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Full-Text Articles in Education

The Effect Of Synchronous And Asynchronous Participation On Students' Performance In Online Accounting Courses, Keith Duncan, A. L. Kenworthy, Ray Mcnamara Jul 2014

The Effect Of Synchronous And Asynchronous Participation On Students' Performance In Online Accounting Courses, Keith Duncan, A. L. Kenworthy, Ray Mcnamara

Ray McNamara

This article examines the relationship between MBA students' performance and participation in two online environments: a synchronous forum (chat room) and an asynchronous forum (discussion board) at an Australian university. The quality and quantity of students' participation is used to predict their final examination and course grade performance outcomes. We find that the total quality of students' participation is positively related to final examination performance but the total quantity of students' participation is related to overall course performance. We also find that synchronous engagement with the course (combined quality and quantity) drives these results and has twice the examination and …


Improving Argumentation Through Goal Instructions In Asynchronous Online Discussions, Yekaterina Prudchenko Apr 2014

Improving Argumentation Through Goal Instructions In Asynchronous Online Discussions, Yekaterina Prudchenko

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Argumentation incorporated into class discussions can improve students' problem solving skills and enhance their epistemic and conceptual understanding. Research indicates students sometimes need scaffolding such as goal instructions to improve their argumentation skills. This study examined the effectiveness of different types of goal instructions on participants' argumentation achievement. In particular, the study compared the effects of minimal, moderate, substantial, and no goal instructions in asynchronous online discussions on participants' argumentation achievement, as measured by development, balance, and explanatory discourse scores. The study also tried to understand participants' experiences of the goal instructions by comparing the differences in emergent themes across …