Discussion boards are a common component of asynchronous online courses. While many teacher preparation courses utilize traditional text-based discussion boards, university faculty are increasingly designing innovative approaches to asynchronous online discussions. There is significant research regarding the effectiveness of varied discussion…

Asynchronous online discussions (AODs) are a critical component of online learning, enabling students to exchange ideas and interact with peers in a flexible manner. To explore the interrelationships between social presence and cognitive presence, and how these two presences are connected across various instructional strategies used in AODs, this…

This dissertation investigates the role of multimedia applications in enhancing student engagement in higher education, with a particular focus on the dynamics of asynchronous discussion forums and lurking behaviors. Leveraging multimedia applications facilitates dynamic, inquiry-based discussions that promote deeper cognitive engagement and…

Online discussion board activities have traditionally been a primary method of providing student-to-student interaction, especially in asynchronous online classes. This study examines the impact of an alternate online discussion tool on student participation in online discussion assignments. Three identical discussion assignments were examined…

Cognitive engagement is an essential component in student learning. With the increase of more asynchronous virtual educational tools in classrooms, there is a need to understand how students are engaging with classroom content in these formats. Several studies have examined student and teacher perceptions of cognitive engagement in virtual…

Public administration faculty commonly use discussion forums in their asynchronous courses to engage students about course content. However, the typical pedagogical approach for online discussions forums is for the professor to post questions and students respond, in writing. In this paper, we suggest public administration classes should consider…

This research study compares the use of two different online asynchronous discussion technologies in hybrid algebra classes at an urban community college. One of the technologies is the discussion board, which utilizes text commenting, and the other technology is VoiceThread, which allows users to interact with audiovisual commenting. Students…

Learners in asynchronous discussion forums are inundated with diverse options when it comes to interaction. This enables the embodiment of various styles of participation. On the other hand, the affective domain tends to be overlooked in the online discussion context. The modeling of discussion activities based on both cognitive and affective…

Examining how people learn in various learning environments is at the core of the science of learning. The more we understand how students learn from different dimensions and aspects, the better equipped we are to support their learning. This study aims to expand our understanding of how learning occurs within the context of an asynchronous online…

Many college students struggle to adopt effective study strategies. Although many academic support centers disseminate resources on study strategies and help students to strengthen these skills, students do not fully utilize the resources or support. This study explored using an online asynchronous discussion (OAD) board as a space to embed five…

Cognitive engagement is an essential component in student learning. With the increase of more asynchronous virtual educational tools in classrooms, there is a need to understand how students are engaging with classroom content in these formats. Several studies have examined student and teacher perceptions of cognitive engagement in virtual…

This study examines how student and instructor participation in online discussions impacts students' course performance. The context for the study is university introductory online mathematics/statistics courses, which typically have much higher failure rates than their face-to-face counterparts. Using text-mining techniques, we analyze online…

This study explores the student perception of traditional discussion boards in online courses and their effectiveness in building connections and enhancing learning. The results indicate that, while online students recognize the importance of connecting with others, traditional discussion boards are ineffective in helping students connect.…

This study compares the interaction patterns of a novice and an experienced instructor using Social Network Analysis (SNA) and content analysis and explores how students' interactions, degrees of satisfaction, and cognitive presence differ according to the different interaction patterns of the two instructors. Results showed some differences in…

Forum discussions have been utilised widely as a means of facilitating learning interaction and social-knowledge construction in online learning. Much research has been conducted on the instructional interventions that benefit asynchronous discussions. Role-playing, or assigning roles to discussants, has been proven effective in promoting…