In my earlier posts, I discussed the ESPRI and the factors associated with predicting student success. My research is looking to examine how we can use the ESPRI to help improve student performance in online courses by addressing areas of weakness in a student’s “soft” skill set. To recap, the four areas covered in the ESPRI are technology self-efficacy, achievement beliefs, organizational skills, and academic risk-taking. In this post, I will discuss ways to intervene with the first two.
To begin, some definitions. Self-efficacy relates to the beliefs about successfully performing academic tasks, while self-concept is the knowledge and perceptions about one’s own academic achievement (Ferla et al., 2009). Attribution theory (Weiner, 1992) relates to the reasons that students attribute academic outcomes, which fall into three categories: locus of control (i.e., are the reasons internal or external to the learner?), stability (i.e., is the reason temporary or lasting?), and controllability (i.e., how it relates to learner persistence).
Simply put, the more the student believes that he or she is in control of the outcome, the more likely the student is to persist, maintain motivation, and change behaviors to improve learning. Since a large population of online learners are taking courses for credit recovery, or are in an alternative setting due to being unsuccessful in a traditional school, changing mindsets is critical.
But how do you teach that? Can you teach that? Studies have been somewhat scarce and mixed. Walden and Ramey (1983) found that high-risk students who participated in a long-term intervention on internalizing control did see improvement in academic achievement. Robertson’s (2000) review of attribution retraining studies found mixed results, and based on the review recommended that attribution retraining interventions should include additional steps to ensure positive results. In other words, simply telling students to internalize attributions may lead to decreased motivation if they are still unsuccessful. Robertson suggested the inclusion of other learning strategies; thus, if the student is not successful, it could be viewed as a mistake related to the strategy rather than overall ability. Finally, Chodkiewicz and Boyle (2014) provided an overall critique of attribution studies as they relate to education, stating that much of the literature from the field of psychology is conducted in clinical settings, with little taking place in the classroom.
Regarding my current research with online learning, my efforts seem to be in line with Robertson’s recommendations, as we are looking to tackle multiple strategies and not simply student belief systems.
Chodkiewicz, A. R., & Boyle, C. (2014). Exploring the contribution of attribution retraining to student perceptions and the learning process. Educational Psychology in Practice, 30(1), 78-87.
Ferla, J., Valcke, M., & Cai, Y. (2009). Academic self-efficacy and academic self-concept: Reconsidering structural relationships. Learning and Individual Differences, 19(4), 499-505.
Robertson, J. S. (2000). Is Attribution Training a Worthwhile Classroom Intervention For K–12 Students with Learning Difficulties? Educational Psychology Review, 12(1), 111-134.
Walden, T. A., & Ramey, C. T. (1983). Locus of control and academic achievement: Results from a preschool intervention program. Journal of Educational Psychology, 75(3), 347-358.
Weiner, B. (1992). Human Motivation: Metaphors, Theories and Research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
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Monday, June 16, 2014
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Reflections on experiences with a MOOC for teachers
In the fall of 2013,
I facilitated learning in a MOOC designed for K-12 classroom teachers. In this
posting, I share some of my initial insights and questions regarding this
experience.
As a facilitator, I
felt that the structure of the MOOC was rigid and made it difficult to
incorporate tools and techniques I have used successfully in online graduate
courses. I understand that facilitating learning in a MOOC is not the same as in a graduate course, but with the focus of this course on technology use and an audience largely of teachers, I think it makes sense to consider how these experiences may have differed.
I found that most of
the conversations MOOC participants had about the content and their experiences
were typical of teacher talk, i.e., discussions comprised largely of sharing experiences
and information about tools, but lacking critical consideration of the context
in which those tools are used or their value for teaching or assessing specific
student learning needs. This contrasts with rich, substantive conversations reported in successful efforts to promote
online or virtual teacher professional development (PD) communities in the research
literature. Early research engaging teachers in online professional communities
were successful - see LabNet (Spitzer & Wedding, 1995) and the Math
Learning Forums (Honey et al., 1994) as examples.
One indicator that I
use to identify substantive, productive conversations in online discourse is the appearance of disagreement and questioning of positions or claims made. In the discussions that I viewed or participated in as
part of the MOOC, I saw few if any instances of this type of conversation. I find that
it is a challenge to “create” or “nurture” substantive, productive discussions
in online forums comprised of classroom teachers for many reasons. But my experience is that absent these kinds of critical discussions, teachers do not learn much
of substance related to the topics discussed.
