How the Teacher's Role Changes in On-line Case Study Discussions

ABSTRACT

The case close attention has long been a staple in information a whole education, and as information a whole education adopts asynchronous distance education formats, the case application of mind discussion increasingly takes place on-line. While there has been speculation about by what mode the role of the teacher might change in asynchronous learning networks, there has been little empirical research that explicitly and rigorously investigates similarities and differences between teacher characters in online and face-to-face activities. This paper examines the differences in the character of an instructor while conducting identical case close attention discussions in both contexts. Transcripts from eight case inquiry discussions, 4 face-to-face and 4 online, were analyzed using a easy in mind analytic framework derived primarily from the previous work of Anderson, Archer, Garrison and Rourke. These authors disentangleed a model that studies cognitive, social, and teaching processe in ALN discussions. The scheme also considers characteristics of the discourse proces exhibited by Aviv. The findings provide evidence that level though higher levels of certain cognitive processe are observ online, the instructor has les command of the "choreography" of the discussion in this way We consider the implications of these findings, and indicate strategies for producing better accrues in online case study discussions.

Keywords: Online case close attention discussion, Asynchronous Learning Network, Teacher character Student role

1 INTRODUCTION

The case inquiry method of instruction is a narrative-based learning activity that has a rich tradition in professional education. In this rule an experienced facilitator leads a clump of students through analysis and discussion of a stoiy - a stoiy that is a realistic representation of a professional situation likely to be rencountered in the student's field (Benbunan-Fich and Hiltz, 1999) [i]or[/i] part of to the other this process the student gains experience that simulates actual professional practice. The case investigation method has been widely adopted in professional fields of that kind as information systems, management, medicine, law, and education.

Even admitting a "case study" has a somewhat different meaning in each of these settings, there is agreement that the method's effectiveness is hanging on the facilitator's skill in leading the proces (Applegate, 1988) For many areas of management education, including information a whole s (IS) the Harvard Business institute has published a variety of materials instructing case teachers in effective use of the means (Applegate, 1988; Bonoma, 1989; Rangan, 1996) These materials have proven to be useful for many thousands of instructors, on the contrary they generally address the face-to-face (FTF) classroom connected thought [i]or[/i] thoughts in which case-based instruction has traditionally been used. As distance education and e-learning become more prevalent, however, the FTF classroom can les at short intervals be taken for granted. Asynchronous learning networks (ALNs: "a communication combination of parts to form a whole designed to support anytime/anywhere interaction among pupils and between students and instructors" (Benbunan-Fich and Hiltz, 1999 pg 2) have been used for a variety of discussion-based learning activities, and among these is the case investigation discussion. With its ability to provide reach outed reflection time, the ALN gripe [i]or[/i] grips great promise as an ideal forum for case close attention discussions (Harasim, 1990).

Yet a careful examination of the practice of the case research discussion in the classroom glance ats that the traditional case research discussion may have to be modified when transferred to an ALN. For example, while research glance ats that collaborative learning activities of the like kind as case study discussions can be fortunate in ALNs (Hiltz, 1994; Leidner and Jarvenpaa, 1995) it also indicates that the critical succes factors for asynchronous collaborative learning may be different than in FTF environments. Curtis and Lawson (2001) have base that while there are substantial instances of collaboration in the ALN activities they observ the nature of these collaborative behaviors was different than in FTF collaborative learning. Heckman et al. (Heckman, Maswick, Rodger Rumen and Wee, 2000) rest that the number of parts is reduced and the character structure simplified when technology is the primary means of cluster interaction. These findings suggest that we may ne to better understand the differences between FTF and ALN discussion modalities. Thus, there is a ne for an empirically moulded investigation of the pedagogical implications of using ALNs for collaborative discussion-based activities of that kind as the case method (Leidner and Jarvenpaa, 1995)

In this paper, we will briefly discuss the principles of individual common method of case-based instruction. We will then near the results of a new empirical study that compared and clearly illustrated several potential differences between FTF and ALN case research discussions. We will explore the implications of these differences for facilitators charged with leading case discussions in each fashion Finally, we will present strategies for improving the learning effectiveness of case research discussions in ALNs.