UNV_503_Article_Summary
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Dec 6, 2023
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Article Summary
Daliah A. De La Cerda
Grand Canyon University
UNV 503: Introduction to Graduate Studies in the Liberal Arts
Professor Lira
February 1, 2023
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Introduction
In “Read-Only Participants: A Case for Student Communication in Online Classes,”
authors Nagel, Blignaut and Cronje (2009), carried out a study with the goal of discovering
whether or not online collaboration between peers in a classroom setting as well as increased
communication would lead to higher rates of success and completion in online courses.
Essentially, the researchers in the experiment wanted to see if by implementing discussion boards
and collaborative online work into an online course, the students would have higher rates of
success.
Research Problem & Method
Before carrying out the experiment, researchers asked the questions “How was online
participation and collaboration related, if at all, to higher rates of success and completion in
online courses” and “What is the influence of participation and collaboration, if any, on the
learning community of online courses?” (Nagel et. al., 2009). In order to carry out the
experiment, graduate students were placed in an online course that lasted a total of eight weeks.
Each week, there was a new topic for the students in which they had to answer discussion
posts/questions, conduct peer review posting, and complete a research topic each week while
citing scholarly sources. Over the eight weeks, students were also given group assignments. The
groups were made up of around five to seven students, and their assignments were graded on a
rubric that graded each student’s collaboration individually. In order to accurately interpret the
results of the study, researchers used a specialized software that was used to track the number of
postings that each student completed as well as the grades of their research assignments, quizzes,
and group assignments. The software then created an analysis of the activity level of each student
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and divided them into multiple categories; passed, failed, and distinction, with distinction being
the highest level of activity (around 75%+).
Findings & Implications
After compiling and analyzing the data gathered, researchers found that students enrolled
into the eight week online course could be divided into two categories, one was labeled as
“Read-only students” and the other as “Students of Distinction”. Read-only students were the
students that logged onto the course only a few times when they had to. Students of distinction
logged on often and heavily contributed to discussion posts and other online activity. Interpreting
the information gathered, researchers saw that the read-only students did show noticeably lower
levels of success compared to students of distinction (Nagel et. al., 2009). This was consistent
with the level of discussion posts each student achieved as well. There seemed to be a direct
correlation between how often a student participated in class online and their grades. This gives
the implication that how much activity a student contributes to an online class directly correlates
with how successful they will be in that course.
Conclusion
This study showed that how often a student logged into their course, completed
discussions, and completed collaborative work had a direct correlation to their course success,
The study also showed that engaging with the course administrators also helped to increase
success rates. It is imperative for online students to make sure they are engaging actively and
often in their online classes to achieve the highest level of success they can reach within their
course. The students who refuse to do so can negatively impact their fellow classmates and
should be coached before their refusal becomes a problem.
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References
Nagel, L., Blignaut, A., & Cronjé, J. (2009). Read-only participants: A case for student
communication in online classes. Interactive Learning Environments, 17(1), 37-51.
doi:10.1080/10494820701501028 Retrieved from: https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?
url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=a9h&AN=37140036&site=ehost-live&scope=site
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