First year students’ attitudes to online discussion

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Research and Development in Higher Education Vol. 23: Flexible Learning for a Flexible Society

July, 2000, 755 pages
Published by
Lesley Richardson & John Lidstone
ISBN
0908557477
Abstract 

The response of new users to online discussion was assessed through the evaluation of a task in a first year science course at RMIT. The task required students to describe, online, an item from the media that made use of statistics, and to respond to the items posted by at least two other students.

Students’ views were evaluated through the conduct of two focus groups, convened before and after the activity. The focus groups explored issues that had affected their participation. These centred around relevance of online discussion in general and this exercise, familiarity with the technology, access and assessment. Students particularly balanced the last two when they decided on their level of engagement