Flipped learning has been recognized as a promising pedagogical model for methodological progress in educational environments. Studies have shown the effectiveness of flipped learning when used with appropriate educational technologies and learning strategies. On the other hand, comprehensive guidance is required to combine this pedagogical model…

This paper reports on a study aiming at examining whether online argumentation enhance the teacher candidates' scientific habits of mind (SHOM). The study was carried out as a pre-experimental design including pre and post-test. Scientific Habits of Mind scale, interviews and written arguments were used as data collection tools. Google Classroom,…

We examined the utility of a technologically enhanced collective regulation system for improving students' collaborative sense-making processes, i.e., discussion quality, over time. Participants were 27 online undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory information science course. Students were divided into teams tasked with carrying out…

Online discussion forums are common features of learning management systems; they allow teachers to engage students in topical discussions in environments beyond physical spaces. This study presents a novel approach to operationalizing the connections between social interaction and contextual topics by visualizing posts in an online discussion…

The current experimental study examined the effects of graphic organizers in a collaborative learning context where students constructed knowledge during online discussions. As the results could vary depending on how students interacted with the graphic organizers, this study compared two different approaches: instructor-provided versus…

Online discussions offer exciting potential for educational dialogue, but too often result in disjointed conversations with low levels of interactivity. One contributing cause is the traditional text-based interface, which presents posts in a long list, leaving students overwhelmed and without useful navigational cues. To address this problem, we…

Course instructors across a wide range of disciplines have implemented computer-based learning resources such as online discussion boards. While the benefits of implementing an online discussion board in teaching have been well-documented, investigation into the social aspects of online learning environments is still needed in order to develop a…

Asynchronous discussions have been widely used in education to support learning. Exploring the reasons why threads in asynchronous discussion forums die may help us improve our understanding of asynchronous discussions and lead to a more effective learning process. This study explored why threads in asynchronous discussion forums shut down. Two…

Virtual learning environments are used in higher education around the world to promote student learning. However, in many countries it has not yielded the expected effect on student interaction and learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the use of certain pedagogical approaches would promote student interaction,…

This study was designed to investigate the effects of teaching critical thinking skills (CTS) in a large class through asynchronous discussion forums (ADFs) with the facilitation of teaching assistants. A pretest and posttest quasi-experimental design with a comparison group was employed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The…

This article proposes a model that integrates the traditionally conflicting objectivist and constructivist approaches to instructional design. I argue that these two approaches are complementary rather than oppositional. I present and analyze two learning programs in order to show how learning events can contain both objectivist and constructivist…

This study examined the use of online argumentation scaffolds to engage and support coherent argumentation. Participants were students in an undergraduate economics course. Results showed that providing a constraint-based argumentation scaffold during group problem-solving activities increased the generation of coherent arguments and resulted in…

Teamwork skills such as conflict resolution and communication strategies are challenging to teach. The use of stories may help develop these complex skills. Although engagement is generally seen as a key component of learning environments, what constitutes engagement has not been fully explored. The purpose of this study was to examine how…

While assigning student roles is a popular technique in online discussions, roles and the responsibilities allocated to them have not been consistently assigned. This makes it difficult to compare implementations and generate principled guidance for role design. This study critically examined frequently assigned student roles and identified a set…

This paper studies the social talk of high school students in online discussion forums. On-task talk has generally been assessed as valuable discussion because it contributes directly to productive learning. Off-task conversation, on the other hand, is often regarded as useless and a waste of time. Should this social talk indeed be regarded as an…