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Students' perception and experiences of tutor's roles in online discussion
Author
Chng, Poh Teen
Supervisor
Lim, Cher Ping
Abstract
Online discussion is increasingly being used as a learning activity in online courses. It is commonly used to facilitate interactions between members of a learning community. It is suggested by researchers that the role of the tutor in an online environment is essential. In order to facilitate a positive learning experience using the online discussion, better understanding of the students' perception of the roles of tutors ought to be sought. This was part of the aim of this study. The target group or the participants were the students of Post Graduate Diploma in Education from the National Institute of Education undertaking the PED 513 course, the Instructional Technology course. Central to this study was a list of roles of tutors based on literature review. The study also aimed to determine the experiences of the participants on these roles and if there were significant differences between experiences and perception. Participants' perception and experiences of the tutor's role were gathered using a questionnaire. Focus group interviews were carried out to gather a more complete picture of the experiences and reasons for considering some roles to be highly important or redundant. The analysis of the discussion records also provided information on the roles of the tutors commonly carried out in some discussion groups. In addition, the study aimed to identify the roles, which the participants considered to be highly important, as well as other roles which were not listed but ought to be included. From the findings, there existed significant differences between experience and perception for all the roles described. The implication was that the tutors could be more active in carrying out the suggested roles. A list of important roles identified by the participants was compiled. From the findings, implications for practice were suggested. With a better understanding of the perceptions and experiences of the participants, more positive learning experiences using the online discussion could be facilitated.
Date Issued
2002
Call Number
LB1044.87 Chn
Date Submitted
2002