The Impact of Individual Differences on Social Communication Pattern in Online Learning

Flygare

Dahl

2009

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The present study investigated (1) the impact of cognitive styles on learner performance in well-structured and ill-structured learning, and (2) scaffolding as a cognitive tool to improve learners' cognitive abilities, especially field dependent (FD) learners' ability to thrive in an ill-structured learning environment. Two experiments were conducted with 116 college students recruited from a large research I university in the west of the United States. Experiment 1 (n = 42) employed the group learning strategy to match learners' cognitive styles in asynchronous online learning. The results showed that the style matching strategy failed to yield expected gains in ill-structured asynchronous learning for FD learners. Different from the style-matching strategy, experiment 2 (n = 74) used a scaffolding model proposed by Cazden (1988) to improve FD learners' cognitive abilities in asynchronous online learning. Results indicated that focusing on learners' cognitive abilities proved to be more effective than style-matching strategy for FD learners in both ill-structured and well-structured asynchronous online learning. Implications of the findings were discussed with suggestions for future research.

Style Matching or Ability Building? An Empirical Study on FD Learners' Learning in Well-Structured and Ill-Structured Asynchronous Online Learning Environments

Flygare

Dahl

2009

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Effects of Situated Learning on Students' Knowledge Acquisition: An Individual Differences Perspective

2010

This study focuses on the effects of situated learning on students' knowledge acquisition by investigating the influence of individual differences in such learning. Seventy-nine graduates were recruited from an educational department and were assigned to situated learning and traditional learning based on a randomized block design. Results revealed differences between traditional and situated learning as well as between field dependent (FD) and field independent (FI) learners in situated learning. A correlation analysis showed that situated learning was significantly correlated with learners' performance and individual differences defined as FD and FI in this study. The findings of the study have significant implications in learning and research in that they: (a) revealed the differences between traditional and situated learning; (b) identified the interaction between individual differences and instructional condition that influenced learners' learning outcome; and (c) showed crucial relationships among the variables in situated learning.

Singaporean Adolescents' Perceptions of Online Social Communication: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

Cheok²,

Khoo

2011

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The current study investigated adolescents' perceptions in online social communication. Three factors were perceived by adolescents as critical to online social communication. These included self-identity, self-confidence, and self-social factors. Results showed significant differences between the factors derived from the current study and those in the literature. Regression analyses showed demographic and online experience variables significantly predicted adolescents' perceptions in online social communication. Implications of these findings for online educators were offered along with suggestions for future research.