Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Moving to Their Own Beat:Exploring how students use Web 2.0
technologies to support group work,
outside of class time
Dr. Norm Vaughan, Faculty of Teaching and Learning
Dr. Todd Nickle, Faculty of Science
Mr. Jim Silovs, Bisset School of Business
Dr. Jim Zimmer, Faculty of Teaching and Learning
Universities need to give students more leeway to work in teams, update technologies to adapt to new ways of learning, and break down barriers of specialization that block innovation.
(Forward to Maclean’s University Rankings ’09,
the President of the University of Western Ontario)
So what do you think?Are your students using digital technologies to
support group work, outside of class time?
Overview
1. Introduction
2. Theoretical foundations
3. Study questions
4. Context
5. Methodology
6. Preliminary Findings
7. Next Steps
MRU Triad Team
Neif Silva
Computer Science
Kim Lawrence
Education
Support provided by the MRU Undergraduate Work Study Program
and the MRU Internal Research Grant Fund
Group Work
Regardless of the subject matter, students working in small groups tend to learn more of what is taught and retain it longer than when the same content is presented in other instructional formats.(Beckman, 1990; Chickering & Gamson, 1991; Collier, 1980; Cooper & Associates, 1990; Goodsell, Maher, Tinto & Associates, 1992;
Johnson, Johnson & Smith, 1991; Kohn, 1986;
McKeachie, Pintrich, Lin & Smith, 1986;
Slavin, 1980, 1983;
Whitman, 1988)
Distributed Cognition
Cognitive processes can be distributed:
1. Across members of a social group either co-present or over a distance.
2. Between internal process and external (material or environmental) tools.
3. Across time with products of earlier events transforming the nature of later events.
Hollan, Hutchins & Kirsh (2000)
Research Literature Gap
How do students use collaborative technologies
to support group work, outside of class time?
Study Questions1. What kind of informal and formal group work do
undergraduate students engage in, outside of class time?
2. How are students using collaborative technologies to support such group work?
3. What strategies and recommendations do students have for using collaborative technologies effectively and efficiently to support group work, outside of class time?
Context
• BIOL2101 - Genetics
• EDUC2325 - Understanding Current and Emerging Pedagogical Technologies
• MGMT3230 - Business Law
• Data collected from students in the courses during the fall 2009 and winter 2010 semesters
Data CollectionFall 2009• Pilot study survey
– HREB approval– 28 Likert-scale and open ended questions– Combination of online and paper-based– 83/228 (36% response rate)
Winter 2010• Primary study survey
– Questions revised based on conversations with students and Office of Institutional Analysis & Planning (OIAP)
– HREB approved revisions– 48 Likert-scale and open ended questions– Primarily paper-based (in-class)– 166/268 (62% response rate)
Survey Questions
Survey Questions
Survey Questions
Survey Instrument (Flashlight)
Data Analysis
Fall 2009 & Winter 2010• Constant comparative analysis - patterns,
themes, and categories of analysis "emerge out of the data rather than being imposed on them prior to data collection and analysis" (Patton, 1990, p. 390)
• MS Excel & SPSS – Identification of specific trends, issues, and correlations
Survey Data
Preliminary Findings
1. Student demographics
2. Group work outside of class time
3. Use of collaborative technologies to support group work
4. Strategies and recommendations from students
Student demographics
Student Demographics95% - off campus accommodation within driving distance
(62% living with parents)
89% - under the age of 25
77% - working part time (65%) or full time (12%)
55% - female
51% - second year of studies @ MRU
4 – average number of course taken in the winter 2010 semester
Group work outside of class time
Student group work activities, outside of class time?
EDUC2325 – Computers in Education
MGMT3230 - Business Law
Informal Group Work Outside of Class Time(Not Assigned by Instructors)
For your courses at MRU, how often do you:
Activity Very often/often
Study outside of class time with your peers/friends for quizzes, tests, midterm, and final exams
26%
Work on written assignments with your peers/friends outside of class time
19%
Review and discuss course readings with your peers/friends outside of class time
18%
Work on problem sets with your peers/friends outside of class time
18%
Formal Group Work Outside of Class Time(Assigned by Instructors)
For your courses at MRU, how often do you:
Activity Very often/often
Prepare for class presentations with your peers/friends outside of class time
39%
Work on assigned group projects with your peers/friends outside of class time
38%
Work on research assignments with your peers/friends outside of class time
35%
Use of collaborative technologies to support
group work
Student use of collaborative technologies?
