Ronnie H. Shroff

Assessing the Factors Deemed to Support Individual Student Intrinsic Motivation in Technology Supported Online and Face-to-Face Discussions

Research has established that intrinsic motivation has a positive effect on learning and academic achievement. In order to investigate the phenomenon of intrinsic motivation in technologysupported learning environments, this paper investigates the factors deemed to support individual student intrinsic motivation in online discussions. A research model is presented based on research into motivation, and the specific areas of self-determination and curiosity provide a framework for the model. Mean scores for both online discussions and face-to-face discussions were compared using a twotailed t-test for the six constructs of perceived competence, perceived challenge, feedback, perceived choice, perceived interest, and perceived curiosity. Results from the study showed that online discussions provided significantly stronger mean ratings (t=3.2) for perceived choice than did face-to face-discussions, while online discussions gave somewhat significantly stronger mean scores for perceived competence (t=1.84) than similar face-to-face discussions. Feedback obtained identical mean scores for both online and face-to-face discussions, as did perceived interest, while the slightly higher differences in the online situation were not significant for perceived challenge (t=0.96) or perceived curiosity (t=1.19). Assessing the factors deemed to support individual student intrinsic motivation may assist in enhancing intrinsically motivated behavior in technology-supported learning environments. This would assist Web course designers and science educators to create online learning programs that best utilize students’ capacity for learning and academic performance. The Web, with no direct verbal face-to-face interaction, lends itself better to online discussion in a more structured manner

Technology, identity, and community: the role of electronic teaching portfolios in becoming a teacher

This article reports on an exploratory qualitative investigation of an initiative to use an electronic teaching portfolio at a teacher education institution in Hong Kong. Using in-depth interviews, this initiative is examined from the perspective of preservice teachers themselves. Interviews sought to gain an understanding of how the construction of participants’ identities as teachers was shaped by their engagement with an electronic teaching portfolio throughout an eight-week teaching practicum. The study highlights the identity struggles that participants confronted in using an e-portfolio to negotiate their own and others’ professional identities within their teaching practicum placement schools. Implications for preservice teachers, teacher educators, and school authorities are discussed and suggestions for future research considered.

Sociocultural Learning in Globally Distributed Teams: An Exploratory Study

Characteristics of the new millennium suggest that we give students the experience of working in multi-cultural distributed teams to prepare them for present and future organizational demands. In general, students respond positively to this type of learning activity. However, we know little in terms of what they are really learning, how to improve the environment in which that learning takes place and how to assess the improvements, if any. In this paper we use tenets of the sociocultural learning model to explore aspects of learning in culturally differentiated teams distributed on two continents, using groupware for project support. We conclude that learning is taking place in a number of ways that makes relevant use of multi-cultural distributed teams and that our measurement instrument provides an initial basis for comparison across classes and technologies to assess whether we are improving the learning environment.

Methodological issues in assessing sociocultural learning

While research findings regarding learning are somewhat mixed, early indications are encouraging and suggest sociocultural learning is useful in improving student learning under certain situations. It is suggested that future research efforts may be enhanced by more closely linking research to theory, building on the research from the field of education, and developing appropriate instruments to measure learning. The paper includes a summary of methodological issues as well as empirical findings. The purpose is to assess sociocultural learning from positivist and interpretivist perspectives and to identify issues that researchers may wish to address when designing future research projects. The research and theory presented in the paper serve as a catalyst for future exploration of electronic collaboration related to student learning and educational reform.