social presence aera 2014
TRANSCRIPT
Social PresenceWhat is it? And how do we measure it?
Social PresenceWhat is it? And how do we measure it?
{ Patrick R. Lowenthal @ Boise State University }
Research on Social Presence
Researchers have shown—in varying degrees:•A relationship between social presence & student satisfaction
•A relationship between social presence & the development of a community of learners
•A relationship between social presence & perceived learning
Conceptual Framework
Social Social PresencePresence
Cognitive Cognitive PresencePresence
Teaching Teaching PresencePresence
Educational Educational ExperienceExperience
Social Presence
disclose
Affective
•Expression of Emotions
•Use of humor
•Self-disclosure
Cohesive
•Vocatives
•Use of inclusive pronouns
•Phatics / Salutations
Interactive
•Continuing a thread
•Quoting from other messages
•Referring explicitly to other messages
•Asking questions
•Complimenting / Expressing appreciation
Social Presence
+ + =
MethodMethod
Mixed MethodsResearch Question
How does social presence manifest in a graduate education asynchronous online course?
ResultsResults
Phase 1 Word Count
Phase 2 Content Analysis
Phase 2 Content AnalysisStage One: Frequency Across All Forums
Phase 2 Content AnalysisStage One: Frequency Across All Forums
Phase 2 Content AnalysisStage Two: Frequency within different forums
Phase 2 Content AnalysisStage Two: Frequency within different forums
Phase 2 Content AnalysisStage Two: Frequency within different forums
Phase 2 Content AnalysisStage Three: Frequency across students
Phase 2 Content AnalysisStage Three: Frequency across students
Phase 3 Constant Comparison
Reading Group E ~ Lowest Social Presence
Students began the threaded discussion (which spanned two
months) with chit chatting and telling personal stories but
quickly changed their focus to the task at hand of
discussing public policy in general and the readings in
particular; overtime the focus of the discussion was solely
on the reading and public policy—by this point the
discussion largely consisted of students posting questions
and the instructor answering the questions.
Phase 3 Constant Comparison
Pair 9~ Highest Social Presence
Students who have a past relationship and spend time with each other either professionally (e.g., we are fortunate enough to work together) or personally outside of class can have an easier time collaborating with each other because of their past relationship, shared experiences, and geographic closeness which others might not have. These benefits can help them NOT to be alone, give them opportunities to chat a lot, provide a strong and safe foundation to openly share how they are struggling personally and professionally, and to regularly meet face-to-face.
DiscussionDiscussion
Key Findings
Results suggest the the following are important:
Other FindingsOther findings from this study are:
•Situational variables matter: There really isn’t simply one type of CMC--the publicness, group nature of online discussions, people’s growing use of CMD, instructor’s role all matter
•Unit of analysis matters
•All indicators are not equal
•Differences between CoI survey and Indicators
Other FindingsOther findings from this study are:
•Situational variables matter: There really isn’t simply one type of CMC--the publicness, group nature of online discussions, people’s growing use of CMD, instructor’s role all matter
•Unit of analysis matters
•All indicators are not equal
•Differences between CoI survey and Indicators
