TheEffectofInteractioninWeb-basedCoursesonStudentOutcomesWangXiuwen南京航空航天大學外國語學院210016IntroductionProliferationofWeb-basedcoursesTheimportanceofinteractionStatementoftheproblem

TheinteractionthatoccursinWeb-basedcoursesismarkedlydifferentfromthatoccursinthetraditionalclassroomsetting.

Purposeofthestudy

1.MakeasystematicstudyoftheinteractioninWeb-basedcoursesanddescribeitsfunctions,modes,means,andetc.2.AbetterunderstandingoftheroleofinteractioninWeb-basedcoursessoastofacilitatethedevelopmentofonlineinstructiononcampus.

ResearchQuestion

WhatistheeffectofinteractioninWeb-basedcoursesonstudentoutcomeswhilestudentcharacteristicsareconsidered?ResearchVariablesSignificanceoftheStudy

1.Theconceptofinteractionisacentralcomponentinthebasicprinciplesfordevelopinganddeliveringgoodeducation.2.Proponentsofinteractioninonlinecoursesbelievethattheinteractionpieceisacoreelementtolearninginthevirtualclassroom.3.GiventhatevidencesupportsthecomparabilityoflearninginWeb-basedcourses,perhapsmoreimportantoutcomestoassessarestudents’satisfactionwiththeWeb-basedcourse,theirperceivedlearning,andmotivationintheWeb-basedcourse.

4.UnderstandingtheimpactofinteractiononstudentoutcomescanbeessentialinthedesignanddeliveryoffutureWeb-basedcourses.

Formulationofinteraction

inWeb-basedcourses

Definitionofinteraction

1.Theterms“interaction”and“interactivityareusedinterchangeablyinthisstudyasGilbertandMoore(1998)do.2.Twodominantwaysofdefininginteraction:human-humaninteractionandhuman-messageinteraction.3.AnacceptanceofWagner’s(1994:8)definition:

...reciprocaleventsthatrequireatleasttwoobjectsandtwoactions.Interactionsoccurwhentheseobjectsandeventsmutuallyinfluenceoneanother.Interactionwithinthecurrentstudy

TheoreticalframeworkAlearner-centeredsocialconstructivismapproach

1.Learner-centeredprinciples2.Situatedlearning3.Collaborativelearning4.Situatedandcollaborativelearninginonlineeducation

ResearchmethodologyAdescriptivecorrelateddesignTheresearchisbasicallydescriptive.Descriptiveresearchdrawselementsfrombothquantitativeandqualitativemethodologies.Itincludescollectingdatathroughinterviewsandsurveymethodsinordertodeterminethewaythingsareortodescribe‘whatis’(Gall,Borg&Gall,1996).

Theaimofcorrelatedstudiesistodescribetherelationshipamongvariablesinthestudy(Polit&Hungler,1999).

Selectionofparticipants

288studentsrecruitedfromtheWeb-basedEnglishprogramforundergraduatestudentsofferedbytheSchoolofForeignLanguagesatShanghaiJiaotongUniversityhastakenpartinthestudy.InstrumentationSurveymethod

Commontechniquesusedforgatheringdataineducationincludesurveysastheyarea“meansofgatheringinformationthatdescribesthenatureandextentofaspecifiedsetofdatarangingfromphysicalcountsandfrequenciestoattitudesandopinions”(Issac&Michael,1995:128)

Casestudies

Themeritofacasestudyapproachistoenableresearcherstoconcentrateonaspecificinstanceorsituationandtocarryoutanintensivestudyonfewentitiesinordertograspthecomplexanddynamicissuesinaparticularonlineeducationsetting(Bell,1993).

Contentanalysis

Theuniquenatureofcomputer-mediatedcommunication(CMC)createstheopportunityofusingcontentanalysisasanotherpopularmethodofinquiryrelatedtoonlinelearningactivitiesandbehaviors.

SurveyinstrumentTheNHCE(NewHorizonCollegeEnglish)ElectronicLearningEnvironment

Survey

Thesurveyinstrumentusedinthisstudyisinspiredbytherelevantliteratureanddevelopedbytheresearcher.

DatacollectionThequestionnaireisthesurveymethodforgatheringdatatomatchresearchobjectives.Datastoredintheonlinelearningsystem:logonstatisticsandpostingsonthediscussionforum.InformalinterviewswiththestudentsandinstructorsintheWeb-basedcourse

DataanalysisQuantitativedataanalysis

MainlyPearsonproductmomentcorrelations,andhierarchicalregressionanalysis.

Pearsonproductmomentcorrelationsareconductedtoinvestigatetherelationshipbetweeninteractionandstudentoutcomes,aswellasstudentcharacteristicswiththem.

Hierarchicalregressionanalysisconsistsofmultipleregressionusingablockmethod.

QualitativeDataAnalysis

AccordingtoRossmanandRallis(1998),aftergatheringqualitativedata,theresearchershouldgeneratecategories,identifythemes,andlookforrecurringpatternsamongtheresponsestotheopen-formitems.Inaddition,interpretationandtabulationoftheopen-formitemsandsummaryshouldbeincludedintheresearchreport.

