Online Discussion Processes: Effects of the Previous Messages' Evaluations, Knowledge Content, Social Cues, and Personal Information on the Current Message
Online Discussion Processes: Effects of the Previous Messages' Evaluations, Knowledge Content, Social Cues and Personal Information on the Current Message Gaowei Chen (GAOWEICHEN@Gmail.Com) Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong Ming Ming Chiu (MINGMINGCHIU@Cuhk.Edu.Hk) Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong independent academic forum. Second, we explicate a new methodology for analyzing these relationships, a modified version of Chiu and Khoo's (2005) dynamic multilevel analyses. Lastly, we apply this revised method to test how earlier messages' evaluations, knowledge content, social cues, and personal information affected the properties of each message in a mathematics forum on a Univeristy Bulletin Board System (BBS) Website. Abstract This study of the flow of online discussions examined how previous messages affected the current message along five dimensions: (1) evaluations (agreement, disagreement, or unresponsive actions) (2) knowledge content (contribution, repetition, or null content) (3) social cues (positive, negative, or none) (4) personal information (number of visits) and (5) elicitation (eliciting response or not) Using dynamic multilevel analysis (DMA) and a structural equation model (SEM) this study analyzed 131 messages of 47 participants across seven topics in the mathematics forum of a university Bulletin Board System (BBS) Website. Results showed that a disagreement or contribution in the previous message yielded more disagreements and social cue displays in the current message. Unlike face to face discussions, online discussion messages that disagreed with a previous message elicited more responses. Together, these results suggest that teachers can use and manage online discussions to promote critical thinking, facilitate discussion of controversial topics, and reduce status effects. Five dimensions characterizing online discussion messages Building on past studies of FTF and online discussions (Chiu, 2000; Chiu Khoo 2003; Henri, 1992; Garrison et al. 2000) we introduce a framework for characterizing messages in online academic discussion forums along five dimensions. The detailed dimensions and their possible consequences in FTF and online discussion processes are shown in table 1. We define e poster as a person who has posted a message on the online discussion board. Keywords: Online discussion processes; computer mediated discussion Evaluations Introduction Evaluations characterize how the current speaker or e poster assesses the previous action. By linking messages together, evaluations increase the coherence of interactions (Goodwin Goodwin, 1987) Evaluations can be agreements, disagreements, or unresponsive actions. As online discussions tend to be less personalized compared to FTF discussions, online discussion participants tend to be less concerned about one another's feelings (Brown Levinson, 1987) and hence more likely to express their disagreements (Chen, 2004) These disagreement messages often include new information used to support its opposition. This new content, in turn, is more likely to elicit a response (often disagreement) In contrast, agreement messages that support the previous message need not add much content, thereby providing less added information for others to reference. Hence, a disagreement message is more likely to elicit response than an agreement message in online forums. Studies on FTF discussions have shown that the actions of earlier speakers can affect those of the current speaker. For example, a person is more likely to agree if the previous speaker agreed (Chiu Khoo, 2003) Hence, earlier messages might also affect later messages in online forums. By understanding how online discussions evolve message by message, educators can improve their quality and facilitate student learning. Most previous studies on online discussions examined the individual properties of each message (Tallent Runnels et al. 2006; Hara, Bonk, Angeli, 2000; Garrison, Anderson, Archer, 2001; Schellens Valcke, 2005) Their results showed that many students processed course information at high cognitive levels and used more critical thinking during online discussions (Garrison, Anderson, Archer, 2000) Using data on 131 messages by 47 respondents on seven topics, we extend this line of research in three ways. First, we propose a framework consisted of five dimensions for examining the relationships among messages in an online