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Identifying patterns of collaborative knowledge exploration in online asynchronous discussions

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Abstract

This study investigated 6 weeks of online asynchronous discussions in a graduate-level course involving eleven students. The research purposes of this study were to identify patterns of collaborative knowledge exploration (CKE) and to suggest new analytical dimensions for investigating online discussions. Based upon a unique theoretical framework integrating the concepts of transition community and discourse community, three major dimensions of online asynchronous learning were adopted in the analysis. The first dimension focuses on the various forms of social negotiation in the discourse. The second dimension regards references to various learning resources, while the third is related to the coherence of the resources utilized. Based upon these dimensions and the analysis of the participating students’ online asynchronous discussions, this study suggested ten different patterns of CKE representing the cognitive processes of Elaborating, Challenging, Correcting, and Debating. We argue that the proposed analytical framework allows us to interpret the sociocultural and cognitive aspects of students’ interactions for online problem-based learning. In addition, the results suggest that the more cognitively demanding the pattern is, the less frequently it occurs. Potential factors contributing to the observed findings are discussed in this study.

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Notes

  1. In our analytical model, we did not include the negotiation at the boundaries between knowledge communities because the data did not fit into this particular category suggested by Bruffee (1993).

  2. A complete version of the illustrative examples can be sent to the readers upon request.

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Acknowledgment

Funding of this research work is, in part, supported by the National Science Council, Taiwan, by grant numbers 97-2511-S-011-003-MY3 and 98-2631-S-011-001.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Institute of Science Education, National Changhua University of Education, #1, Jin De Rd., Changhua, 500, Taiwan

    Silvia Wen-Yu Lee

  2. Graduate Institute of Digital Learning and Education, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, #43, Sec.4, Keelung Rd., Taipei, 106, Taiwan

    Chin-Chung Tsai

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  1. Silvia Wen-Yu Lee
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  2. Chin-Chung Tsai
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Correspondence to Silvia Wen-Yu Lee or Chin-Chung Tsai.

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Lee, S.WY., Tsai, CC. Identifying patterns of collaborative knowledge exploration in online asynchronous discussions. Instr Sci 39, 321–347 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-010-9131-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-010-9131-8

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