Investigation on Graduate Students' Social Presence and Social Knowledge Construction in Two Discussion Settings

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: Peer, Collaborative, and Social Processes in Technology-Based Environments

Abstract

Online discussions have become important educational activities through which collaborative learning and knowledge construction can be facilitated. This study is an empirical case study in which a group of graduate students’ social presence and knowledge construction in two discussion settings is explored and compared. We also examine participants’ posting behaviors and interaction patterns by utilizing a post types scheme. Results reveal that the participants generally created and responded more words and presented more social presence behaviors when discussing in the audio/video-based setting. Besides, the participants involved in the process of social knowledge construction more frequently when the discussions occurred in the online discussion board due to the feature of asynchronous text-based nature.

Authors

• Chen Guo, University at Albany - SUNY

• Peter Shea, University at Albany - SUNY