Disertation, Schmissertation

Well, I had wanted to do a dissertation designing some units fro ECI 304 and then testing higher order learning on the experimental (collaborative) and control (individual study) groups.
However, I'm not sure how promising that is - particularly because I don't know how much critical discourse is needed in ECI 304 (a primary objective of the Community if Inquiry model).

But, I'm still very interested in the Community of Inquiry Model and higher order learning.
Most recently I've been reading some of Garrison's articles where social presence and teaching presence were assessed using tools they were developing. Potenitally promising avenue there...

Also, I'm re-reading an article written by Dr. Bucher and Dr. Pribesh regarding the Library Science program. Is it possible that there is an area there that I can research?
Would I need to design something, or could a nonexperimental study/evaluation be alright?

more blathering

It's amazing how putting down research for a period of time (ok in my case a long period of time) and then picking it back up again makes you pretty much have to start from scratch. I've picked up the learning orientation research again in order to get the never-ending article finished. And since it has been a while, I really had to re-do a lot of the analysis to get a grip on what we had been doing previously.

However, it has also been nice to do this without other school projects hanging over head (home remodeling projects have been hanging over my head, causing me to inhale dust, etc., but that is another story). I think I am getting a much better grasp on the research and have been inspired to look further because I'm not quite as distracted right now (although I really think sometimes I have Adult ADD..........maybe I should look up the symptoms............no wait finish the blog entry first - FOCUS, FOCUS!)

Anyway, we seem to have some findings that are contrary to previous research in the areas of learning orientation and sense of community. I'll share these findings tomorrow, along with potential research questions for the next round of research on learning orientation. I'd definitely like to get your input!

Possible extension of current research

I was just reading an article by Zimmerman about self regulation in learning. Concerning the ongoing research on Learning Orientation and Sense of Community in Online and Classroom sections of an Educational Foundations Course, how might self efficacy play a part?

We are already talking about adding motivation to learn as a variable. Might self efficacy (or perhaps computer self-efficacy) be another interesting variable?
Questions to ask might include - Is there a relationship between learning orientation and motivation?
A relationship between LO and self-efficacy? between motivation and self-efficacy? etc?

Steven has already used this sample for testing computer self efficacy as it relates to the Online Student Orientation. But what about either computer self efficacy as it relates to learning Blackboard, ppt, word, etc? Or perhaps just self-efficacy as it relates to the course?

If learning orientation, motivation and self-efficacy are situational, are they also related? And what does that mean for designing online and classroom based courses?

Just random thoughts at this point.

Blathering on my Blog

Well, last night's meeting definitely motivated me to really get going on my research. Although I have a proposal already written, it needs some serious updating and the literature review needs a good deal of work. Also, I may want to expand the study so that it is not exclusively qualitative.

Beyond that, I need to finish the research/article we were working on this spring!

I know myself - and probably the most important thing I can do right now is begin making a schedule - what I have to do, when, and how long it should take. Without the schedule - I am wandering in the Dismal Swamp in the dark without a map or flashlight!

Research Residency

Well, I'm pretty excited about the Research Residency seminar, although I think I need to gear up for the amount of work it will entail. I look forward to having a research study that can be presented as well as hopefully published. I've already looked up the presentation guidelines for EERA (I believe proposals are due early September). I'm also excited because my research study could also be presented at the regional or national art education conference (always good for the CV)!

Community of Inquiry

I re-read the Garrison stuff about cognitive, social and teacher presence. They all made sense, but I'm still trying to figure out how to incorporate them in our JACH model.

Cognitive presence is the degree to which knowledge is built through sustained communication (I believe that is correct, I don't have it in front of me)

Social presence - is a learner's ability to make himself "real" to the other learners

Teaching presence - the presence of a facilitator who encourages communication, provides structure, etc.

Again those are my interpretations of the dimensions.

Cognitive presence makes sense to our model. However, the 6 elements involved (can't remember them off the top of my head) didn't totally align with our thoughts.
Social presence interests me because of my thesis as well as the lit review for this class, yet I'm unsure how to incorporate it in our model. Same goes for teaching presence.

Must think on it and write again.

Another Weber note

My other concern on page 2 is under PF5: They are linking "Understand students' academic goals to maximize program relevance" to "The act of cooperative learning provides training for almost any career or lifestyle" Although I agree that cooperative learning is a good thing and can probably enhance anyone's learning, I'm unsure that their statement fits well with understanding academic goals.
I understand academic goals to be much more personal and much more specific. Academic goals seem to be more content or subject-driven in my mind. Again, I am all for cooperative learning. I just think that this point may need to be clarified. Perhaps the Webers could change it to "cooperative learning allows students with common academic goals to learn with each other" or something like that.

