Analysis of Discussion Board Interaction in an Online Peer-Mentoring Site

Regina Ruane, Vera Lee

Abstract


This study uses Critical Discourse Analysis and Social Network Analysis to examine an online peer mentoring site created to unite first-year and third-year preservice teachers enrolled in an undergraduate teacher education program. The peer mentoring site was developed to provide both first-year preservice teachers and more experienced peers the opportunity to discuss, share, and learn both from and with one another. The study demonstrated that the online peer mentoring site supported valuable interactions and professional communications among first-year and third-year students. In particular, the preservice teachers engaged with one another to share their experiences and learning as they prepared to be teachers. This study has implications for the field of undergraduate education in its demonstration that an online peer mentoring site can allow for the cultivation of learning, ideas and knowledge exchange, and support of students learning in informal environments. This research also has implications for future research to determine how different populations of students use an online peer mentoring site to interact with their peers and the outcomes that emerge. Such data could inform future development of peer mentoring sites and similar learning spaces.

Keywords


Peer-mentoring, computer-supported collaborative learning, online learning, higher education

Full Text:

PDF

References


Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. (2015). Grade level: Tracking online education in the United

States. Babson Park, MA: Babson Survey Research Group. Accessed March 10, 2015.

Barab, S. (2003). An Introduction to the Special Issue: Designing for Virtual Communities in

the Service of Learning. Information Society, 19(3), 197—201.

Barab, S. A., Barnett, M. G., & Squire, K. (2002). Building a community of teachers: Navigating

the essential tensions in practice. The Journal of The Learning Sciences, 11(4), 489-542.

Barab, S. A. & Duffy, T. (2000). From practice fields to communities of practice. In D.

Jonassen & S. M. Land. (Eds.), Theoretical foundations of learning environments (pp. 25-56). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Benkler, Y. (2006). The wealth of networks: How social production transforms markets and

freedom. Yale University Press.

Borgatti, S. P., Everett, M. G. and Freeman, L. C. 2002. Ucinet for Windows: Software for

Social Network Analysis. Harvard, MA: Analytic Technologies.

Crisp, G., & Cruz, I. (2009). Mentoring college students: A critical review of the literature

between 1990 and 2007. Research in Higher Education, 50(6), 525-545.

Cross, K. P. (1999). Assessment to improve college instruction. In S. J. Messick (Ed.),

Assessment in higher education: Issues of access, quality, student development, and public policy (pp. 35-46). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Dennen, V.P. (2004). Cognitive apprenticeship in educational practice: Research on scaffolding,

modeling, mentoring, and coaching as instructional strategies. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.) Handbook of research for educational Communications and technology: a project of the association for educational communications and technology (pp 813-828). New York: Macmillan.

Eby, L.T., Adams, D.M., Russell, J.E.A., & Gaby, S.H. (2000). Perceptions of organizational

readiness for change: factors related to employees’ reactions to the implementation of team-based selling. Human Relations, 53, 419-42.

Ender, S. C., & Newton, F. B. (2000). Students helping students: A guide for peer educators on

college campuses. Health Education Research, 17, 339-349.

Falchikov, N. (2001). Learning Together: Peer Tutoring in Higher Education. London and

New York: Routledge.

Feenberg, A. & Bakardjieva, M. (2004). Virtual community: No ‘killer implication’. New

Media and Society, 6(1), 37-43.

Gee, J. (1989). Literacy, discourse, and linguistics: Introduction. Journal of Education, 171, 5-17.

Gee, J. (2001). Reading as situated language: A sociocognitive perspective. Journal of

Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 44(8), 714-25.

Gee, J. (2005). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method. New York: Routledge.

Gee, J. (2011). Discourse analysis: What makes it critical? In R. Rogers (Ed.), An Introduction

to critical discourse analysis in education (2nd Ed.) (pp. 23-45). New York: Routledge.

Glaser, N., Hall, R., & Halperin, S. (2006). Students supporting students: The effects

of peer mentoring on the experiences of first year university students. Journal of the Australia and New Zealand Student Services Association, 27, 4-19.

Goodyear, P. & Carvalho, L. (2014). The Architecture of Productive Learning Networks. New

York: Routledge.

