Journal of Interactive Learning Research

Volume 11, Number 1 2000

Contents

How Activity FostersCMC Tool Use in Classrooms: Reinventing

Innovations in LocalContexts

Comparative Analysisof Learner Satisfaction and Learning Outcomes in Online andFace-to-Face Learning Environments

Learning ProbabilityThrough the Use of a Collaborative, Inquiry-Based

SimulationEnvironment

 Good OnlineConversation: Building on Research To Inform Practice

How ActivityFosters CMC Tool Use in Classrooms: Reinventing Innovations in LocalContexts

Barry J. Fishman

fishman@umich.edu

This paper presents a framework for understanding how the varyingexpertise, attitudes, and classroom activity structures of scienceteachers influence their students’ use of a suite ofcomputer-mediated communications tools in each of their classrooms.These issues are explored in the context of the Learning ThroughCollaborative Visualization (CoVis) Project. Findings indicate thatteacher designs for classroom activity relate strongly to thefrequency with which different tools are used. These results arepresented in order to build a case for understanding how innovationsare adopted in local contexts, as an important first step to bringingan innovation to scale.

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ComparativeAnalysis of Learner Satisfaction and Learning Outcomes in Online andFace-to-Face Learning Environments

Scott D. Johnson, Steven R. Aragon, Najmuddin Shaik, and NildaPalma-Rivas

sjohnson@uiuc.edu

This empirical study compared a graduate online course with anequivalent course taught in a traditional face-to-face format on avariety of outcome measures. Comparisons included student ratings ofinstructor and course quality; assessment of course interaction,structure, and support; and learning outcome measures such as coursegrades and student self-assessment of their ability to performvarious Instructional Systems Design (ISD) tasks. Results revealedthat the students in the face-to-face course held slightly morepositive perceptions about the instructor and overall course qualityalthough there was no difference between the two course formats inseveral measures of learning outcomes. The findings have directimplications for the creation, development, and delivery of onlineinstruction.

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Phil Vahey

philip.vahey@sri.com

Noel Enyedy and Bernard Gifford

enyedy@socrates.berkeley.edu, bgifford@socrates.berkeley.edu

In this paper we report on the Probability Inquiry Environment(PIE), which facilitates the development of probabilistic reasoningby making available collaborative inquiry activities andstudent-controlled simulations. These activities guide middle schoolstudents toward a deeper understanding of probability, a domain thatis becoming increasingly important in the K-12 mathematics curriculaof the United States but which is notoriously difficult to learn. Astudy is described in which middle school students who participatedin the PIE curriculum significantly outperformed students whoparticipated in the school’s traditional probability curriculum.We posit that this difference is due to the PIE curriculum fosteringstudent collaboration as the students employ their existingintuitions as building blocks for formal knowledge. This providesevidence that a productive learning environment should not be basedsolely upon the logical structure of the target domain, but shouldalso account for both students’ intuitive conceptions of adomain, as well as aspects of social interaction that shapestudents’ experiences. We then show the importance of intuitionsand social interaction by analyzing a case study in which studentsarticulated and revised their initial understandings of probabilityas they interacted with PIE—collaboratively making predictions,evaluating data, and interpreting representations.

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Lorraine Sherry and Shelley H. Billig

sherry@rmcdenver.com

lsherry@carbon.cudenver.edu

Fern Tavalin

tavalin@sover.net

With the increase of Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) usage inthe classroom, instructional activities are now being implementedthat use online conversation for knowledge-building. Current researchwith The WEB Project, a Technology Innovation Challenge Grantee,subtitled “Creating a WEB of Evidence of Student Performance inNonverbal Inquiry and Expression” can help inform practice inthis area. This paper presents a synthesis of current research onface-to-face and online conversation and a short analysis of episodesof online conversations captured from The WEB Exchange(www.webproject.org), together with a few perceptions from a studentfocus group. Lessons learned and implications for practice are thenpresented.

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