Hello, all!
I'm planning to conduct some research on on-line scholarly communities. I'm particularly interested in how scholars and practitioners form effective working groups to solve emergent problems. I'm looking for people who are willing to talk about their experiences (both good and bad) in on-line collaborative work. I hope that my research can identify some of the factors that lead to successful collaboration. If I'm successful, it should be useful for all of us.
Some time ago, I did a pilot study with some of the members the Technology and Pedagogy Study Group on this site, and the results were very promising. As well as talking to those people again, I'd like to talk to those who collaborate in less formal settings (such as the general forums). I'm interested in experts, newcomers, and anyone in between.
If you’re willing to participate in the study, please go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=59303654917 and fill out the consent form. Of course, participation is completely voluntary. I will not use any personal data from you without your consent. If you decide to participate in the study, I will observe your postings in public on-line forums, and will also ask you to participate in an interview.
If you have any questions about the research, you can contact us via email, paper mail, or telephone at the addresses below:
Anthony W. Hursh
hursh@uiuc.edu
Department of Educational Pychology MC-708
1310 S. Sixth Street, Champaign, IL 61801 USA
+1 217 244-3510
Cynthia Carter Ching
ccching@uiuc.edu
Department of Educational Psychology MC-708
1310 S. Sixth Street, Champaign, IL 61801 USA
+1 217 265-5495
Tony,
Sounds like a useful project.
Care to tell us a bit more about the results of the pilot study?
Sounds like a useful project.
Care to tell us a bit more about the results of the pilot study?
Unfortunately, I can't give too many details on that. It was a class project, and thus didn't require a full-blown human subjects approval process from our Institutional Review Board. That was good, in that I didn't have to fill out 50 pages of paperwork, but bad in that I can't publish the results (discussing the results with the actual participants, my advisor, and my classmates was okay, but not wider dissemination).
This study does have formal approval (and I still have carpal tunnel from filling out all the forms
), so there won't be any problem with publishing the results.
I did see a lot of things that were suggestive of why Moodle is "special", and will be interested to see if the new study supports those findings.
This study does have formal approval (and I still have carpal tunnel from filling out all the forms
I did see a lot of things that were suggestive of why Moodle is "special", and will be interested to see if the new study supports those findings.