Learning Communities

Formative Research on an Instructional Design Theory for Online Learning Communities: A Higher Education Faculty Development Case

by Elizabeth Yagodzinski

Ph.D. Dissertation Report

The steady and consistent growth of online learning and the rapid development of Web 2.0 technologies such as wikis... more The steady and consistent growth of online learning and the rapid development of Web 2.0 technologies such as wikis and blogs have led to innovative methods of training and instruction. As a result, continuing research is needed to develop and validate instructional design theories and models that support teaching and learning in today’s technology-rich learning environment.

The goal of this research was to refine the Creating Online Learning Communities for Adults (COLCA) instructional design (ID) theory by using the theory to design an online faculty development course. A formative research design guided the investigation.  Formative research seeks to identify improvements for an instructional design theory based on a designed instance of the theory, in this case an online faculty development course in Web 2.0 tools and techniques. This research is a designed case applying the COLCA instructional design theory to an online faculty development course. Data sources included course documents and observations, email messages, and participant interviews. These data were used to determine which methods prescribed by the COLCA ID theory work well, what methods could be improved, and in which specific situations each method works best.

As an original contribution to the discipline of information technology as applied to teaching and learning, this study sought to improve upon an instructional design theory currently in its early stages of development and informs the design of online learning communities for adults. This research is important to continued growth and advancement of contemporary instructional design theories that provide support for emerging technologies, adult learners, and online learning methods that facilitate the development of online learning communities and communities of practice.

Supporting Peer Help and Collaboration in Distributed Workplace Environments

by Julita Vassileva

Authors: J. Greer, G. McCalla, J. Collins, V. Kumar, P. Meagher, J. Vassileva
Published in: International Journal of AI and Education. 9, 159-177

Increasingly, organizations are geographically distributed with activities coordinated and integrated through the use... more Increasingly, organizations are geographically distributed with activities coordinated and integrated through the use of information technology. Such organizations face constant
change and the corresponding need for continual learning and renewal of their workers. In this paper we describe a prototype system called PHelpS (Peer Help System) that facilitates workers in carrying out such “life long learning”. PHelpS supports workers as they perform their tasks, offers assistance in finding peer helpers when required, and mediates communication on taskrelated topics. When a worker runs into difficulty in carrying out a task, PHelpS provides a list of other workers who are ready, willing and able to help him or her. The worker then selects a
particular helper with PHelpS supporting the subsequent help interaction. The PHelpS system acts as a facilitator to stimulate learning and collaboration, rather than as a directive agent
imposing its perspectives on the workers. In this way PHelpS facilitates the creation of extensive informal peer help networks, where workers help one another with tasks and opens up
new research avenues for further exploration of AI-based computer-supported collaborative learning

Motivating Participation in Social Computing Applications: A User Modeling Perspective

by Julita Vassileva

User Modeling and User Adapted Interaction (UMUAI), 22(1-2), 177-201 (2012).

The explosive growth of Web-based social applications over the last 10 years has led people to engage in online... more The explosive growth of Web-based social applications over the last 10 years has led people to engage in online communities for various purposes: to work, learn, play, share time and mementos with friends and family and engage in public action. Social Computing Applications (SCA) allow users to discuss various topics in online forums, share their thoughts in blogs, share
photos, videos, bookmarks, and connect with friends through social networks. Yet, the design of successful social applications that attract and sustain active contribution by their users still remains more of an art than a science. My research over the last 10 years has been based on the hypothesis that it is possible to incorporate mechanisms and tools in the design of the social application that can motivate users to participate, and more generally, to change their behavior in a desirable way, which
is beneficial for the community. Since different people are motivated by different things, it can be expected that personalizing the incentives and the way the rewards are presented to the individual, would be beneficial. Also since communities have different needs in different phases of their
existence, it is necessary to model the changing needs of communities and adapt the incentive mechanisms accordingly, to attract the kind of contributions that are beneficial. Therefore User and Group (Community) Modeling is an important area in the design of incentive mechanisms. This paper presents an overview of different approaches to motivate users to participate. These
approaches are based on various theories from the area of social psychology and behavioral economics and involve rewards mechanisms, reputation, open group user modeling, and social
visualization. Future trends are outlined towards convergence with the areas of persuasive systems design, adaptive/personalized systems, and intelligent social learning environments

Comunidades de Aprendizaje de Educadoras en Fundación Integra. Una estrategia de innovacion curricular y desarrollo profesional docente en educacion parvularia.

by Fabian Barrera

A Formative Evaluation of the Stronger Smarter Learning Communities Project. 2011 Report.

by Pamela Theroux

Toward Europe by North and East – A scottish – Romanian approach of the learning communities

by Sebastian Nastuta

Paper co-authored with Tudor Pitulac and Alan Milson

Efficacy of Learning Communities at Four North Texas Community Colleges

by Mitzi Lewis

Dodds, P., Allen, J., Philibert, N., Elleven, R., & Lewis, M. (2006). Efficacy of learning communities at four North Texas community colleges. Workforce Education Forum, 33(1), 1 - 20.

This observational study involving intact groups and convenient sampling examined learning communities at four North... more This observational study involving intact groups and convenient sampling examined learning communities at four North Texas community colleges. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference in cathectic learning climate, inimical ambiance, academic rigor, affiliation and structure among students in learning communities and freestanding classes. Learning communities are gaining nationwide popularity as instruments of reform in higher education. Recent studies have discussed the benefits of learning communities to students, faculty and institutions. The independent variable was learning community compared to freestanding classes. Follow-up independent t-tests were also conducted to evaluate the differences in the means between the two groups and to explore which dependent variables contributed to the multivariate difference, which resulted in significant differences in inimical ambiance, affiliation and structure. The researchers conclude that learning communities make a difference for some learners, but not necessarily all, and that more research needs to be conducted to find the answers to the questions concerning the efficacy and sustainability of learning communities in higher education.