Following social
cultural or sociocognitive theories of learning as participation in authentic,
critical discourse, this is clearly a challenge for online or virtual teacher
professional development efforts regardless of the format. Absent critical
conversations about pedagogical benefits of technology use in teaching, these
experiences are unlikely to provide participants with substantive knowledge
regarding the complexities of technology integration. This raises questions,
for me, about what “active participants” took from their MOOC experience and
the extent to which what they learned helped them incorporate technology into
their teaching practices.
I have argued in
previous posts that “passive participation” in a MOOC is similar to watching a
video or viewing a PowerPoint lecture. Certainly, you can learn something from
such activities, depending on how you approach them, but I do not believe that
passive participation results in meaningful learning for adults. Much of the PD that K-12 teachers
participate in unfortunately is of this form – where they are told/shown what
tools to use but do not engage in the critical consideration of how/when/why
using them might be beneficial for their students. Technical knowledge
and skill are a necessary, but insufficient, if the goal is integration of technology in support of
student learning.
It is difficult to
judge whether passive or limited participation in MOOCs is something that
eventually is valuable or productive for “passive participants.” One question is: given the time spent as a passive participant, what perceived value
is there from participation in the MOOC? What is the link between perceptions of value and expectations for learning?
If perceptions of
limited value influence participant’s level of commitment to learning,
this would certainly constrain what students will gain from a limited participation experience in a MOOC. In a
graduate-level course, students pay to learn how, when and why technology can
be helpful in their teaching and assessments. Certainly the money and time
spent in a graduate course ensures that most participants are invested in the
outcome. Teacher PD, in comparison, is often free or inexpensive, so perhaps expectations
are lower, based on perceived value and previous experiences. Likewise, perhaps because MOOCs are low cost or free, some professionals may be less
committed to participating deeply and may learn little as a result.
I think another key element of
successful online PD is ensuring that the interactions are inherently interesting and
valuable, which is another distinction between MOOCs and effective online
graduate education. The literature on virtual or online teacher PD reflects the
challenges associated with this idea in practice, but I believe it is necessary for
sustained teacher development. Dede (2006) and Breit et al. (2009) provide
considerations and suggestions, based on research in this domain, for effective
online teacher PD.
This is not to
suggest that all online graduate courses in educational technology or other
subjects are effective or worthwhile. Certainly, as with traditional courses,
online instruction can be excellent, average, or poor, depending on a variety of
factors. There is, however, strong evidence that the quality of interactions strongly influence students' perceptions of the value of online learning. As we move towards more inexpensive, accessible, and open forms of
online learning, I think the issues raised here, based on my limited
experiences with a MOOC, may help those considering participation in a MOOC focused on teacher PD determine if the outcomes will be worth their time.
Andy
References
Breit, L., Dede, C., Ketelhut, D.J., McCloskety,
E.M., & Whitehouse, P. (2009). A research agenda for online teacher
professional development. Journal of
Teacher Education, 60(1), 8-19.
Honey, M., Bennett, D., Hupert, H., Kanze, B.,
Meade, T., Panush, E. Powell, K., & Spielvogel, B. (1994). The Math Learning
Forums online: Using telecommunications as a tool for reflective practice. Machine Mediated Learning, 4(2&3),
163-176.
Dede, C. (2006). Online professional development
for teachers: Emerging models and methods. Harvard Education Press, Cambridge,
MA.
Spitzer, W., & Wedding, K. (1995). LabNet: An
intentional electronic community for professional development. Computers & Education, 24(3),
247-255.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
MOOC's, learning and theoretical assumptions
The latest buzzword in educational
technology are MOOC’s – Massive Open Online Courses – gaining interest in
higher education with numerous articles published on their potential for opening
access to higher education for those who cannot currently afford it. A recent search of
peer-reviewed publications on MOOC’s returned almost 750 results. One key
aspect of MOOC’s that is especially attractive is their cost, with MIT, for
example, offering a variety of MOOC’s free and Coursera also offering them as well.
Ferdig (2013) asks a critical
question regarding MOOC's: “under what conditions do (insert specific type of
MOOC) work?” (p. 5). He suggests that there is still insufficient research to
support a clear or convincing answer to this question. Ferdig, Pytash, Merchant
& High (2014) report on their experiences with a MOOC targeted at teachers
and 21st century learning, identifying three types of participants:
lurkers, who observed but did not actively participate; passive participants, who
did a minimal amount of work required to complete the course; and active
participants, who were highly engaged in the course.
An article by Koller, Ng, Do and Chen
(2013) explores the issue of retention by students in MOOC’s. The basis for the
authors’ argument is that we need to reconsider what we mean by “retention” in
light of students’ intentions for enrolling. The evidence provided so far
suggests that few students are retained or complete assessments associated with
MOOC's, but the author’s argue that student intention should be a filter through
which we interpret the low completion evidence. Is this a valid argument, given
what we know about learning?
