Promotion of self-assessment for learners in online discussion using the visualization software

This chapter describes a method of self-assessment for learners in a collaborative discussion. The authors propose this method of self-assessment in an online discussion and examine its effectiveness through the development and evaluation of a software program in order to visualize the discussion on a bulletin board system. 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hersh y PA 17033, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com ITB13648 INFORMATION SCIENCE PUBLISHING This chapter appears in the book, User-Centered Design of Online Learning Communities edited by N. Lambropoulos, P. Zaphiris © 2007, Idea Group Inc. 366 Mochizuki et al. Copyright © 2007, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. The software, referred to as the “Bulletin board Enrollee Envisioner” (i-Bee), can visually display the co-occurrence relation between keywords and learners. Thus, i-Bee can display content-wise contributions made by each learner to the discussion. In addition, i-Bee can display the recent level of participation of each learner and the frequency of the learner’s use of each keyword. Through the evaluation, the authors revealed that i-Bee enables students to assess and reflect upon their discussion, understand the condition, and reorganize their commitment in a discussion that reflects their learning activity.