Comments regarding Webers

Here's one of my concerns regarding the Weber's document:
On page 2 Under SF2, they write, "Learning preferences become less of an issue when technological tools present more ways to learn". I'm not exactly sure why, but this caught my eye and made me question that statement. Logically, it seems like learning preferences (I'm assuming they are referring to learning styles - visual, kinesthetic, etc) would be taken care of if students are provided with a bunch of tools that match learning styles. However, it is doubtful that every tool will work for every learning style every time. Beyond that, if we are talking about an area that is asynchronous or a blend of asynchronous and synchronous, are some methods for certain learning styles limited? Also, are we sure that learning preferences is equivalent to learning styles? Perhaps the meaning is more equivalent to learning orientation, where students are categorized as Transformers, Performers, Conformers and Resistors. If that is the case, I think the emphasis is more on learning strategies than particular tools. What I mean, is that Transformers are independent workers - they probably don't need any extra tools for interaction among students. Performers are more likely to want to interact with other students and may need some extrinsic rewards when a topic does not interest them. Conformers need more structure and the ability to interact with the instructor (more of a step-by-step process). So they will definitely need tools for interaction, but again the emphasis is on designing instruction with structure for conformers.I'm writing off the top of my head, so I hope this makes some sense.

Flash Server frustrations

I believe the rest of my group enjoyed their time on the Flash server last night. However, I was just plain frustrated. For whatever reason, my microphone continued to cut-out, my video froze a lot of the time, and after trying to speak and having no one respond (because there was such a delay and because half the time they couldn't hear me) I had to resort to typing out short answers. Basically, I was back to IM with a horrible frozen picture of myself on screen.
I don't think that the whole thing can be blamed on the flash server. I think a mixture of possibilities can be blamed.
1. My computer is hooked up to a wireless network (Airport)
2. I'm using a Macintosh
3. I wonder if the desktop is partitioned with enough memory (although I talked with Steven C. and he thought that it wasn't the problem)
4. The laptop G4 requires a powered microphone to be plugged in (can't use the regular headphone/microphone combo) or you have to use the built-in microhone (which I do).

So, I don't know, but the problem is forcing me to go to the education lab this evening and "meet" from there. I'll use a Mac though, to see if there are any oroblems there.
So I'll be working from home by going to school.

Working Out Thesis Stuff in my Brain

Okay, so the basic premise of my thesis is to examine surveys from the ECI 304 classes in regards to their sense of community and Learning Orientations. The courses are categorized into traditional classroom or online formats.

Questions/Issues:

1. Sense of Community - When was this survey taken - the 4th or 5th week? Is that enough time for students to determine their sense of community? Would it be very different if it was taken at the end of the course? Or maybe it doesn't matter, I don't know
   
2. Learner Orientation Ok, so LO is different than learning styles because LO focuses on affective, social and conative factors in learning, whereas learning styles focus on cognitive factors. LO is important for studying online learning because instructors can't use nonverbal cues (which they often use in traditional classes) in order to perceive motivation, incentive and other affective factors in a student's learning. Without that knowledge instructors can't change instruction appropriately.
   (Sorry, that was a kind of "download" from my brain)
   Martinez & Jones' research shows that Learner Orientation is significantly higher in web-based courses as opposed to traditional courses, meaning that web-based students may not be "typical" students in this regard. So obviously course format is a factor in terms of Learner Orientation (I guess because Performers and Transformers are more likely than conformers to self-select web-based courses or because they are more likely not to frop out of them).
   
3. Similarly, some research has shown a significant difference in perceived sense of community between online and traditional courses (of course pedagogy may have something to do with that, and hopefully instructional method/pedagogy will be controlled in this study). Other research has shown no significant difference. But let's just say for the time being that soc is affected by or can be correlated with course format.

So now, I'm trying to figure out the Research Question.

This is what I'm thinking at the moment

• Learner Orientation may have a relationship with course format, but is not affected by it
  (correlation, but not causality)
• Sense of community may have a relationship with course format, but also might be affected by it (correlation, maybe causality)
• Sense of community may have a relationship with LO, or may be affected by it (correlation or causality)

In my view, LO and course format do not change, they stay constant (yes course format can change according to selection, but in this class people are not changing from one to the other after the semester has started). So they are independent variables

Sense of community is the only thing that can change, making it a dependent variable.

But I'm still unsure where to go with the question.

Instant Messaging, Discussion Boards and Somewhere in Between

Andy and I were talking the other day about the limitations of Instant Messaging - mainly that you can't go too far in-depth in a discussion because it would take too long to type and you have people waiting for you in a real-time environment.
I told him that I had been thinking the other day that it would be interesting to have something in between IM and discussion boards. Basically, it would be real-time, but would be a threaded discussion, so that if a group was talking about more than one topic, or had more than one question that was being asked, members could create new threads. In that way members wouldn't be jumping on each other's answers constantly or waiting for others to reply.

I envisioned it like hypertext or hypercard. What I mean is, I envisioned boxes linked hierarchically according to topic/question. When someone posted to one of the links, it would flash on and off, so that members would know where to look.

I'm not sure that this tool woould be effective, particulalry in a small group, since we might be jumping all over the place to get to each other's ideas/questions (read: cognitive overload). But perhaps a larger group would find it beneficial.
Then again, maybe not.

Negligence

I know.. I have been mighty negligent when it comes to posting on my blog this past week. I think I had a combination of writer's block and mental confusion. In a way it was sort of like I was lurking in my own brain. No jokes please... I made it too easy.
I have done a lot of self-reflection this week however. I won't bore you with the details, but not only was I trying to figure out what we're all doing and what it means, but also trying to evaluate my learning and working styles and how that fits in to what I am doing. I'm not sure that makes any sense, but today I am feeling slightly refreshed, and I think I can begin to join the real world again.