Main Ideas
The article discusses a research study in which was designed to do the following: (1) to determine whether on-line instructors can create a virtual learning environment that promotes classroom community, (2) to see if communication patterns differ by gender in an asynchronous on-line course, and (3) to determine how gender-related communication patterns impact sense of community in an online course that values dialogue.
Classroom community consists of four components in which are spirit, trust, interaction, and learning as stated by Roval and Lucking (2000). In order for classroom community to exist, it must include these four components.
This study consisted of 20 adult learners, evenly divided between males and females, who were either college graduates or involved in education. All of the learners had previously completed at least one online course. The focus of the study was a five-week on-line course conducted entirely at a distance by a large western state university. The course was delivered using Blackboard. Data for the study were gathered from (a) the sense of classroom community index (SCCI) in which possessed high reliability and face validity, (b) messages posted by subjects to the Blackboard.com course discussion board, and (c) overall course statistical data routinely tallied and retained by the Blackboard.com system.
The results showed the following:
- On average, female learners (M=804, SD=347.27) accessed the course more frequently than males (M=665.40 SD=292.91).
- Female learners accessed Blackboard.com discussion boards more frequently (M-270.20), SD=199.73) than males (M=189.5, SD=113.25).
- A total of 1,130 messages was posted during the course, averaging 226 messages per week or 10.76 messages per individual.
- Only 4.82% (16 out of 332) male messages showed connected communication patterns, while 29.10% (158 out of 543) female messages contained such patterns.
- Male voice tended to be impersonal and assertive (possessed an authoritative tone without allowing for alternative views), while female voice was generally supportive and helpful without being assertive and often contained a personal orientation (also offered a lot of praise and encouragement to other learners).
The study showed that classroom community among learners increased significantly during the five-week course suggesting that on-line instructors can create virtual learning environments. But there should be some factors to consider such as the instructor’s emphasis placed on the course discussion (20% of the grade) and the experience student’s had on online courses (all students had experience with on-line courses). The study also showed that communication patterns do differ by gender in an asynchronous on-line course. The male voice tended to be impersonal and assertive while the female voice was generally supportive and helpful without being assertive. Also, female learners tend to make positive and supportive end-of-course comments about their online experience (88.57%) while males made the most critical comments (64.29%).
The author notes that to promote classroom community, on-line instructors should take specific actions to design the course and facilitate discussions in order to avoid feelings of isolation, promote community, and ensure equity. On-line instructor should also be sensitive to the different communications patterns used by their students and should adapt their teaching in ways that facilitate the interaction of diverse groups and accommodate individual and group differences without sacrificing or silencing other members of the learning community.
The findings could not be generalized because of the small sample size, learner characteristics, course content, and course design and pedagogy used.
Implications for Instructional Practice
This study really helps to support the importance of classroom community in online environments. We see that having a community in traditional classrooms can be very helpful in giving students a sense of belonging and also encourage them to express their ideas freely with other students. Having this same kind of feeling and interaction in an online community is necessary as well. But by just allowing students to go to chatrooms and discussion boards and allowing them to interact on their own will not create a sense of community similar to traditional classrooms. Instructors or moderators need to facilitate and initiate discussions for these activities. The instructor should also encourage students to discuss ideas and at the same time avoiding discomfort and isolation in students.
Gut Reaction & Rating of the Article
I found this article to be very interesting. It brought up a lot of issues when dealing with online classroom communities. I find it interesting that male and female voices are such different in online discussions. I was hoping that this sample could be larger. I also wanted to see if the same results would occur for undergraduate students with minimal skills on discussion boards and online courses. Overall, this article is interesting and informative, but I felt that there wasn’t enough of a sample size to provide any generalizations. Online classroom community has a very huge impact on student learning and more research need to be conducted in this area.