A criticism of Koller, Ng, Do and
Chen’s argument is their implicit assumption about the nature of learning that
drives their claims regarding MOOC's. Like Ferdig, Pytash, Merchant and High, the
authors identify MOOC learners using three categories: passive participants,
active participants, and community contributors. They provide analysis of these
types using assessments, participation and explore relationships between these
groups related to: (a) lecture watching and assignment completion, (b) lecture
watching and quiz taking, and (c) quiz taking and assignment completion.
These types of MOOC activities and
assessments raise questions about the instruction and learning that
occurs in this and other MOOC studies. Questions include: how active or engaged are students
in learning? How substantive is their learning as a result of their
participation? What is it they are learning? Implicit in some of the MOOC
studies are assumptions about learning that could be considered as behaviorist,
drawing on the work of Skinner and Watson.
Behaviorist learning theories make
assumptions about learning as passive viewing and
often include assessments of learning as recall of factual information using known-answer tests or quizzes. These
assumptions stand in contrast to theories of learning generally accepted
amongst educational psychologists that look beyond recall and memorization into
other areas, including the nature of expertise.
Bransford, Brown & Cocking (2001),
for example, provide a synthesis of research on learning and expertise,
identifying aspects of effective learning communities:
learner-centered environments that consider existing knowledge, skill and
beliefs learners bring; knowledge-centered pedagogy that recognizes that
learning is (or should be) focused on understanding and adaptive expertise;
assessments that include formal and informal feedback on understanding, not
memorization, to encourage and reward “meaningful learning;” and incorporation
of social environments where individuals learn from each other via active,
constructive participation.
Clara &
Barbera (2013) offer a critique of MOOC's based on the implicit theoretical
perspective of their designers when compared with social-cultural learning
theory. “The conclusion of this discussion is that, taken from a psychological
point of view, connectivism, as currently formulated, should be abandoned as a
learning theory and as a theoretical guide for pedagogy in MOOCs and in Web 2.0
environments in general.” (p. 134).
Bates (August 5, 2012) offers a
similar criticism about MOOCs: “… teaching methods used by most Coursera
courses so far are based on a very old and outdated behaviorist pedagogy,
relying primarily on information transmission, computer marked assignments and
peer assessment.” MOOC’s, as currently defined and implemented, may disregard or
ignore what we know about the nature of learning and expertise, which could ultimately
undermine their value and contribution to higher education.
“The challenge in a MOOC is whether the levels
of support by facilitators and other learners and the affordances of a complex
emerging learning environment will align and aid participants in such
sense-making, and whether the openness, diversity, and interactivity of MOOCs
aids participants on their personalized learning journey.” Kop, Fournier &
Mak, 2011, p. 88.
References
Bates, T. (August
5, 2012). What’s right and what’s wrong about Coursera-style MOOCs? http://www.tonybates.ca/2012/08/05/whats-right-and-whats-wrong-about-coursera-style-moocs/
Clara, M.,
and Barbera, E. (2013). Learning online: Massive open online courses (MOOCs),
connectivism, and cultural psychology. Distance
Education, 34(1), 129-136.
Ferdig, R.
(2013). What Massive Open Online Courses have to offer K-12 teachers and students?
Michigan Virtual Learning Research. Available online at: http://www.mvlri.org
Ferdig,
R.E., Pytash, K.E., Merchant, W., & Nigh, J. (2014). Findings and
reflections from the K-12 Teaching in the 21st century MOOC.
Michigan Virtual Learning Research. Available online at: http://www.mvlri.org
How people learn: Brain, mind,
experience and school (2001). Bransford, J.D., Brown,
A.L., & Cocking, R.R. (Eds.). The National Academies Press, open book available
online at: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309070368
Koller, D.,
Ng, A., Do, C. & Chen, Z. (2013, June 3). Retention and Intention in MOOC:
In Depth, EDUCAUSE Review. Retrieved on April 3, 2014 from: http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/retention-and-intention-massive-open-online-courses-depth-0
Kop, R.,
Fournier, H., & Mak, J.S.F. (2011). Pedagogy of abundance or pedagogy to
support human beings? Participant support on Massive Open Online Courses. The International Review of Research in Open
and Distance learning, 12(7), 74-93.