Gromley, B. (2008). An application of attachment theory: Mentoring relationship dynamics and

ethical concerns. Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 16, 45-62.

Haythornthwaite, C. (2002). Building social networks via computer networks: Creating and

sustaining distributed learning communities. In Renninger, K. A. & Shumar, W. (Eds.), Building virtual communities (pp. 159-190). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Haythornthwaite, C. (2005). Social networks and Internet connectivity effects. Information,

Community & Society, 8(2), 125-147.

Haythornthwaite, C. & Andrews, R. (2011). E-learning theory and practice. London: Sage.

Haythornthwaite, C. (2012) New Media, New Literacies, and New Forms of Learning.

International Journal of Learning and Media 2012 4:3-4, 18. http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/IJLM_e_00097

Haythornthwaite, C. (2013). Emergent practices for literacy, e-learners, and the digital

university. In R. Goodfellow & M. Lea (eds). Literacy in the Digital University (pp. 56- 66). Routledge.

Hayward, L. M., DiMarco, R., Blackmer, B., Canali, A., Wong, K., & O’Brien, M. (2001).

Curriculum-based electronic peer mentoring: an instructional strategy for integrative learning. Journal Physical Therapy Educaction, 15(4), 14—25.

Hiltz, S. R., Turoff, M., & Harasim, L. (2007). Development and philosophy of the field of asynchronous learning networks. In R. Andrews & C. Haythornthwaite (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of e-learning research (pp. 56-72). London: Sage.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Marin, A., & Wellman, B. (2010). Social Network analysis: An Introduction. In Peter Carrington

and John Scott (Eds.), Handbook of Social Network Analysis. London: Sage.

McInnis, C., James, R., & Hartley, R. (2000). Trends in the first year experience in

Australian universities. Canberra: Department of Education, Training, and Youth Affairs.

Meyer, K. (2006). The method and madness of evaluating online discussions. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 10, 83-97.

Nicholson, S.A. & Bond, N. (2003). Collaborative reflection and professional community

building: An analysis of preservice teachers’ use of an electronic discussion board. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 11(2), 259-279.

Paulin, D. & Haythornthwaite, C. (2016). Crowdsourcing the curriculum: Redefining e-learning

practices through peer-generated approaches. The Information Society, 32(2), 130—142.

Rainie, H., & Wellman, B. (2012). Networked: The new social operating system (p. 358).

Cambridge, MA: Mit Press.

Rheingold, H. (2000). The virtual community: Homesteading on the electronic frontier. MIT

press.

Rheingold, H. (2007). Smart mobs: The next social revolution. Basic books.

Romiszowski, A. J. and Ravitz, J. (1997). Computer-mediated communication. In C. R.

Dilles & A. Romiszowski (Eds.), Instructional developmental paradigm (pp. 745-768). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.

Rogers, R. (Ed.). (2011). An introduction to critical discourse in education. New York:

Routledge.

Rogoff, B., Baker-Sennett, J., Lacasa, P., & Goldsmith, D. (1995). Development through

participation in sociocultural activity. Cultural Practices as Contexts for Development, 67, 45-65.

Author 1. (2012). A study of student interaction in an online learning environment specially crafted for cross-level peer mentoring (Doctoral Dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 353369)

Scheckler, R. K. & Barab, S. A. (2009). Designing for inquiry as a social practice. In

Falk, J. & Drayton, B. (Eds.), Creating and sustaining online professional communities (pp. 125-152). New York: Teachers College Press.

Schlager, M. S., & Fusco, J. (2003). Teacher professional development, technology, and

communities of practice: Are we putting the cart before the horse? The Information Society, 19, 203. doi: 10.1080/01972240390210046

Scott, J., & Carrington, P. J. (2011). The SAGE handbook of social network analysis. SAGE

publications.

Sfard, A. (2008). Thinking as communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Stahl, G., Koschmann, T., & Suthers, D. (2013). Computer-supported collaborative learning: An

historical perspective. In R. K. Sawyer (Ed.), Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences, revised version. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Winebrenner, S. (2000). Gifted students need an education, too. Educational leadership, 58(1),

-56.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24059/olj.v20i4.1052

Bookmark and Share


Copyright (c) 2016 Regina Ruane, Vera Lee