Threaded Discussion

Michele Cole, Louis Swartz, Daniel Shelley

OAI: oai:igi-global.com:239522 • DOI: 10.4018/IJICTE.2020010102

This article presents the results of two studies that focus on the role that threaded discussion plays in student learning. Over a period of three and one-half years, researchers conducted a series of surveys of graduate and undergraduate students at a private, nonprofit university in Southwestern Pennsylvania to determine how students viewed the value of threaded discussions in enhancing their ability to learn course material. Students were asked which types of threaded discussions they preferred; whether they found the threaded discussion to be a better tool for learning than a written assignment; and, which learning environment they felt was more conducive to learning, classroom or online. Results from the combined studies revealed some statistically significant differences based on enrollment status and gender. Upon comparing study results, researchers found statistically significant differences with regard to a preference for classroom versus online instruction and the usefulness of threaded discussions to learning.

Distance Education Education Educational Technologies