Designing for Learning Communities In a Large Enterprise

by Sanjay Kairam

Sources of knowledge acquisition for Chinese software engineers

by Dimitris Assimakopoulos

Reconceptualising Conflict and Consensus within Partnerships: The Roles of Overlapping Communities and Dynamic Social Ties (PhD Thesis 2009)

by Katy Vigurs

Partnership is a dominant theme of public policy and service provision in England and in other western countries. It... more Partnership is a dominant theme of public policy and service provision in England and in other western countries. It is also a concept that remains relatively under-researched and under-theorised, especially with respect to conceptualising underlying relational processes that can shape conflict and consensus within partnerships.

This thesis draws on a richly textured ethnographic study, using an in-depth case study of a voluntarily-founded, network-like, cross-sectoral partnership, which aimed to develop and implement a community learning centre in the village parish of Broadley, located in the English Midlands.

The research sees fieldwork conducted over twenty-four months, using multiple methods of qualitative data-generation including the observation of partnership meetings and activities, semi-structured interviews and the collection of partnership artefacts (meeting minutes, funding bid document, emails). It presents an ethnographic view of the inner workings of one partnership and follows its entire lifecycle. This partnership was not sustained and did not realise the vision to which it aspired.

A central concern of this thesis is to investigate the development of conflict and consensus within partnership practice. The contribution of the thesis is to tease out how these elements are understood. This study challenges naive texts that prescribe simplistic, recipe-based formulas for achieving partnership success. Instead, it illustrates what can happen when partners do not develop sufficiently strong and balanced sets of social ties between one another. Consequently, this thesis sets up a new research agenda focusing more specifically on issues of community overlaps, identities and social ties.

This thesis has value in terms of providing a deeply relational account of challenges facing the development of one cross-sectoral, network-like partnership. It draws together insights from partnership literature, community literature and fieldwork, and provides a strong basis from which further research can be developed.

Community Dimensions of Learning Object Repositories: Final Report

by Colin Milligan

Bringing community college faculty to the table to improve science education for all

by Liz Dorland

Co-authored with W. Bradley Kincaid and other members of the Faculty Professional Learning Community on the Nature of Science at Mesa Community College

To become more learner-centered, community colleges must connect and engage faculty and professional staff in... more To become more learner-centered, community colleges must connect and engage faculty and professional staff in scholarly teaching. With these goals in mind, Mesa Community College implemented a faculty and professional learning communities program that enrolled 61 active members in six different communities. The program was evaluated with a pre- and post-participation survey including both quantitative and qualitative items. Results indicate that we are successfully connecting and engaging members and achieving significant community and professional development outcomes. Connecting and engaging faculty and professional staff foster more scholarly teaching, and the interaction of connectedness and engagement can transform our college into a more learner-centered institution.

Imagined social capital: Notes on an emerging concept

by John Field

The paper examines the concept of imagined social capital. It draws on the recent work of Jocey Quinn, as well as... more The paper examines the concept of imagined social capital. It draws on the recent work of Jocey Quinn, as well as earlier discussions of imagined communities by the political scientist Benedict Anderson.

Pandora's Box is for Closing as Well as Opening: Mastering Communication About Pain: An Action Cycle

by Gareth Parsons

Integration of Moodle platform in the educational context of the Instituto Superior Politécnico Gaya: a model for the development of the training courses

by José Monteiro

Rodrigues, N. Q, Monteiro, J. A., Santos, J. D. & Cabral, A. P. (2010). Integração da plataforma Moodle no contexto educativo do Instituto Superior Politécnico Gaya: Um modelo para a criação de ciclos de formação. Politécnica, (17), pp. 33-41.

Nowadays lecturers have to assume new roles in teaching and learning process through the virtual environments,... more Nowadays lecturers have to assume new roles in teaching and learning process through the virtual environments, splitting their attendence between traditional classroom and with distance education, particularly in blended learning format. This new educational paradigm has become new challenges to the lecturers, particularly in the acquisition/development of technical and pedagogical skills for teaching in online environments. Within the project of implementation and integration of Moodle in the educational context of the Instituto Superior Politécnico Gaya, the Direction Board and the Research and Development Center are committed to providing to the main actors of his educational community the opportunity to participate in Moodle courses to develop their skills in this area. In this paper it will be produced some reflections on the concept and pedagogical framework of online learning communities, as well presented a structured model of training cycles aimed to support the users of the Moodle platform.

The Dynamics of Online Communities in the Activity Theory Framework

by Bahar Baran

knowledge and bring their tacit knowledge to the surface. An Internet based oCoP platform called “The more knowledge and bring their tacit knowledge to the surface. An Internet based oCoP platform called “The
Professional Development Circle” (The PDC) was developed for this study. The study was conducted in two
phases: 1) a mandatory participation term and 2) a voluntary participation term. In the first phase, the
researchers designed a learning environment in which 28 preservice teachers from three universities watched
and discussed digital videos recorded in real classroom environments. In the second phase, the researchers tried
to build another oCoP environment based on the successes and failures of the mandatory term but with
voluntary members. This article presents the results to designers and educators who want to use oCoP
environments in teachers’ professional development.