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Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!. Jackie Krause, PhD - Central Washington University – Presenter Jan Tucker, PhD – Higher Learning Institute – Co-investigator Stephanie YoungGonzaga – Ashford University – Co-investigator. How to obtain these slides. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion
Forums: The Surprising Truth!
Jackie Krause, PhD - Central Washington University – PresenterJan Tucker, PhD – Higher Learning Institute – Co-investigatorStephanie YoungGonzaga – Ashford University – Co-investigator
How to obtain these slides
• A QR Code has been added to the bottom-right corner of some slides. This will take you to my blog for download: http://jackiekrause.wordpress.com
• Email: • [email protected]
• A handout is available with this information!20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
Publication
• This presentation is based on a research paper published in the International Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 3, No. 2; 2014
• The full text can be found at: http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v3n2p106
• doi:10.5430/ijhe.v3n2p106A Proposed Model for Authenticating
Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
Who is in the room?
• A few questions to start:• Who is teaching online?
• Are you using discussion boards in your classrooms?
• Do you have any control over the discussion questions?
• Public/Private/For-Profit?
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
Problem Statement
• The flexibility of online college programs often appeals to non-traditional students but does this instructional format provide a vehicle for authentic transfer of knowledge?
If authentic knowledge transfer is occurring in online discussion
forums, what does it look like? How can we facilitate it?
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
How is Knowledge Transfer different than Learning?
• Knowledge transfer = • Learning from the experiences of others
• Learning or creating knowledge = • Acquiring knowledge and skills through
study (Kiehl, 2004)
• Highly social processCreating and transferring
knowledge is a core principle of higher education
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
Online Discussion Forums
• Backbone for the online class• Fosters faculty-to-student and student-to-
student connections
• Promotes collaborative learning and problem solving
• May help students apply classroom knowledge to real world experiences
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
Drivers
• Little research that examines the role of online discussion forums in knowledge transfer
• Authentic knowledge transfer may be possible in online discussion forums, but there is not enough empirical evidence to support this
• Currently there is a focus on application of classroom knowledge in the work place
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
The Research
• Our team examined 21 sections of a graduate course in organizational behavior
• In order to capture student-student and faculty-student interactions, one discussion question was chosen for review.
• Across the 21 sections (sources) there were 2,045 replies with an average of 97.38 replies per source.
What was especially interesting was that there were 285 (13.9%) responses from instructors across all courses. More on this later.
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
The Research, cont.
• After an initial review of the data, we developed a framework for investigation.• We developed keywords and phrases that we
felt demonstrated knowledge transfer
• We developed an initial 42 nodes
• Additional passes of the data ensued
• We continued following process coding to determine the major themes and child nodes
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
The Research, cont.13 themes emerged:Acknowledges suggestion or advice
Agreement-offers confirmation
Agreement- offers suggestion Commentary-discussion based in experience
I think… I believe I can relate to your experience, I understand
Offers Suggestions I never realized or I never thought of it that way
Seeking clarification In my experience… I have worked… I have dealt with
Sharing personal experience Providing clarification of point
Situation analysis, may offer suggestions
The Research, cont.
• We further refined the data by suggesting three categories:• Knowledge Transfer
• Possible Knowledge Transfer
• Commentary
• Knowledge transfer is subjective
• The coding represents our interpretations
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
The Research, cont.
• In some cases, phrases may have been coded to multiple nodes/themes
• All three researchers reviewed the data/coding and came to agreement
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
The Numbers
• 21 unique sections of a single course
• 13 unique instructors
• 710 unique students
• An average of 34 students per course
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
The Results
• 23% of all student responses were categorized as (authentic) knowledge transfer in some form!• Knowledge Transfer or Possible Knowledge
Transfer
• NO faculty responses were coded as knowledge transfer in any form!• 26 out of 284 responses from faculty coded
as commentary20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
The Surprise
• There was clear evidence of knowledge transfer occurring student-student, but not faculty-student.
• This finding refutes our original beliefs that faculty are an integral part of the knowledge transfer process.
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
Some Possible Reasons
• Faculty may have a difficult time transitioning from classroom to online (Nash, 2011)
• Faculty are not able to implement Socratic methods within the existing online discussion framework.
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
Some Possible Reasons
• Faculty need to facilitate “active learning” in the online discussion (Halstead, 2005).
• Optimum number of students in an online discussion to construct knowledge is 16 (Reonieri, 2006)
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
Discussion
• If faculty are needed to facilitate online discussions through active learning and engagement as suggested by the research (Halstead, 2005; Albion & Ertmer, 2004), than how do we improve instructor performance?• Training? Are faculty truly trained in facilitating
online discussions past asking probing questions?
• Do faculty understand the importance of adding personal experience and “war stories” (Powell & Murray, 2012)?
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
Discussion, cont.
• Is this a quality problem? Quality discussion questions? Quality interactions (Maor & Volet, 2007; Persico, Pozzi, & Sarti, 2010; Thorpe, & Gordon, 2012)?
• Is this a domain problem? For-profit institute?
• Is it a student problem? Most online students are working adults. Is this a problem of just the minimum to get by and faculty enabling?
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
Benefits of the Research
• This research provides insights into the nature of knowledge transfer that occurs in the classroom
• This research should prove beneficial for:• instructional designers/content experts
• faculty development specialists
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
CONCLUSION
• It is important that these discussions yield the expected results by providing students a mechanism for authentic knowledge transfer to occur.
• Is the lack of evidence to support faculty-student KT an issue of training?
• At present, there are improvements that need to be made in both the content of the discussion questions and the types of engagements that occur during the discussions. (student-student, faculty-student)
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
Conclusion (continued)
• Faculty should share their own “real world” experiences and seek comments from their students. Trust!
• Students should be encouraged to share their own experiences with a critical eye on what worked well and what might be done differently to encourage a different outcome.
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
Future Research
• We are interested in learning how faculty can better support KT in online discussions.
• Training?
• Opportunities to explore how the wording of discussion questions impacts student interactions.
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!
Additional research to follow. Please email me to be [email protected]
Questions?
• Jackie Krause, [email protected]
• Jan Tucker, [email protected]
• Stephanie [email protected]
20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!