Online Learners' Peer Help: Roles of Help-Seeking Tendencies and Epistemic Beliefs

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 61
  In Roundtable Session: Learner, Instructor, and Designer Roles

Abstract

In this study, we designed a peer support forum that facilitated students’ knowledge construction in an online class, and investigated learners’ help-seeking tendencies and epistemic beliefs as two factors that could drive students’ participation in the forum. The results suggested that help-seeking tendencies and epistemic beliefs did not influence students’ initial posts, but they influenced students’ number of responses in the forum. In addition, when students had certain help-seeking tendencies, their epistemic beliefs affected their number of responses differently. Our study informs the design of peer support forum and other collaborative learning activities by highlighting an often ignored learner characteristic, epidemic beliefs. Design and research implications will be elaborated.

Authors

• Victor Law, University of New Mexico

• Kun Huang, Mississippi State University