Content analysis of online discussion in an applied educational psychologycourse

This study analyzed discussion in an online conference that supplemented cl ass discussion using an instructional method called the starter-wrapper tec hnique within a traditional graduate level educational psychology course. V arious quantitative measures were recorded to compare instructor and studen t participation rates. In addition, Henri's (1992) model for content analys is of computer-mediated communication was employed to qualitatively analyze the electronic discourse. Using this model, five key variables were examin ed: (1) student participation rates; (2) electronic interaction patterns; ( 3) social cues within student messages; (4) cognitive and metacognitive com ponents of student messages; and (5) depth of processing - surface or deep - within message posting. Transcript content analyses showed that, while st udents tended to post just the one required comment per week in the confere nce, their messages were lengthy, cognitively deep, embedded with peer refe rences, and indicative of a student oriented environment. Moreover, student s were using high level cognitive skills such as inferencing and judgment a s well as metacognitive strategies related to reflecting on experience and self-awareness. Weekly conference activity graphs revealed that student ele ctronic comments became more interactive over time, but were highly depende nt on the directions of discussion starter. To better understand the impact of electronic conferencing discourse, modifications to Henri's model as we ll as qualitative research suggestions were offered.