Relationships between the types and levels of instructors' stated expectations for student participation in threaded discussions and actual student participation outcomes

Abstract

The purpose of this ex-post facto study was to examine the relationships between the types and levels of an instructor's expectations for student participation in threaded discussions and the density and intensity of student participation in learner interactions occurring within the discussions. To address this purpose, a conceptual framework was introduced for analyzing different types and levels of an instructor's stated expectations for student participation in threaded discussions and the density, average level of participation, and degree of persistence of student participation occurring within the discussions. Guided by this conceptual framework, descriptive quantitative analyses including frequencies, comparison of means, and one-way analysis of variance tests were used to answer the following five research questions considered in this study: What relationships exist between the types and levels of an instructor's stated expectations for student participation in threaded discussions and the discussion's overall density of student participation? What relationships exist between the types and levels of an instructor's stated expectations for student participation in threaded discussions and the discussion's density of student participation in each discussion level? What relationships exist between the types and levels of an instructor's stated expectations for student participation in threaded discussions and the overall discussion's average level of participation in learner interactions? What relationships exist between the types and levels of an instructor's stated expectations for student participation in threaded discussions and the average level of participation in learner interactions in each discussion level? What relationships exist between the types and levels of an instructor's stated expectations for student participation in threaded discussions and the overall discussion’s degree of persistence? In the results of this study, a number of relationships were shown to exist between the types and levels of an instructor's stated expectations for student participation in threaded discussions and the density and intensity of student participation in learner interactions within the discussions. The specific findings and respective conclusions are discussed in detail within the study. The study concludes with a discussion of contributions to theory, research and practice and a number of recommendations for further research are presented.