شبكة المعلومات العربية التربوية

This study aimed at investigating the moderating effects of instructor guidelines and group size in online discussions on quality and quantity of learner participation, learning and satisfaction. Learners were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups, which were defined by the amount of structure groups received: low, moderate, and high. Six sub-groups participated in six online discussion forums, with the three large groups ranged from 21-23 participants and the three small groups ranged from 6-8 participants. Learners participated in the discussions for five weeks; two weeks were used for training and actual study lasted three weeks. Quantity of participation was measured by participant number of responses whereas quality of postings was analyzed by a coding scheme dividing responses into on-topic and off-topic postings. Learning was measured using an achievement test with 50-items. A survey was used to determine student satisfaction with the online discussion. Ninety-four (n=94) undergraduate preparatory –year male students, studying a communication skills course, from Albaha University in Saudi Arabia, between the ages of 17-19 years old, participated in the study as a University requirement. All study tools (e.g., student coding scheme, achievement measure, and satisfaction questionnaire) were administrated at the end of the study. The two way analysis of variance was used as a main tool for processing participant data, with the numeric measure of postings and percentage as a secondary tool. The results of analysis of variance showed several significant differences. First, quality and quantity of learner postings were affected by levels of instructor guidelines and group size, with the high structure group being better and large size groups showed more postings but small size groups being better with the average means of postings. Second, high structure group outscored moderate and low structure groups in the on-topic responses. Third, small groups posted more on-topic responses than large groups but for the off-topic responses, the results showed no differences. Fourth, achievement was also affected by levels of structure and group size, with the high structure group being better whereas for the group size, the small groups' size showed better learning than large groups’ size. Fifth, satisfaction was also affected by structure and group size. Large groups were satisfied more with the online discussion than small groups. High structure groups were more satisfied with the online discussion than the other groups. Sixth, interaction between structure of online discussions and group sized were found to affect amount and types of participation, learning and satisfaction. The results of the study were discussed in terms of their implications for designing online discussion and leaning. (Published Abstract)