Andy
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Social presence in online education
Students often report feeling disconnected from their peers in online or distance education courses and may feel isolated from their instructor. What some have characterized as a sense of “community,” or interconnectedness, in the online realm has been constituted as “social presence” (MacIsaac & Gunawardena, 1996), defined as the degree to which a person feels “socially present” in a mediated situation.
Garrison, Anderson & Archer (2010) provide a
succinct summary of the genesis of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) theoretical
framework that encompasses social, cognitive and teaching presence concepts. Caudle
(2013) explored challenges associated with establishing teaching and social
presence using a sociocultural theoretical perspective while Hosler (2012)
examined student perceptions of cognitive and teaching presence when
facilitating critical thinking in online discussions.
In
the field of computer-mediated communication (CmC) and online learning, the
concept of social presence appears to be associated with students’ sense of
engagement and belonging in virtual communities (Kehrwald, 2010; Moody &
Wieland, 2010). Three (3)
conceptions of social
presence (Caspi
& Blau, 2008) have emerged that might help instructors plan for student support
in online educational settings: a subjective quality of a medium that
determines the quality of the communication and perception of others;
self-projection onto the group; and identification with members of the group –
i.e., group identify.
Social presence appears to be important for supporting
online learning by establishing a convenient climate for interaction and collaboration.
It may also “contribute to the socioemotional source of perceived learning
while leaving cognitive sources unaffected” (Caspi & Blau, 2008, p. 335).
Social presence may provide online students with subjectivity (Kehrwald, 2010),
which may be especially critical for students from cultural or linguistically
diverse backgrounds.
Chat
has emerged as an accessible synchronous tool that can increase interaction in
online or web-based instruction (Hines & Pearl, 2004). Studies of chat use suggest
that it can support greater development of social relationships and class
culture (Im & Lee, 2003/2004). For example, Kirk (2000) found that
synchronous CmC promoted development of group identify and caring amongst
students.
Im & Lee (2003/2004)
report that synchronous CmC may be more suitable for building social and
affective elements of sense of community. Park (2007) describes the potential
benefits of combing CmC forms for group support and collaboration: “Such
support is realized through using interpersonal and affective communicational
features to seek and build rapport, social presence and cohesion, and
solidarity” (p. 152).
My own experiences
with synchronous CmC reveal evidence, including analysis of a chat transcript
that reveals emotional support for a student and student survey data,
suggesting that use of chats may improve some students’ sense of social
presence in online or hybrid courses. We use synchronous chat in online
courses, for advising students in our online program, and view social
development and support as a critical element of overall program quality.
Online instructors and
program coordinators should consider use of both asynchronous and synchronous
CmC tools to promote intellectual, or cognitive, and psychological, or affective,
student development. Social presence provides a conceptual lens for exploring social elements of learning online and synchronous chat may be one tool for enhancing students' sense of community. Failure to address students' social and personal needs in online environments may negatively
impact their perceptions of the overall quality of their online experiences.
References
Caspi, A. & Blau, I. (2008). Social presence
in online discussion groups: testing three conceptions and their relations to
perceived learning. Social Psychology of
Education, 11(3), 323-346.
Caudle, L.A. (2013). Using a sociocultural perspective
to establish teaching and social presence within a hybrid community of mentor
teachers. Adult Learning, 24(3),
112-120.
Garrison, D.R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W.
(2010). The first decade of the community of inquiry framework: A
retrospective. The Internet and Higher
Education, 13(1-2), 5-9.
Hines, R.A., &
Pearl, C.E. (2004). Increasing interaction in web-based instruction: Using
synchronous chats and asynchronous discussions. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 23, 33-36.
Hosler, K.A. (2012). The importance of course
design, feedback, and facilitation: Student perceptions of the relationship
between teaching presence and cognitive presence. Educational Media International, 49(3), 217-229.
Im, Y., & Lee, O. (2003/2004). Pedagogical
implications of online discussion for pre-service teacher training. Journal of Research on
Technology in Education, 36, 155-170.
Kehrwald, B. (2010). Understanding social presence
in text-based online learning environments. Distance
Education, 29(1), 89-106
Kirk, R. (2000). A study of the use of a private
chat room to increase reflective thinking in pre-service teachers. College Student Journal, 34, 115+.
McIsaac, M. S., & Gunawardena, C. L. (1996). Distance
Education. In D. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of research for educational communications and
technology (pp.
403–437). NewYork: Simon&Schuster.
Moody,
R.A. & Wieland, R.L. (2010). Using videoconferencing to establish and
maintain a social presence in online learning environments. Educational Considerations, 37(2),
18-21.
Park (2007).
Interpersonal and affective communication in synchronous online discourse. Library Quarterly, 77(2), 133–155.
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