This study examined a web-based undergraduate course structured around social
learning theories through the lens of social construction as a theoretical framework
and a case study research method. The purpose of the study was to investigate
students' learning experiences from a cognitively guided research framework.
Instructional strategies practiced in the course, instructional design developed, and
demonstrated students' learning outcomes were examined to help characterize
students' learning experiences.
The study proceeded from a social constructivist framework, employing a qualitative
case study approach. Data collected to support the description of students' learning
experiences included early course survey, in-depth interviews, course documents,
students' artifacts, online class interactions, email correspondences among
participants, and the researcher's journals based on online observations. The results
of the study reveal that students' learning experiences and learning outcomes were
greatly affected by the instructor's belief about teaching a distance course. Her belief
that students should be fully responsible for their own learning in the web-based
course resulted in minimal facilitation of the class in all aspects, including
moderating students' online discussions, fostering learning communities within the
class, and providing elaborate, critical feedback to elicit students' cognitive
processes. As a result, the engaged cognitive processes and knowledge domains
students demonstrated over the term were not significantly improved. Furthermore,
the course goal of establishing a collaborative, interactive, and social learning
environment for distance students was not met. The results of this study contribute
to the picture of the facilitation skills and moderating practices that support more
fully the goal of the development of a cognitively rich learning community. / Graduation date: 2006
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/28734 |
| Date | 18 July 2005 |
| Creators | Shieh, Ruey S. |
| Contributors | Gummer, Edith |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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