Technology Access99.8% - home access to the Internet
98% - access to high-speed home Internet connection (e.g. Shaw Cable, Telus DSL)
95% - rate their computer skills as either intermediate (59%) or advanced (36%) (comfortable and enjoy using computers)
90% - have their own a mobile communication device (e.g. cell phone)
89% - have their own laptop computer
82% - have their own a digital music player (e.g. iPoD)
51% - have their own a mobile communication device with Internet access (e.g. Smart Phone)
Laptop vs Desktop OwnershipECAR Study of Undergraduate Students
And Information Technology (2009)
Top FiveCollaborative Technologies
Use for both
academic studies & personal purposes
Use only for
academic studies
Use only for
personal purposes
Do not use
Do not know what this
Email 82% 16% 1% 1% 0%
Blackboard 7% 81% 11% 1% 0%
Text messaging on your
mobile communication device
(e.g., cell phone, Blackberry)
66% 6% 25% 2% 0%
Social networking systems
(e.g., Facebook)
36% 11% 47% 7% 0%
Instant Messaging (IM – e.g.,
MSN Messenger)
38% 9% 43% 10% 0%
Course Management System
ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students
And Information Technology (2009)
Collaborative Communication Technologies
ECAR Study of
Undergraduate
Students
And Information
Technology (2009)
Mid-UseCollaborative Technologies
Use for both
academic studies & personal purposes
Use only for
academic studies
Use only for
personal purposes
Do not use
Do not know what this
Google Docs (e.g. word
processing, spreadsheets,
presentation tools)
33% 31% 13% 21% 1%
Online discussion boards 11% 23% 16% 49% 0%
Calibrated Peer Review Tool (e.g.,
CPR)
2% 41% 7% 35% 15%
Learnnet (e.g., Mahara) 3% 38% 3% 31% 25%
Synchronous communication
tools (e.g. Skype, Google Chat,
Elluminate Live!)
12% 4% 25% 59% 0%
Wikis (e.g. collaborative writing
tools)
19% 8% 11% 54% 8%
Low-UseCollaborative Technologies
Use for both
academic studies & personal purposes
Use only for
academic studies
Use only for
personal purposes
Do not use
Do not know what this
Blogs (e.g. WordPress, Blogger) 7% 7% 19% 65% 2%
Photosharing sites (e.g. Flickr) 7% 2% 20% 63% 9%
Mashup applications (e.g. Google
Mashup Editor, Yahoo Pipes, MS
Photostory)
8% 3% 11% 54% 23%
Social booking marking
applications (e.g.Del.icio.us,
CiteUlike)
3% 2% 2% 54% 39%
Virtual world applications (e.g.
Second Life, Moove, Palace)
2% 1% 1% 72% 23%
Blogging Trends
Strategies and recommendations from
students
Student strategies for using collaborative technologies
• Hand held devices for communication, laptops for actual project work
• Facebook, Texting, Instant Messaging – communication to arrange meetings, updates, discuss project-related issues
• Email, Blackboard - file sharing of project work
• Trend towards asynchronous versus synchronous communication (e.g., cell phones for texting versus actual calls)
• Blackboard as a “base camp”
Blackboard Base Camp
Student recommendations for using collaborative technologies
• Provide institutional training, resources, and support
• Instructor encouragement and modeling
• Introductory computer lab session
• Class discussion about pros and cons of group work/collaborativetechnologies
Next Steps• Revise our group work assignments based on study results
• Revise and deploy our survey instrumentin the fall 2010 semester to focus onstudent recommendations for creating,completing, and assessing groupassignments
• Present our study paper at the 2011American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference
• Publish our study findings in an educational research journal
Questions?
Contact Information
Dr. Norman Vaughan, Assistant Professor
Faculty of Teaching and Learning
Dr. Todd Nickle, Associate Professor
Faculty of Science
Mr. Jim Silovs, Assistant Professor
Bisset School of Business
Dr. Jim Zimmer, Dean
Faculty of Teaching and Learning
