Effects of Peer-Led Online Asynchronous Discussion on Undergraduate Students' Cognitive Achievement

Zha, Shenghua; Ottendorfer, Christy Lee

doi:10.1080/08923647.2011.618314

Cited by 36 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our results indicate that student participation improved during the course only when the social tutor was present (question 1). This finding is in agreement with what previous studies show regarding the positive effects of peer moderation on students’ participation in online discussions (eg, Xie, Yu, & Bradshaw, ; Zha & Ottendorfer, ). However, it should be noted that in those previous studies, the peer moderator was introduced to lead the online discussions.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Effects of a social tutor on participation, sense of community and learning in online university courses

Cacciamani¹,

Cesareni²,

Perrucci³

et al. 2018

Brit J Educational Tech

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recently, Computer Supported Collaborative Learning researchers have become interested in the notion of scripting and assigning roles to students enrolled in online courses, in order to increase their engagement in collaborative activities. This study aimed to investigate whether assigning a role called social tutor to a student enrolled in an online university course can promote 1) peers’ participation in online discussions, 2) the development of a Sense of Community (SC), consisting of three factors: membership, fulfilment of needs and goal achievement and mutual influence of the individual/group, and 3) effective learning. The participants were 53 undergraduate students who enrolled in an online course, and were divided into two groups: 1) a group of 29 students with a social tutor and 2) a group of 24 students with no social tutor. The results indicate that students’ participation as well as the membership factor of SC improved only in the group that the social tutor was present. In contrast, the scores on the other two SC factors improved regardless of the presence of a social tutor. Moreover, the results show no difference between these two groups in terms of students’ grades in the final examination. The importance of a social tutor in the design of effective online university courses is discussed.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Effects of a social tutor on participation, sense of community and learning in online university courses

Cacciamani¹,

Cesareni²,

Perrucci³

et al. 2018

Brit J Educational Tech

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Four roles (knowledge constructors, team builders, motivators and organisers) coupled with sixteen strategies emerged from the data. Consistent with previous studies (De Backer, Van Keer, & Valcke, 2012;Ghadirian & Ayub, 2017;Hew, 2015;Snyder & Dringus, 2014;Xie et al, 2014;Zha & Ottendorfer, 2011), this study lent further evidence to the argument that student-led online discussions can be a viable and effective alternative even for L2 learners. The allocation of facilitating roles can empower learners, particularly those learners who lack the confidence and/or skills to lead.…”

Section: Conclusion Pedagogical Implications and Limitationssupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Furthermore, peer facilitation has been found to be positively correlated with students' higher-order cognition. Framing their study through the lens of Bloom's taxonomy of learning domains, Zha and Ottendorfer (2011) focused on the effect of peer moderation on assigned student moderators' cognitive achievement. The results revealed that lower-order cognitions were achieved in all students while peer moderators outperformed their peers in higher-order thinking.…”

Section: Research Into Peer-moderated Asynchronous Online Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Roles and Facilitation Strategies of Online Peer Moderators

Zhong

Norton

2019

SISAL

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Whilst peer facilitation is deemed to be a beneficial alterative strategy in an asynchronous online discussion, a review of the literature indicates that previous studies have primarily focused on the instructor as the facilitator. Inquiries into the roles that student facilitators perform and strategies they deploy to promote meaningful dialogues and participation in a student-led online discussion board have not been widely explored. Using posted messages of seven student facilitators in a peer-moderated online discussion forum, this study aimed to address the gap in the literature. Content analysis of the data revealed that the student moderators played four major roles during the discussions: 1) a knowledge constructor who actively engaged in a collective inquiry and contributed to a deeper understanding of a subject matter; 2) a team builder who expended considerable efforts to create group cohesion to achieve their learning objectives as a team; 3) a motivator who encouraged and inspired team members to engage in and contribute to the discussion; 4) an organiser who managed and monitored each phase of the discussion and orchestrated the subsequent group oral presentation. The findings suggest that assigning students to lead online discussions is an effective strategy to foster learner autonomy and nurture student leaders. The paper concludes with pedagogical implications and directions for future research.

show abstract

“…Student-led discussion enhances student involvement and satisfaction while enabling better career preparation, use of time, and achievement of goals (Dröge & Spreng, 1996). Student leaders have a higher level of achievement when they are given the responsibility of leading (Zha & Ottendorfer, 2011).…”

Section: Student-led Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research shows that how effectively student leaders facilitate discussion affects other students' participation (Zha & Ottendorfer, 2011). It is important that all students are given the chance to lead over the course of the class (Zha & Ottendorfer, 2011).…”

Section: Student-led Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of student facilitation on student engagement in asynchronous online discussion

Bowen¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The impact of student facilitation on student engagement in asynchronous online discussion Robin T. Bowen Lack of engagement in asynchronous online discussion is a common issue due to insufficient participation, disinterest in discussion, superficial discussion, and the influence of peer behaviors. The purpose of this study was to enhance student engagement in asynchronous online discussion by using student-led discussion and peer assessment. A mixed methods design was utilized in this study to offset quantitative and qualitative research weaknesses and to draw on the strengths of both (Plano Clark & Creswell, 2008). The control group participated in the discussion managed by the instructor, who posted weekly discussion questions to a class discussion board and facilitated the discussion. The experimental group worked in smaller discussion groups, led by a different student each week who posed a discussion question, facilitated the group discussion, and conducted a peer review. Interviews and discussion post analysis showed that students were behaviorally engaged and the way in which they demonstrated cognitive and emotional engagement varied. Survey results indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in the control group and experimental groups' cognitive and emotional engagement, and academic performance. Students liked the student-led format, however, they preferred participating rather than leading. Directions for future research on student engagement in online discussion were identified.

show abstract

Effects of Peer-Led Online Asynchronous Discussion on Undergraduate Students' Cognitive Achievement

Cited by 36 publications

References 28 publications

Effects of a social tutor on participation, sense of community and learning in online university courses

Effects of a social tutor on participation, sense of community and learning in online university courses

Exploring the Roles and Facilitation Strategies of Online Peer Moderators

The impact of student facilitation on student engagement in asynchronous online discussion

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About