Winter '21 — Quarterly Research Clearinghouse Newsletter
Four times a year, we send out a digest of published scholarship in the area of K-12 online and blended learning. Below you will find abstracts to several recently published articles — hand-picked by our Institute's researchers — with links to the full-text if you are interested in reading more.
Once they’ve experienced it, will pre-service teachers be willing to apply online collaborative learning?
Adva Margaliot and Dvora Gorev
Teachers’ motivation to collaborate depends on their beliefs about its contribution to learning and teaching. This mixed method study applied cognitive orientation (CO) theory to measure 266 pre-service teachers' willingness to engage in online collaborative learning (OCL) after experiencing it. Willingness to engage in OCL was examined via a digital CO questionnaire regarding four types of beliefs: one’s own functionality, one’s experience with OCL, the ideal collaborative functioning of the group, and OCL goals.
Next, the correlation between these beliefs was determined. A correlation between at least three beliefs indicated a tendency, which we termed a theme. The themes possibly predicting posterior inclusion of OCL were confidence in functioning, perceived value of the collaborative writing process, and relevance of the task sequence to professional development. This research suggests a method for extracting themes indicating willingness to engage in OCL in order to demonstrate ways to enhance that willingness
The self-efficacy questionnaire for online learning (SeQoL)
Chia-Lin Tsai, Moon-Heum Cho, Rose Marra, and Demei Shen
The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Online Learning (SeQoL; Shen et al., 2013). Using two samples of college students, this study examined evidence of construct validity, concurrent validity, convergent validity, and reliability for the SeQoL. Confirmatory factor analysis and latent profiles analysis were conducted to provide different aspects of construct validity evidence. Our results suggest the SeQoL consistently measures the five dimensions of online learning self-efficacy found in Shen et al.’s original study. We flagged five items from the original scale for further examination. In the current study, strong construct validity and reliability evidence were observed across two different samples, analytical approaches, and related measures. Online learners with higher online learning self-efficacy were found to have higher learning satisfaction and expect better grades. Interpretations and implications of the findings are discussed.
Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute (MVLRI) Research in Review
Kristen DeBruler and Christa Green
Since its creation in 2013 through 2020, the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute (MVLRI) at Michigan Virtual published approximately 20 research blogs and 75 research reports. This total does not represent everything published by MVLRI but rather only those publications including original research on K-12 blended and online learning. The nearly 100 resources represent research conducted internally by MVLRI staff, research conducted by partners at universities, colleges, and educational organizations, and covers a vast range of topics including, but not limited to, K-12 online best practices, online student motivation, K-12 blended teaching and professional development, and K-12 special populations.
This body of work is extensive, and while there is tremendous value in each individual publication, there is also value in how that work fits with other similar research and the narrative that emerges from the collective understanding. Toward this end, MVLRI sought to identify, review, and synthesize the original research published in the past 6 years. Again, not every blog or report published via the MVLRI.org website was included, only those containing original research.
Out of the synthesis of resources, 10 main themes emerged. Each theme is presented individually in the interest of brevity. A full reference list is provided at the end of this document noting the resources that contributed to this report.
Responding to a crisis and planning for what is ahead
Jered Borup and Leanna Archambault
It is impossible to take inventory of all the ways the COVID-19 pandemic has already impacted our field, let alone predict what the future might hold. What is clear is that scholars in our field responded quickly to provide leadership to their universities and institutions as well as to K-12 schools and teachers throughout the world. While learning online was new for most students and teachers, we were able to draw upon decades of research and scholarship on K-12 online and blended learning to provide practical actionable guidance. The 2018 Handbook of Research on K-12 Online and Blended Learning (2nd Edition) edited by Kathryn Kennedy and Richard E. Ferdig, has been an especially helpful introduction to the field. Scholars have also made their voices heard in newspaper and magazine articles, online periodicals, blog posts, podcasts, and on social media.
Successful online learning: What does learner interaction with peers, instructors and parents look like?
Whitney Keaton and Andrew Gilbert
The student perspective in research done in online and STEM education is largely absent but is important for understanding how both of these areas can come together to best serve students. This study uses teacher ratings, school data and student interviews to investigate the perceptions students in online STEM courses have of their past and current educational experiences. Also, using an adaptation of Moore’s Framework of Interactions (Moore, 1989), the academic and extracurricular behaviors of these students are examined in relation to their interactions with others, specifically instructors, parents and peers. It was found that the interactions that students have with these stakeholders are different in this setting as compared to a traditional learning environment. Teachers in online schools serve the role of a facilitator that students felt was important to their success, but was not their only source of instruction. Parents took on many roles in this setting, including monitoring, motivating, instructing and organizing. Learner-learner interaction looked the most different compared to traditional schools because these participants generally had little interaction with peers due to time and distance constraints. Implications of these findings for students, schools, education and research are given.
Subscribe to the Digital Backpack for more regular updates!
Want more regular updates? Every month, our research team publishes several blog articles on online and blended learning, including four separate series on monthly research round ups, student-centered learning, mentoring online students, and success in online learning. By subscribing to the Digital Backpack blog, you'll receive a weekly digest of Michigan Virtual's latest articles sent to your inbox every Thursday.
Explore over 1,000 publications in our Research Clearinghouse
Though we only feature four or five resources per newsletter, we encourage you to visit our Research Clearinghouse to search for citations that may be of use to you. The Clearinghouse currently houses over 1,000 citations in the field of online and blended learning, and over 100 new citations are added each year.
If you have any questions about how to navigate this resource, please check out our "Getting Started Guide."
What else do you want to see?Please feel free to offer any feedback on the Clearinghouse or any other MVLRI initiatives by emailing us at mvlri@michiganvirtual.org. Thank you!
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