Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!

Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion

Forums: The Surprising Truth!

Jackie Krause, PhD - Central Washington University – PresenterJan Tucker, PhD – Higher Learning Institute – Co-investigatorStephanie YoungGonzaga – Ashford University – Co-investigator

How to obtain these slides

• A QR Code has been added to the bottom-right corner of some slides. This will take you to my blog for download: http://jackiekrause.wordpress.com

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• A handout is available with this information!20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!

http://jackiekrause.wordpress.com/2013/10/20/knowledge-transfer-in-online-learning-environments-fact-or-fallacy-slide-deck/

http://jackiekrause.wordpress.com/2013/10/20/knowledge-transfer-in-online-learning-environments-fact-or-fallacy-slide-deck/

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Publication

• This presentation is based on a research paper published in the International Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 3, No. 2; 2014

• The full text can be found at: http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v3n2p106

• doi:10.5430/ijhe.v3n2p106A Proposed Model for Authenticating

Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums

20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!

http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v3n2p106



Who is in the room?

• A few questions to start:• Who is teaching online?

• Are you using discussion boards in your classrooms?

• Do you have any control over the discussion questions?

• Public/Private/For-Profit?


Problem Statement

• The flexibility of online college programs often appeals to non-traditional students but does this instructional format provide a vehicle for authentic transfer of knowledge?

If authentic knowledge transfer is occurring in online discussion

forums, what does it look like? How can we facilitate it?


How is Knowledge Transfer different than Learning?

• Knowledge transfer = • Learning from the experiences of others

• Learning or creating knowledge = • Acquiring knowledge and skills through

study (Kiehl, 2004)

• Highly social processCreating and transferring

knowledge is a core principle of higher education


Online Discussion Forums

• Backbone for the online class• Fosters faculty-to-student and student-to-

student connections

• Promotes collaborative learning and problem solving

• May help students apply classroom knowledge to real world experiences


Drivers

• Little research that examines the role of online discussion forums in knowledge transfer

• Authentic knowledge transfer may be possible in online discussion forums, but there is not enough empirical evidence to support this

• Currently there is a focus on application of classroom knowledge in the work place


The Research

• Our team examined 21 sections of a graduate course in organizational behavior

• In order to capture student-student and faculty-student interactions, one discussion question was chosen for review.

• Across the 21 sections (sources) there were 2,045 replies with an average of 97.38 replies per source.

What was especially interesting was that there were 285 (13.9%) responses from instructors across all courses. More on this later.


The Research, cont.

• After an initial review of the data, we developed a framework for investigation.• We developed keywords and phrases that we

felt demonstrated knowledge transfer

• We developed an initial 42 nodes

• Additional passes of the data ensued

• We continued following process coding to determine the major themes and child nodes


The Research, cont.13 themes emerged:Acknowledges suggestion or advice

Agreement-offers confirmation

Agreement- offers suggestion Commentary-discussion based in experience

I think… I believe I can relate to your experience, I understand

Offers Suggestions I never realized or I never thought of it that way

Seeking clarification In my experience… I have worked… I have dealt with

Sharing personal experience Providing clarification of point

Situation analysis, may offer suggestions

The Research, cont.

• We further refined the data by suggesting three categories:• Knowledge Transfer

• Possible Knowledge Transfer

• Commentary

• Knowledge transfer is subjective

• The coding represents our interpretations


The Research, cont.

• In some cases, phrases may have been coded to multiple nodes/themes

• All three researchers reviewed the data/coding and came to agreement


The Numbers

• 21 unique sections of a single course

• 13 unique instructors

• 710 unique students

• An average of 34 students per course


The Results

• 23% of all student responses were categorized as (authentic) knowledge transfer in some form!• Knowledge Transfer or Possible Knowledge

Transfer

• NO faculty responses were coded as knowledge transfer in any form!• 26 out of 284 responses from faculty coded

as commentary20th Annual Sloan-C International Conference for Online Learning Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!

The Surprise

• There was clear evidence of knowledge transfer occurring student-student, but not faculty-student.

• This finding refutes our original beliefs that faculty are an integral part of the knowledge transfer process.


Some Possible Reasons

• Faculty may have a difficult time transitioning from classroom to online (Nash, 2011)

• Faculty are not able to implement Socratic methods within the existing online discussion framework.


Some Possible Reasons

• Faculty need to facilitate “active learning” in the online discussion (Halstead, 2005).

• Optimum number of students in an online discussion to construct knowledge is 16 (Reonieri, 2006)


Discussion

• If faculty are needed to facilitate online discussions through active learning and engagement as suggested by the research (Halstead, 2005; Albion & Ertmer, 2004), than how do we improve instructor performance?• Training? Are faculty truly trained in facilitating

online discussions past asking probing questions?

• Do faculty understand the importance of adding personal experience and “war stories” (Powell & Murray, 2012)?


Discussion, cont.

• Is this a quality problem? Quality discussion questions? Quality interactions (Maor & Volet, 2007; Persico, Pozzi, & Sarti, 2010; Thorpe, & Gordon, 2012)?

• Is this a domain problem? For-profit institute?

• Is it a student problem? Most online students are working adults. Is this a problem of just the minimum to get by and faculty enabling?


Benefits of the Research

• This research provides insights into the nature of knowledge transfer that occurs in the classroom

• This research should prove beneficial for:• instructional designers/content experts

• faculty development specialists


CONCLUSION

• It is important that these discussions yield the expected results by providing students a mechanism for authentic knowledge transfer to occur.

• Is the lack of evidence to support faculty-student KT an issue of training?

• At present, there are improvements that need to be made in both the content of the discussion questions and the types of engagements that occur during the discussions. (student-student, faculty-student)


Conclusion (continued)

• Faculty should share their own “real world” experiences and seek comments from their students. Trust!

• Students should be encouraged to share their own experiences with a critical eye on what worked well and what might be done differently to encourage a different outcome.


Future Research

• We are interested in learning how faculty can better support KT in online discussions.

• Training?

• Opportunities to explore how the wording of discussion questions impacts student interactions.


Additional research to follow. Please email me to be [email protected]

Questions?

• Jackie Krause, [email protected]

• Jan Tucker, [email protected]

• Stephanie [email protected]





Documents

Knowledge Transfer in Online Discussion Forums: The Surprising Truth!