IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v4y2014i4p2158244014559019.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Content Analysis as a Method to Assess Online Discussions for Learning

Author

Listed:
  • Mark A. Rodriguez

Abstract

One of the challenges for instructors in online education is to create learning opportunities through online text-based discourse. The goal of this study was to examine the use of content analysis to better understand graduate students’ learning in online discussions. The discussion transcripts of a hybrid graduate course were analyzed to determine levels and frequencies of learning or cognitive presence. The analysis of the online discussions was guided by social constructivist rationale, and includes descriptive statistics and inter-rater reliability measurements. Findings show that cognitive presence levels were concentrated in categories marked for exploration and integration. Non-cognitive messages resulted in the highest frequencies of discussion messages, demonstrating indications of social presence and teaching presence. Training was found to be a key factor in resolving coding inconsistencies to improve the reliability of the content analysis. The processes of content analysis applied in this study to evaluate learning in online discussions provided useful information for the development and study of online discussions for learning.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark A. Rodriguez, 2014. "Content Analysis as a Method to Assess Online Discussions for Learning," SAGE Open, , vol. 4(4), pages 21582440145, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:4:y:2014:i:4:p:2158244014559019
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244014559019
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244014559019
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2158244014559019?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Raquel Benbunan-Fich & Starr Roxanne Hiltz, 1999. "Impacts of Asynchronous Learning Networks on Individual and Group Problem Solving: A Field Experiment," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 8(5), pages 409-426, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yuhan QIAO & Ying TANG & Khe Foon HEW, 2018. "Student Cognitive Presence in Small Group Collaboration Facilitated by Mobile Instant Messaging," International Journal of Emerging Trends in Social Sciences, Scientific Publishing Institute, vol. 2(1), pages 14-24.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Asrilhant, Boris & Dyson, Robert G. & Meadows, Maureen, 2007. "On the strategic project management process in the UK upstream oil and gas sector," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 89-103, February.
    2. Rosalie J. Ocker & Gayle J. Yaverbaum, 1999. "Asynchronous Computer-mediated Communication versus Face-to-face Collaboration: Results on Student Learning, Quality and Satisfaction," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 8(5), pages 427-440, September.
    3. Baltes, Boris B. & Dickson, Marcus W. & Sherman, Michael P. & Bauer, Cara C. & LaGanke, Jacqueline S., 2002. "Computer-Mediated Communication and Group Decision Making: A Meta-Analysis," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 156-179, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:4:y:2014:i:4:p:2158244014559019. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.