Structuralandcontentanalysis

1.Structuralanalysisreferstotheuseofstatisticalmethodstotraceandpresentonlinecommunicationactivities.Normally,theunitofanalysisforstructuralanalysisisthemessage.2.Contentanalysisconcentratesonthemeaningofmessagesinsteadofotheraspectsofmessagesthemselves.Results

QuantitativeanalysisSatisfactionanalysisBivariateCorrelationsforSatisfaction

RegressionAnalysisforSatisfaction

RegressionCoefficientsforSatisfaction

ParsimoniousModelSummaryforSatisfaction

PerceivedlearninganalysisThebivariatecorrelationsrangefrom(computerskills)to(communication).Allpredictorsexceptone(computerskills)havebivariatecorrelations.Consequently,computerskillsaredeletedfromsubsequentregressionanalysis.Inthehierarchical,multipleregressionanalysis,thethreestudentcharacteristicsvariables(gender,averagetimespentonthecourseperweek,andreasonsfortakingthecourse)accountfor3%ofthevariancewhichisnotstatisticallysignificant.Inthehierarchical,multipleregressionanalysis,theinteractionvariables(learnercontrol,feedback,andcommunication)accountfor37%ofvariance,whichisstatisticallysignificant.Theresultsofamoreparsimoniousmodel

usingonly

communication,feedback,andlearnercontrolareverysimilartothoseobtainedfromthe6predictors.

Motivationanalysis

Thebivariatecorrelationsrangefrom

(computerskills)to(communication).Allpredictorsexceptone(computerskills)havebivariatecorrelations.Consequently,computerskillsaredeletedfromsubsequentregressionanalysis.Inthehierarchical,multipleregressionanalysis,thethreestudentcharacteristicsvariables(gender,averagetimespentonthecourseperweek,andreasonsfortakingthecourse)accountfor6%ofthevariance,whichisstatisticallysignificant.Inthehierarchical,multipleregressionanalysis,theinteractionvariables(learnercontrol,feedback,andcommunication)accountfor33%ofvariance,whichisstatisticallysignificant.Theresultsofamoreparsimoniousmodel

usingonly

communication,feedback,andlearnercontrolareverysimilartothoseobtainedfromthe6predictors.

Summaryofquantitativefindingsforstudentoutcomes

Inthesatisfactionanalysisandperceivedlearninganalysis,theimportantpredictorsareallinteractionvariables,however,inthemotivationanalysis,theimportantpredictorsincludebothinteractionvariablesandstudentcharacteristicsvariables.Theinteractionvariables(learner-control,feedback,andcommunication)playamoresignificantrolethanstudentcharacteristicsinpredictingstudentoutcomesofsatisfaction,perceivedlearning,andmotivation.

Socialinteraction(learner-instructorinteractionandlearner-learnerinteraction)seemstobeabetterpredictorthaninstructionalinteraction(learner-contentinteraction).

Teachers’roleisconsideredvitalintheinteractionprocessandpromptfeedbackisvalued

StructuralandcontentanalysisStructuralanalysisisineffectthemessagedistributionanalysisinthecurrentstudy.Theconceptofrule-basedsystemsservethepurposeofguidingthecontentanalysisononlinemessages.Threesetsofrulesapply:substantive,message,andcontrol(Liebenau&Backhouse,1990).SummaryoffindingsforstructuralandcontentanalysisAtthebeginningofthediscussionactivities,studentsneedtheirinstructors’guidance.Teachersplayanimportantroleinincreasingstudents’participationinvariousdiscussiontasks.Studentsaccountforalargeproportionofpostingsdistribution.Themajorityofmessagesaresubstantive,i.e.discussionontheprimetasksinitiatedbytheinstructororotherstudents.Thismeansthatstudentsreallyusetheonlinediscussionforumtoenhancetheirunderstandingofthelecturesandtofacilitatetheirlearning.QualitativeanalysisContentforanalysis:

1.Sixopen-endedquestionsareincludedintheThirdPartofthesurvey,whichattempttocapturethelearners’perceivedvalueoftheroleofinteractioninhelpingtounderstandthecourseandalsoadditionalcontributionsastotheiroverallinteractionexperiences.2.InformalinterviewswiththeinstructorsandstudentsintheWeb-basedcourse.Examplesofsomeofthecommentsindicatingpositiveeffectofonlinegroupdiscussionsinclude:“Icanlearnfromwhatmyclassmatessayandgetall-roundclues,henceobtainingmultipleandthoroughinformation.”“Myclassmates’viewpointsvaryaccordingly,whichcanbroadenmyknowledgeandelicitmyunderstanding.”“Unconsciously,I’mmoreskilledatusingEnglish.”“Thediscussionaboutcloneplayedanimportantroleinhelpingmesummarizethetext’smainidea.”“Veryhelpfulinimprovingmyspeakingandwritingability.”

Anumberofstudentsdescribehowthesystemhelpstheirprocessofknowledgedevelopmentduringtheinformalinterviews.

“ThegreatestbenefitIgotfromtheonlinelearningenvironmentwasthewidevarietyofschoolsofthoughtsthatIcanreadanddiscuss.Theonlineformallowsmetohavesufficienttimetothink,toreflect,andtoputmywell-organizedarguments.”“Theonlinelearningsystemhasbeenveryhelpfulinincreasingmyu