a more relevant, instructional medium.    </p>

scholarly journals Power Posing for Increased Participation

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Sara Schipper
Keyword(s):  
Class Discussion ◽  
Voluntary Participation ◽  
Participation Rates ◽  
Class Discussions ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Study Support ◽  
Whole Class Discussion ◽  
Whole Class ◽  
The University

Power posing—assuming an expansive posture, such as hands on the hips and legs spread apart—has been shown to increase feelings of power, confidence, and willingness to take risks. Is it possible that two minutes of power posing in the university classroom could give students the confidence necessary to volunteer answers in a whole-class discussion? The results of this study support the researcher’s prediction that assuming a powerful posture for two minutes in the classroom leads to increased voluntary participation in whole-class discussions. These results could have meaningful implications for teachers struggling with low participation rates in their classrooms. 両手を腰に当て、足を大きく広げるというパワーポーズは、人に力強さを感じさせ、その人の自信や挑戦心を高める効果があると証明されている。果たして大学での授業内クラス・ディスカッションにおいて、同等の効果は検証されるだろうか。本論では、仮説通り2分間のパワーポーズの使用によって、学生の自発的発言量が増加することが確認された。この研究結果は学生の自発的発言が少ないと大変な思いをしている英語教員にとって有意義な手助けとなるかもしれない。

scholarly journals Mini Research of Mandarin Oriental Singapore’s Commercial Text among New Students: A Commercial Material Development

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilik Istiqomah
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Small Group ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Class Discussion ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Material Development ◽  
New Students ◽  
Whole Class Discussion ◽  
Whole Class

<p class="05IsiAbstrak">This article mainly explores Mandarin Oriental Singapore’s Commercial Text among New Students: A Commercial Material Developments. This study uses participatory action research (PAR). The result indicates that</p><p class="05IsiAbstrak">commercial texts in the classroom student had autonomy in making a decision on particular lexico-grammatical resources they need to learn more or discuss with their pair, small group, and whole class discussion. They learn not only by locally produced materials but also commercial materials. These commercial materials drove them drawing on observation and reflective data, as the students engaged in meaning-making activities, they analyzed a variety of texts they read and shared the outcome of the analysis with their peers. This meaning-making engagement allowed them to understand and interpret texts in new and varied ways (Hodgson-Drysdale, 2014) so that relationship between content and language was evident.</p>

Lying with statistics

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Gelman ◽  
Deborah Nolan
Keyword(s):  
Small Group ◽  
Class Discussion ◽  
Whole Class Discussion ◽  
Whole Class ◽  
Data Dredging

We prefer the term “statistical communication,” but the phrase “how to lie with statistics” is a good hook to get students thinking about the issues involved. We try throughout to dampen the natural cynicism that comes with this topic and emphasize that, to most effectively tell the truth, you must avoid lying by accident as well as on purpose. We illustrate the difficulties of statistical communication by bringing news articles to class to discuss. These activities move between small group and whole class discussion. Examples cover problems with ignoring the baseline, misleading comparisons, data dredging, and distinguishing sources of bias.

scholarly journals Emergence and Development of a Dialogic Whole-class Discussion Genre

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael B Sherry
Keyword(s):  
Classroom Discourse ◽  
Prospective Teacher ◽  
Class Discussion ◽  
Dialogic Discourse ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Class Discussions ◽  
Whole Class Discussion ◽  
Whole Class ◽  
Over Time

Prior research across disciplines has established the value of dialogic, whole-class discussions. Previous studies have often defined discussions in opposition to the notorious triadic pattern called recitation, or IRE/F, focusing on variations to the teacher’s initiating question or evaluative follow-up on students’ responses. Recent scholarship has also identified variations on recitations and dialogic discussions that suggest these categories might be flexible, containing types of interaction associated with particular contexts. However, research remains to be done on how such types, or genres, of dialogic, whole-class discussion emerge and develop over time. In this article, I take up this line of inquiry, analyzing the classroom discourse of five lesson excerpts generated by a prospective teacher and his students in a US secondary History classroom between October and March. I illustrate how, over time, teacher and students repeatedly renegotiated the nature of a recitation-style textbook review activity using similar patterns of language that suggested an emergent discourse genre. These five interactions did not all lead to dialogic, whole-class discussions; I explain their relative success or failure in terms of how they constructed participants’ relationships to historical and classroom events. I argue that even failed attempts at generating dialogic discourse may be part of a developing genre.

scholarly journals Assigning Roles in Small Group Discussions for Maximum EFL Learner Participation

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Cathrine-Mette Mork
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Small Group ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Learner Participation ◽  
Class Discussions ◽  
Small Group Discussions ◽  
Japanese English

This paper outlines research on group role classification and explains methods of introducing discussion work to Japanese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners who may initially lack the language skills and/or discussion skills required for fruitful group discourse. Assigning specific roles to each member in a group can diffuse responsibility to every participant for a successful discussion or even a simple exchange of ideas. With a clearly defined role and set of phrases useful to that role at their disposal, learners are empowered to participate actively in class discussions. 本論は、グループにおける役割の分類に関する研究を概説する。また、実りあるグループディスカッションに必要な言語能力や技術が初めから不足しているかもしれない外国語としての英語（EFL）を学習している日本人学習者に、ディスカッション活動導入の方法についても説明する。 グループ内の各メンバーに特定の役割を割り当てることによって、円滑なディスカッションや簡単な意見交換を行う際であってもその負担をすべての参加者に分散させることができる。明確に定義された役割とその役割に役立ち、かつ自由に使える便利なフレーズ集を用意することにより、学習者は授業内のディスカッションに積極的に参加できる。

scholarly journals Power Posing for Increased Participation

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Sara Schipper
Keyword(s):  
Class Discussion ◽  
Voluntary Participation ◽  
Participation Rates ◽  
Class Discussions ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Study Support ◽  
Whole Class Discussion ◽  
Whole Class ◽  
The University

Power posing—assuming an expansive posture, such as hands on the hips and legs spread apart—has been shown to increase feelings of power, confidence, and willingness to take risks. Is it possible that two minutes of power posing in the university classroom could give students the confidence necessary to volunteer answers in a whole-class discussion? The results of this study support the researcher’s prediction that assuming a powerful posture for two minutes in the classroom leads to increased voluntary participation in whole-class discussions. These results could have meaningful implications for teachers struggling with low participation rates in their classrooms. 両手を腰に当て、足を大きく広げるというパワーポーズは、人に力強さを感じさせ、その人の自信や挑戦心を高める効果があると証明されている。果たして大学での授業内クラス・ディスカッションにおいて、同等の効果は検証されるだろうか。本論では、仮説通り2分間のパワーポーズの使用によって、学生の自発的発言量が増加することが確認された。この研究結果は学生の自発的発言が少ないと大変な思いをしている英語教員にとって有意義な手助けとなるかもしれない。

Shaping classroom social experiences through collaborative small‐group discussions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tzu‐Jung Lin ◽  
Elizabeth Kraatz ◽  
Seung Yon Ha ◽  
Ming‐Yi Hsieh ◽  
Michael Glassman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Group ◽  
Social Experiences ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Small Group Discussions
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