Paul Gorskya, Avner Caspia and Samantha Smidtb

a Open University of Israelb Open University, UK

Students' Utilization of Instructional Resources in a Difficult Distance Education

Physics Course

• Theory of Instructional Dialogue

• Research

• Findings and Conclusions

Theory of Instructional Dialogue

1. Every element in an instructional system is either a dialogue or a resource which supports dialogue.

2. Certain structural and human resources correlate with the type, amount and duration of interpersonal dialogue that occurs both in-class and out.

DIALOGUES INTRAPERSONAL

The interaction between student and subject-matter that occurs when (and only when) it is mediated by a given instructional resource.

INTERPERSONAL

Instructor - Student Student - Student

f-2-f or mediated by communications media; if mediated, synchronous or asynchronous.

HUMAN RESOURCES

- Faculty- Students- (Significant others)

STRUCTURAL RESOURCES

- Instructional materials- Group size / Instructional design- Teacher / Student Accessibility

RESEARCH

• Participants: 121 students at Open U, UK in an undergraduate Quantum Mechanics course perceived (by them) as difficult or very difficult.

• Tactical Approaches to Study Questionnaire

• Structural Resources - Text (intra)

- FirstClass conference (intra & inter)

- Tutorial sessions (intra & inter)

- Face-to-face meetings (inter)

- Telephone (inter)

- E-mail (inter)

- Self-help groups (inter)

FINDINGS

Profiles Reading TMAs

• Intrapersonal only 43.8 54.2• Intra to Inter 40.5 33.1• Intra to Inter to Intra 9.9 6.8• Other 5.8 5.9

Totals 100 100

FINDINGSStructural resources - intrapersonal dialogue

text, alternative texts, FirstClass conf, other

Human resources - interpersonal dialogue

tutor, outsider, peer

1st structural resource - interpersonal dialogue

Telephone

References1. Gorsky, P. and Caspi, A. (2005). Dialogue: A theoretical framework for distance education

instructional systems. British Journal of Educational Technology, 36(2), 137-144.

2. Gorsky, P., Caspi, A. and Chajut, E. (2007). Instructional dialogue: Toward a unified theory of instructional design in the cognitive domain. In R. Zheng and S. Pixy-Ferris (Eds.). Online Instructional Modeling: Theories and Practice. Hershey, PA: Idea Group, Inc. (in press).

3. Gorsky, P., Caspi, A. and Trumper, R. (2004). Dialogue in a distance education physics course. Open Learning, 19(3), 265-277.

4. Gorsky, P., Caspi, A., and Trumper, R. (2006). Campus-based university students’ use of dialogue. Studies in Higher Education, 31(1), 71-87.

5. Gorsky, P., Caspi, A. and Tuvi-Arad I. (2004). Use of instructional dialogue by university students in a distance education chemistry course. Journal of Distance Education, 19(1), 1-19.

6. Caspi, A. and Gorsky, P. (2006). Open university students use of dialogue. Studies in Higher Education, 31(6), 735-752.

7. Gorsky, P., Caspi, A. and Smidt, S. (2007). The dialogic behavior of Open University students in a difficult physics course. Journal of Distance Education, 22(1), (in press).