Abstract
THIS DESCRIPTIVE PILOT STUDY employed the Grascha-Riechmann Student Learning Style Scale (GRSLSS) to examine student communication and interactions in an online educational discussion that occurred for fourteen days. Discussion activity exhibited conversational turns and messages appeared as conversation rather than expository. Individuals scoring high on the Independent scale of the GRSLSS tended to send and exchange more messages and were more likely to state and justify their agreement with other discussants. Those scoring high on the Avoidant scale were less likely to offer to take actions or to give suggestions about how to proceed during discussions. Student with high Collaborative scores were more likely to engage in scaffolding and to offer to take action on the issue being discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alavi, M. (1994, June). Computer-mediated collaborative learning: An empirical evaluation.MIS Quarterly. 159–174.
Anderson, T. (2003). Getting the mix right again: An updated and theoretical rationale for interaction.International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 4(2). Retrieved on January 31, 2006, from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/149
Aviv, R. (2000). Educational performance of ALN via content analysis.The Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 4(2), 53–72. Retrieved on January 27, 2006, from http://www.aln.org/alnweb/journal/Vol4_issue2/le/reuven/LE-reuven.htm
Benbunan-Fich, R., & Hiltz, R. (1999). Impact of asynchronous learning networks on individual and group problem solving: A field experiment,Group Decision and Negotiation, 8, 409–426. Retrieved on January 27, 2006, from http://www.alnresearch.org/Data_Files/articles/full_text/benbunan.htm
Diaz, D.P. (2001).Comparison of student characteristics, and evaluation of student success, in an online health education course. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL. Retrieved on August 10, 2005, from http://home.earthlink.net/~davidpdiaz/LTS/pdf_docs/dissertn.pdf
Diaz, D.P., & Bontenbal, K.F. (2001). Learner preferences: Developing a learnercentered environment in the online or mediated classroom.Ed at a Distance, 15(8). Retrieved on August 10, 2005, from http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/AUG01_Issue/article03.html
Diaz, D.P., & Cartnal, R.B. (1999). Students' learning styles in two classes: Online distance learning and equivalent on-campus.College Teaching, 47(4), 130–135.
Donath, J. (2002, April). A semantic approach to visualizing online conversations.Association for Computing Machinery. Communications of the ACM, 45(4), 45–49.
Donath, J., Karahalios, K., & Viegas, F. (1999). Visualizing conversation.Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 4(4). Retrieved on February 5, 2005, from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol4/issue4/donath.html
Erickson, T.J., Halverso, C., Kellogg, W.A., Laff, M., & Wolf, T. (n.d.).Social translucence: Designing social infrastructures that make collective activity visible. IBM T. J. Watson Research Center. Retrieved on February 5, 2005, from http://www.visi.com/%7Esnowfall/Soc_Infrastructures.html.
Fisher, D., & Dourish, P. (2004). Social and temporal structures in everyday collaboration.Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 551–558). Vienna, Austria.
Gibson, C.C. (1998). The distance learner's academic self-concept. In C. Gibson (Ed.),Distance learners in higher education: Institutional responses for quality outcomes (pp. 65–76). Madison, WI: Atwood.
Grasha, A.F. (1990). The naturalistic approach to learning styles.College Teaching, 3, 106–109.
Grasha, A.F. (2002).Teaching with style: A practical guide to enhancing learning by understanding teaching and learning styles. Pittsburgh, PA: Alliance. Retrieved on July 10, 2005, from http://ilte.ius.edu/pdf/teaching_with_style.pdf
Hara, N., Bonk, C.J., & Angeli, C. (2000). Content analysis of online discussion in applied educational psychology.Instructional Science, 28(2), 115–152.
Haythornthwaite, C. (2005). Introduction: Computer-mediated collaborative practices.Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication,10(4). Retrieved on April 25, 2005, from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue4/haythronthwaite.html
Herring, S.C. (1999). Interactional coherence in CMC.Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 4(4). Retrieved on May 10, 2005, from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol4/issue4/herring.html
Herring, S.C. (1996). Two variants of an electronic message schema. In S.C. Herring (Ed.),Computer-mediated communication: Linguistic, social, and cross-cultural perspectives (pp. 81–106). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.
Jeong, A. (2005, April 1).Methods and tools for the computational analysis of group interaction and argumentation in asynchronous online group discussions. Paper presented at the Learning and Technology Symposium at New York University, New York, NY.
Jonassen, D. (1998). Designing constructivist learning environments. In C.M. Reigleuth (Ed.),Instructional theories and models (2nd ed., pp. 1–21), Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Orlich, D.C., Harder, R.J., Callahan, R.C., & Gibson, H.W. (2001).Teaching strategies: A guide to better instruction. Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston.
Patterson, J.G. (2002). Understanding and promoting effective online student learning styles: An action research study.Action Research Exchange, 1(1). Retrieved on February, 2006, from http://teach.valdosta.edu/are/Artmanscrpt/vol1no1/patterson_am.pdf
Quan-Haase, A., Cothrel, J., & Wellman, B. (2005). Instant messaging for collaboration: A case study of a high-tech firm.Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(4). Retrieved on September 24, 2005, from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue4/quan-haase.html
Rourke, L., Anderson, T., Garrison, D.R., & Archer, W. (2001). Methodological issues in the content analysis of computer conference transcripts.International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 12(1), 8–22.
Russo, T.C., & Campbell, S.W. (2004, October). Perceptions of mediated presence in an asynchronous online course: Interplay of communication behaviors and medium.Distance Education, 25(2), 216–232.
Selvin, A., Buckingham Shum, S., Sierhuis, M., Conklin, J., Zimmermann, B., Palus, C., Drath, W., Horth, D., Domingue, J., Motta, E., & Li, G. (2001, March 4–7,). Compendium: Making meetings into knowledge events.Knowledge Technologies. Austin, TX. Retrieved on December 14, 2005, from http://www2.gca.org/knowledgetechnologies/2001/proceedings/Conklin&Selvin%20Slides.pdf
Smith, M., & Fiore, A. (2001, March 31-April 5). Visualization components for persistent conversations.Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp 136–143). Seattle, WA.
Walther, J.B. (1992). Interpersonal effects in computer-mediated interaction: A relational perspective.Communication Research, 19(1), 52–90.
Yates, S.Y. (1996). Oral and written linguistic aspects of computer conferencing: A corpus based study. In S.C. Herring (Ed.),Computer-mediated communication: Linguistic, social, and cross-cultural perspectives (pp. 29–46). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: John Benjamins.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
ABOUT THE AUTHORS William J. Gibbs is an Associate Professor in the Journalism and Multimedia Arts Department at Duquesne University where he teaches courses in multimedia, instructional design, and online learning. He received his PhD in Instructional Systems from The Pennsylvania State University. His research interests include knowledge acquisition, technology-based learning environments, computer-mediated communications, and methods for effective instructional software evaluation.
Ronan S. Bernas is a Professor in the Department of Psychology of Eastern Illinois University. He received his PhD in Psychology (Committee on Human Development) from the University of Chicago in 1995. His research is on argumentative and explanatory discourse, examining the learning and conceptual changes that occur during argumentative and explanatory discourse.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gibbs, W.J., Bernas, R.S. Computer-mediated-communications, learning style, and visualizing online educational conversations. J. Comput. High. Educ. 18, 25–50 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03033412
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03033412