Asynchronous Discussion Forums: Success Factors, Outcomes, Assessments, and Limitations

The Motivating and Limiting Factors of Learners’ Engagement in an Online Discussion Forum

Lately, asynchronous discussion forum is integrated in higher educational institutions as it may increase learning process, learners’ understanding, achievement and knowledge construction. The asynchronous discussion forum is used to complement the traditional, face-to-face learning session in hybrid learning courses. However, studies have proven that students’ engagement in online forums is st...

Critical Thinking and Socratic Questioning in Asynchronous Mathematics Discussion Forums

The study was an attempt to measure critical thinking in two asynchronous discussion forums in an engineering mathematics unit. The Socratic questioning technique was the moderation strategy employed in the forums. The participants of the study were 60 undergraduates from Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus, enrolled in a mathematics course. Quantitative and qualitative data were...

Sage, guide or ghost? The effect of instructor intervention on student participation in online discussion forums

When facilitating asynchronous discussion forums, should online instructors be encouraged to take a prominent ‘sage on the stage’ role, a more constructivist ‘guide on the side’ role, or an ultra low profile as ‘the ghost in the wings’? There is no shortage of anecdotal advice on how to conduct discussion forums in online education, but there appears to be very little research available so far ...

Synchronous e-learning: Reflections and design considerations

This paper is a personal reflection on the design, development, and delivery of online synchronous conferencing as a pedagogical tool complementing traditional, face-to-face content delivery and learning. The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate how instructors can combine collaborative and virtual learning principles in course design. In particular, the paper asserts that instructors should ...

Students' Learning in Asynchronous Discussion Forums: A Meta-Analysis