Dissertation Information for Minjuan Wang NAME: - Minjuan Wang
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- University of Missouri (USA) (2001)
ADVISORS: - James Laffey
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - John F. Wedman - Gail Fitzgerald - Joseph Moore
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: The construction of shared knowledge in an Internet-based shared environment for expeditions (iExpeditions): A study of external factors implying knowledge construction
Abstract: This study investigated how participants (39 teenagers and 10 college-age online mentors) interacted and constructed shared knowledge of concepts, goals, tasks, procedures, and solutions when solving a real-world problem in an online project-based learning environment (iExpeditions). The goal of this study was to identify the different types of shared knowledge constructed and to examine how the shared knowledge was constructed through the discourse of a community of learners. Shared knowledge in this study is defined as any text or multimedia statement or representation related to a work or learning effort that the participants involved in the discourse indicate as being commonly understood. The research goal was accomplished through the analysis of the communication artifacts generated by two teams in this learning environment.
An interpretative case study was used to address the research questions. Participants included 39 teenage youth who are children of the employees in the sponsoring corporation. They formed six teams of four to five members, and approached the problem-solving activities under the guidance of 10 online mentors from a collaborating university. The researcher's observation of system use and collection of communication artifacts (electronic notes, chat recaps, electronic logs, and forum entries) were the primary methods for data collection. The online communications among the youth and the mentors were analyzed through the psycholinguistic discourse analysis method, which Edwards and Mercer (1987) used successfully in analyzing classroom talk.
The researcher first analyzed and compared the knowledge construction on the two teams, then conducted a cross-team pattern search that included three steps: (a) comparing the knowledge construction in the three sampled themes of discussion; (b) generalizing the findings from the two teams into a model explaining the knowledge construction; (c) comparing the interaction patterns on the two teams to draw implications for system improvement, implementation strategies, and the development of mentoring strategies.
This study has made four major contributions: (a) invented a coding scheme and a systematic way for using this scheme to analyze interaction patterns in online discussions; (b) advanced the model of knowledge construction Zhu (1998) discovered in a study of online discussions; (c) supported the theoretical propositions made by social constructivist researchers (Derry, Gance, Gance, & Schlager, 2000; Mercer, 1995) about exploratory talk contributing to a higher quality of knowledge construction; and (d) identified mentoring strategies for facilitating shared knowledge construction in online discussion.
Utilizing the process-based criteria used in previous research (Derry et al., 2000; Edwards & Mercer, 1987; Mercer, 1995) to assess the quality of knowledge construction, the researcher concluded from this study that team A had a higher quality of knowledge construction because it had more exploratory talk, a more complexly-structured exploratory questioning and answering (Q-A) pattern, a higher success rate in constructing shared knowledge, and a higher level of active learning (Harris, 1994).
The findings of this study have implications for the development and implementation of online environments with participants of similar age groups. In particular, the findings point to the important role of the mentor in encouraging participants to voice their own ideas and negotiate meaning and consensus as a part of the process of knowledge construction. Besides, the Internet-based Expeditions have the potential to support active learning online involving corporate professionals and youth who are geographically dispersed. The findings will also be valuable for other organizations seeking ways to engage their members in problem-solving tasks through Internet communications.
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MPACT Scores for Minjuan Wang A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:19:37
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