The theory of hadronic systems

Social Presence, Social Interaction, Collaborative Learning, and Satisfaction in Online and Face-to-Face Courses

“…Learners need to feel a sense of connectedness, to feel a part of and be included in the group (Gibbs, 1995). Wei, Chen, Wang, and Li (2007) points to potential issues with discussion forums, such as the lack of immediate delivery and response, the heavily text-based medium, inability to hear expressions of voice, and the heuristically-created discussion topics, which can impede the educational process.…”

Multiage Classes

“…Social!emotional development is seen as crucial to the effective functioning of the class and a lot of effort is spent building a sense of community (a 'family of learners'; Kasten & Clarke, 1993). Flexible grouping is paramount and while larger 'home' groups or 'tribes' (Gibbs, 1995) are often formed for long periods such as a term, smaller groups are changed frequently depending on the learning needs of the cbildren and the outcomes desired by the teacher. Student choice -negotiated curriculum -is common, sometimes achieved through the Project Approach (Katz and Chard, 2000;Lloyd, 2000).…”