The Use of Online Synchronous Discussion Groups to Enhance Community Formation and Professional Identity Development
Lee Duemer
Dean Fontenot
Kathryn Gumfory
Mary Kallus
JoAnn Larsen
Susan Schafer
Benny C. Shaw, Jr.
Texas Tech University
Abstract
Synchronous online discussions are being increasingly used in higher education in order to facilitate learning and group interaction between on-campus and off-campus students. In response to calls from the engineering community to integrate humanities studies into the engineering curriculum, English and Engineering faculty at a large urban university collaborated to design an online literature discussion course for first-year engineering students. Students were assigned two works of literature that dealt with ethical and professional development issues in engineering. The online discussions took place outside class in a Multiuser Object Oriented (MOO) environment, where all discussions were logged. As researchers examined the transcripts of these discussions, the theme of community formation emerged. The transcripts were coded and then used to identify the varying levels of community formation during the course of the semester as well as the students’ development of professional identity. Results suggest that behaviors of the mentor, negotiation of group knowledge, and exclusion of late arriving members characterized communities. The results also suggest that through reading and discussion of professional issues, students may begin to view themselves as members of the engineering profession.
About the Author(s)...
Dr. Lee S. Duemer is Assistant Professor in the Division of Educational Psychology and Leadership, College of Education at Texas Tech University. His research interests are history of higher education and qualitative inquiry in higher education. He can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Dr. A. Dean Fontenot is Managing Director of the SBC CLEAR Project in the College of Engineering at Texas Tech University. Her research interests are science education and on-line instruction in engineering education. She can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Kathryn Gumfory is a doctoral student in the College of Education at Texas Tech University. Her research interest is in early childhood special education. She can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Mary Kallus is a doctoral student in the College of Education at Texas Tech University. Her research interest is in language and literacy. She can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Dr. JoAnn Larsen is Director of Student Affairs and Medical Curriculum at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Her research interest is in medical education. She can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Susan Schafer is a doctoral student in the College of Education at Texas Tech University and an Instructor in the School of Education at Baylor University. Her research interests are literacy and reading instructional methods. She can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Benny C. Shaw, Jr. is a doctoral student in the College of Education, and a Faculty Associate in the Cell Biology and Biochemistry Department at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. His research interests are educational management and medical education. He can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
